It's True: 'Downton Abbey's' Sixth Season Will Be Its Last

[mvcg66b3r]

Good news, Downton Abbey fans: You will not be subjected to Lady Mary’s nursing-home years. And the reason brings us to some bad news: The PBS phenom is going the way of Isis the dog.

Multiple sources confirm to TVLine that Downton's upcoming sixth season will indeed be its last.

http://tvline.com/2015/03/20/downton-abbey-ending-season-6-cancelled/

 

[BMR]

What sort of audience is 'Abbey' getting over there?

I'm quite surprised to see it is on PBS, because it is made by ITV, which is a purely commercial broadcaster.

 

[landtuna]

What sort of audience is 'Abbey' getting over there?

I'm quite surprised to see it is on PBS, because it is made by ITV, which is a purely commercial broadcaster.

My guess, and it's only that, is that the commercial networks didn't see it as appealing to the American audience. Knowing what they know now they would have snapped it up I'm sure. Had the suits that program the major networks been reading about how the Americans are enamored with all things British royalty they should have known. Diana had a huge following. Charles and Kate are still very popular. And good old Harry is in the news often as well.

PBS has aired a host of British programs over the years and so Downton Abbey follows a trend. I don't know the numbers but the show was quite a phenomenon.

 

[installLSC]

What sort of audience is 'Abbey' getting over there?

I'm quite surprised to see it is on PBS, because it is made by ITV, which is a purely commercial broadcaster.

That's not so surprising, since ITV (or technically one of its companies) made "The Jewel in the Crown" and "Brideshead Revisited" also. It's just that, for whatever reason, the BBC brand is so strong that many Americans think any "prestige" drama must be from the BBC.

 

[BMR]

That's not so surprising, since ITV (or technically one of its companies) made "The Jewel in the Crown" and "Brideshead Revisited" also.

That was an awful, awful long time ago though. British broadcasting, and ITV in particular has changed beyond recognition since then. (FWIW ITV is now a single company and very much commercially focussed)

It's just that, for whatever reason, the BBC brand is so strong that many Americans think any "prestige" drama must be from the BBC.

Interesting.

In fact over the years ITV has made as much drama as the Beeb, maybe even more. In the 3/4 channel era (talking 70s, 80s, and early 90s) much of ITV prime time was British made drama of generally good quality. A lot of it was detective/murder mystery stuff with some costume drama but they occasionally used to show some quite challenging stuff. Of course as a teenager at the time all I wanted was a few dozen channels showing a steady diet of music videos, BH 90210 and the Fresh Prince etc but looking back it was a very different TV world and in some ways a better one.

I digress but even in the era of a squillion channels Sunday night is still big budget drama night on ITV.

 

[landtuna]

I remember well my first introduction to British TV. It was 6AM on a Sunday morning in the little hotel in Swindon and I had just checked in after a very long flight from Arizona to New York to Heathrow (and a harrowing hour long drive on the "wrong" side of the road on the M4). I was too awake to sleep and nothing at all was open so I flipped on the telly and there, in all it's glory, was a BBC show of six people sitting on a picnic table in the middle of a park birdwatching. Yes.....birdwatching.

In the many years since I have enjoyed a plethora of British programming with the only major issue being the various accents. Fortunately, none of the actors in Downton Abbey have Scottish accents and they also speak rather slowly so it is not too difficult for me to follow. Two cultures divided by a common language indeed!

 

[BMR]

I remember well my first introduction to British TV. It was 6AM on a Sunday morning in the little hotel in Swindon and I had just checked in after a very long flight from Arizona to New York to Heathrow (and a harrowing hour long drive on the "wrong" side of the road on the M4). I was too awake to sleep and nothing at all was open so I flipped on the telly and there, in all it's glory, was a BBC show of six people sitting on a picnic table in the middle of a park birdwatching. Yes.....birdwatching.

I wonder what the programme was. Possibly Springwatch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springwatch but that has only been going since 2005. I know first impressions count and all that, but to be fair, 6am Sunday morning isn't exactly primetime 30 years ago there was no telly at all so early on a Sunday so things have improved, if only a bit

In the many years since I have enjoyed a plethora of British programming with the only major issue being the various accents. Fortunately, none of the actors in Downton Abbey have Scottish accents and they also speak rather slowly so it is not too difficult for me to follow. Two cultures divided by a common language indeed!

Try and find a youtube clip of the ITV Drama 'Taggart' if you fancy a real Scottish accent challenge. Or the comedian Billy Connelly!

Some British people might struggle with a really strong regional accent too- the hardest IMHO are people from Scotland, Northern Ireland and the North East of England. It's ironic that I would find it easier to understand someone from Washington DC than from Washington Tyne and Wear!!

But you should be fine with 'Downton'