Downton Abbey is a British
historical period drama television series created by
Julian Fellowes and co-produced by
Carnival Films and
Masterpiece. It first aired on
ITV in the
United Kingdom on 26 September 2010, and on
PBS in the
United States on 9 January 2011, as part of the
Masterpiece Classic anthology. Six series have been made, the sixth airing in the autumn of 2015 in the UK and Ireland. The fifth began airing in the United States on 4 January 2015. On 26 March 2015, the sixth series was confirmed to be the final series, with the final episode airing in the UK on 25 December 2015 on
ITV.