By Michaela Gordoni
DOWNTON ABBEY originally had a different title, but higher-ups nixed it.
The series creator, Julian Fellowes, recently revealed that the show was initially called “Charford Manor,” which was the name of the house his great-grandfather lived in. However, higher-ups rejected the title because it was too similar to CRANFORD, a BBC period drama that came out three years before DOWNTON.
Fellows was able to still turn to his history to come up with the show’s current title.
“[My] great-grandfather had started something called the Downton Cultural College in Wiltshire, so I changed it to ‘Downton Manor’ for a bit,” Fellowes told the Television Academy. “Then it became ‘Downton Park.’ But after ‘Gosford Park,’ I felt I was turning into a park keeper. I called it ‘Abbey’ after another house I knew.”
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“There was a brief moment of panic that everyone would think it was about monks. We felt that if they saw one trailer, they would be reassured,” he said.
DOWNTON ABBEY had six TV seasons and three movies in its franchise, which cover the eras of 1912-1930.
Fellows said there will not be any more episodes or movies in the franchise because he doesn’t want to step into the WWII era. Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933.
He told EW, “I didn’t really want to get into the Nazis and Germany and the lead up to the Second World War. I wanted to leave at a time when that had not yet become apparent as a threat.”
He said of the franchise’s end, “It is sad. It’s been a huge chunk of my life. And when I die, I think it’ll probably be the only job anyone remembers. But I hope it’s been happy.”
Fellows recently reflected on the franchise and its actors in a PBS interview. After a short while of working with the actors, Fellows developed a lot of confidence in the cast.
“You gradually come to the point when you’re writing for a performance you’ve already seen, and so you’re not guessing how they’re going to be acting. You know how they’re going to be acting,” he explained.
“I feel that the characters were created by me writing and the actors together to make these people happen,” Fellows said. “And I enjoyed that very much. And I loved the cast. They worked together very well. They were a very strong ensemble.”
The last moment in the franchise, DOWNTON ABBEY: THE GRAND FINALE, is available to stream now on Peacock, per TVLine.
Read Next: DOWNTON ABBEY: A NEW ERA
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