Downton Abbey’s Executive Producer Reveals What To Expect In New Season

Rain Varela

Staff Writer

@rain_varela

The Lord Executive Producer of Downton Abbey, Gareth Neame interviewed with TV Line to hand out hints to us commoners on what to expect from our favorite aristocratic family in the upcoming season.

“In the new season, we have the high-stakes drama, the laugh-out-loud comedy and the romance,” Neame says. “We have all of the characters doing the things people love to see them doing, but we have a few really nice twists and turns as well.”

On whether Anna and Bates would still be dealing with the consequences of her rape, he said, “I think it would be a bit soft of us to say that (they won’t). There are certain stories on this kind of show that you pick up for a few episodes, then let fall away. This doesn’t seem like something that could happen to a character and be easily forgotten.”

He also talked about everyone’s favorite grand old dame, the Dowager Countess,saying, “She has a brilliant storyline this season. … It’s Downton at its best, this storyline. It’s fantastic.” Neame promised.

But of course one cannot speak of Downton without addressing the curious love life of Lady Mary, especially since we were all shocked and heartbroken with Matthew’s death.

“When Dan Stevens decided to leave the show — and we tried very hard to keep him — we thought, “Well, OK, let’s get on with it.” That door was closed. And we suddenly thought, “Actually, this is the best thing that could have happened to us.” I’m actually really, really glad it happened. It gave us such a new direction to travel in for the show. Everyone wants Mary to be happy and for her to marry again, but nobody would want that to happen too quickly because they want to respect the memory of Matthew. It’s about timing all those things correctly, and I really like the way we juggled two, maybe even three, suitors in the last season. She’s still not quite sure, and I think there’s a good hook for the audience in the fifth season to see which decision she’s going to make.”

Good to know! Downton Abbey returns on Jan 4 on PBS.

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