Although PBS' British-American drama Downton Abbey is garnering a massive amount of attention for its upcoming fourth season, its creators were forced to deal with a slew of major issues.

According to Variety, "two lead characters were set to depart, weddings were planned, and trespassing photographers were becoming a nuisance," amongst other production discrepancies.

Executive producer Gareth Neame spoke about those difficulties that the show faces due to its overwhelming popularity.

"The show became harder to make because of its popularity, ironically. We'd have paparazzi in the undergrowth for hours trying to get a great shot," he said.

The EP also touched on the disappointment that the Downton brass felt when losing Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley), who was ultimately killed off via car accident in its Christmas Special.

"Exits like those give you real dramatic rocket fuel, but we were hoping Dan would stay on the show. And when we couldn't keep him in multiple season, we tried for extra episodes, but he didn't want to do that," Neame said.

Lady Mary's love life and newbie actor Jack Ross' presence addressed

Downton Abbey is set to launch in the U.S. on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014, and run until Sunday, February 23, 2014. Be sure to keep checking back for more of the latest details on the TV series. The latest scoop on the upcoming season can be viewed below.

Tags
Downton abbey, Television, PBS, ITV