Renewed: Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey has been renewed for eight new episodes and a Christmas special.
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As if there was ever any doubt…
Downton Abbey has been renewed for a fourth season by ITV.
Eight new episodes and a Christmas special have been greenlit, with filming to begin in February.
Gareth Neame, Executive Producer, said: “Viewers can look forward to more drama, comedy, love, hatred, jealousy, rivalry, ambition, despair and romance.”
Laura Mackie, Director of Drama at ITV, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome back a drama series that has become a much anticipated part of all our lives every autumn and achieved success around the globe.
“Creator, writer and executive producer Julian Fellowes and the production team, led by Gareth and the producer Liz Trubridge, never rest on their laurels and have exciting plans for the fourth series.”
The run will be bookended by feature-length episodes and the story will continue to follow the Crawley family and their servants in the early 1920s.
A two-hour Christmas special will be screened next month on ITV1.
The series returns to Australia on Seven in February.
Source: Telegraph
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8 Responses
7’s promo for S3 “You’ve been waiting” – and I might add…we’ll have to continue doing so till February – is just as bad as the others they have produced. Why they can’t use the same promos ITV use is confusing. Why do they constantly choose bad music when ITV harnesses the belgian Scala & Kolacny Brothers choir. ITV may be commercial but they definitely do it tastefully.
I’ll admit I still prefer that it’d air in Autumn or Winter here. After Easter was perfect.
People that haven’t seen season 3 are in for a real treat, it starts off similar to season 1 about the surveillance, rivalries, and relationships but then there is a huge unexpected game changer midseason. Hope it wins every award out there.
@Phoenix
Although it’s true ITV is commercial, it still has a lot less ads then Australian/American tv. In the UK most commercial broadcasters have only 12-15min of ads while in Australia it is 18min of ads. I’ve often watched both the UK and Australian airings and the Australian one always chops out about 5min of content.
I’ve just finished watching season 3 on DVD and it’s every bit as good at the earlier seasons. Julian Fellowes is a master at creating characters you care about, and weaving relationships and plots into an addictive story.
Bring on the 2012 Christmas Special!
@Fairdinkum, agree. Season 3 is brilliant. And in fitness to 7, it is a show made for commercial break. ITV is a commercial broadcaster. Unlike some BBC shows like Mrs Browns Boys or Sherlock where the commercial breaks seems very forced and unnatural.
I think a few politicians will be happy
Having just viewed the DVD’s of series 3 (the best so far IMHO and so much better on DVD without the intrusive tasteless commercials from 7 ) this is good news. Julian Fellowes keeps saying that Downton Abbey is good for 5 series, so fortunately we have a few more years to view one the best TV productions ever.