Julian Fellowes said he has “got out of the habit of making permanent statements” on whether the show is gone for good.
After the second Downton Abbey film, A New Era, was released in cinemas last year, the creator of the original series and screenwriter of both big screen outings Julian Fellowes has said he has stopped “making permanent statements” about whether the period drama is gone for good.
It was reported earlier this year that a seventh season of the show, which originally ended in 2015, is in the works, and while Fellowes didn’t confirm this news, he didn’t rule it out either.
Speaking on TalkRadio, as reported by The Sun, Fellowes was asked whether the hit period drama series could return, to which he said: “I have said goodbye to Downton so many times, and I have written the last scene about six or seven times.
“Now I’ve got out of the habit of making permanent statements whether it’s gone.
“It just gives me a lot of pleasure that so many people enjoyed it, so to feel that you created a show that cheers people up and they had a good time with it, I love that.”
Earlier this year, MailOnline reported that an insider had said of a seventh season: “There is a plan which is in development and there is a lot of excitement about. There is casting taking place, and it would be great if all of the big stars can return.
“People loved Downton. It became a British institution and it has been much missed since it left our screens.”
They added: “There is huge excitement around this project. It was a Sunday night favourite and got huge viewing figures. There has been very little to compete with it ever since it ended.”
Since Downton Abbey came to a close, Fellowes has instead been working on American HBO series The Gilded Age, which stars the likes of Carrie Coon, Morgan Spector, Cynthia Nixon and Christine Baranski.
The second season of the show, which follows a young woman in the 1880s entering the New York City social scene, has just finished airing.
