Why did Downton Abbey end after six seasons?

There is no doubt that Downton Abbey was still popular at the time it came to an end. It makes many people wonder why the series ended after six seasons, especially since there were two more movies (and a third on the way).

Part of it comes down to ending something when it’s still hot. Another part comes down to a certain cast member who wasn’t willing to sign on for a seventh season.

Downton Abbey ended on a high

All good things come to an end. Sure, we can question why Law & Order: SVU and NCIS still get to go on, but the truth is that we want TV shows to end when they are on a high. That was the case for Downton Abbey. Fans still wanted more, and it made the ending all the more powerful.

It’s because it’s still so popular that there have been movies to continue the story. After all, it’s not like the lives of those living at Downton Abbey came to an end just because the series did.

Maggie Smith didn’t want to sign on for another season

It also came down to Maggie Smith not wanting to sign on for a seventh season. Smith wasn’t up for another rigorous year of TV filming, which is the case for a show like Downton Abbey. She was a recent cancer survivor at the time of the production, and she just wanted to take a break. We can’t really blame her. Movies don’t take as long in production, so it made sense for her to not want to do the show but want to do movies.

Couldn’t the show have killed Lady Violet off and continued the story with other characters? That would have made sense, but it looks like nobody had the heart to do that at the time. Would fans tune in again if that happened considering Violet was one of the fan-favorite characters?

Well, we’re about to find out how fans take the third movie. The second movie saw the death of Lady Violet Crawley. After all, nobody can live forever!