After six seasons, "Downton Abbey" bows out of television on ending on a happy note and garnering the highest number of viewers during Christmas Day.
"Downton Abbey" aired its final episode across the United Kingdom on Dec. 25. It gained about 6.6 million viewers, the Irish Times reported. The 2-hour long series finale was shown on ITV and its airing beat BBC's "Strictly Come Dancing," which came in second with an average viewership of 6.5 million. It is the first time that ITV went ahead of BBC in terms of ratings since 2000.
The number of "Downton Abbey" Christmas episodes' viewers declined over the years. The very first special gained around 12 million viewers. However, according to ITV, the final episode of the series is the very first time that their network, "Downton Abbey" to be exact, came on top during Christmas Day in the UK.
The English fans of "Downton Abbey" stayed loyal to the Crawleys as they bade goodbye to the small screen. They saw Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) finally get her own happy ending. She even got to make peace with her sister, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), whom she had a feud with for the most part of the series.
Lady Mary played an important role in the reunion of Lady Edith and Bertie Pelham (Harry Haden-Paton). The final episode also saw the reconciliation of Lady Edith and Bertie's mother (Patricia Hodge).
"Downton Abbey" series finale was also filled with baby news as Lady Mary and Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode) learned that they are expecting a child and the Bates couple, Anna (Joanne Froggatt) and John (Brendan Coyle) welcomed their son.
Isobel Crawley (Penelope Wilton) also found her happy ever after with Richard Grey (Douglas Reith) following their struggle to convince his children to accept their relationship.
By the end of the series, Carson (Jim Carter), the Crawleys' butler, retired and passed on his job to Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier) who left the household but came after a short job stint. As "Downton Abbey" came to a close, the servants sang Auld Lang Syne during their New Year's Eve celebration.
According to Radio Times, the show ended because Maggie Smith bowed out of the series and is unwilling to star in season 7, based on the statement of Gary Neame. However, Carnival Films denied such statement saying no actors of the show influenced the decision. The producers and writer decided to end the series while it is still popular.
On the other hand, speculations about a "Downton Abbey" movie have been circulating and Neame is open to such an idea. He said discussions about it have come up a few times but no concrete plans or scripts have been laid out.
