The 'Downton' countdown begins

BEVERLY HILLS - The Abbey is being dissolved.

Not instantly, mind you: Come January, we'll still get another season of this Masterpiece favorite, the highest rated drama in PBS's history. But when that upcoming sixth season of Downton Abbey comes to its end, so will the series.

Why now? Producer Gareth Neame, heading up the final Downton panel at the Television Critics Association press tour, says the original idea was to end after the fifth season, but they felt that would rush the story they wanted to tell. And they also felt they could have easily gone on to a seventh or eighth season, but were afraid they'd end up eeking the story out. So they settled on six.

"Maybe we're leaving a little bit early, but I think on a really high note."

As has become tradition, Downton will end in Britain with a Christmas special. Neame says it's because where Americans go to the movies on Christmas, the Brits eat turkey, exchange gifts and watch TV.

"We have no Thanksgiving, so we have to push everything into Christmas day," says Neame. "People in Britain, you always want to be with your favorite TV characters and TV shows."

Of course, Downton did kill a favorite character, Matthew, on Christmas. "That was a bit awkward."

When the show ends, the year will be 1925, so we'll be spared seeing the Crawley family going through the Depression and World War II. At least on TV: Neame says they're still toying with the idea of doing a movie sometime down the road. "I think a Downton movie could be a wonderful thing, but we don't have a script or a firm plan or anything like that."

For now, though, the cast only has two weeks left of shooting, all of it in the studio, having said goodbye to the castles and villages they've used as locations. They all say they'll miss each other. And the hats. And the costumes. And, says Elizabeth McGovern, one more thing.

"I'll miss being in a hit TV show. There's nothing wrong with that."

Now that it's ending, what would they like to take home from the set?

"The only souvenir I want to take home is Lady Mary, really," says Joanne Froggatt, who plays Anna Bates. "And Mr. Bates!"