The curtain is finally falling on Downton Abbey, six TV series and three films after its debut 15 years ago. About double that amount of time has passed in Downton-land. It opened on the sinking of the Titanic in 1902, and closes in 1930 with Noël Coward penning his play Cavalcade, which featured the sinking of the unsinkable ship.
Downton has also proved fairly unsinkable, buoyed by being a ratings hit and box office success. Alas, Dame Maggie Smith didn’t make it to the final outing, but an uncanny portrait of her as Violet Crawley has been installed in the foyer of Downton Abbey to watch over proceedings.
