'Downton Abbey' Season 4 News: Series Picked Up For More Episodes!
With Season 3 of the highly popular British-American period drama "Downton Abbey" ending earlier this month in the U.K., many fans of the series have sat in wonder over whether there would be a fourth season of the show. Fortunately for its loyal masses, ITV network just announced on Friday that it had plans to bring back the costume drama.
Airing in its Sunday night slot, the series from Julian Fellowes impressively beat out the X Factor late in the season, which usually outperformed the show. Nonetheless, a fourth installment of "Downton Abbey" initially appeared to still be up in the air, as Fellowes previously spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on Nov. 20 over whether ITV had ordered more episodes.
"We don't know. We haven't had a commission. But I think it would be pretty odd if there wasn't."
While the show raked an average of 9.7 million viewers in the U.K., it has also been a big hit in the U.S. where it recently went up against "Mad Men" and "Homeland" for 17 Emmy awards.
However, Maggie Smith was the only member of "Downton Abbey" to take home an award for her performance as Dowager Countess (Supporting Actress in a Drama Series).
Taking place in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, the series chronicles the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family during the post-Edwardian era and revolves around historic events that took place during that respective time period.
Next up for "Downton Abbey" will be its two-hour Christmas special, which originally was filmed in August. The featured piece is set to air in the U.K. on Christmas Day. It's rumored that the specialty episode's storyline may not revolve around a holiday theme.
The show is set to premiere in the U.S. on the PBS network on January 6.
