Six seasons and a movie. That's what Downton Abbey fans were treated to when the period drama debuted on Jan. 9, 2011 in the U.
S. on PBS. Yes, it's really been more than 13 years since we were first introduced to the Crawley family and their servants in their stunning home in the English countryside.
Then again, who can forget when Theo James ' character died while deflowering Michelle Dockery 's Lady Mary during its freshman run? Created by Julian Fellowes , the series went on to become a pop culture phenomenon, turning Dockery, Dan Stevens and more of the cast into major stars and introducing one of TV's most beloved characters in Maggie Smith 's Dowager Countess, a.k.a.
the woman born to become a meme, thanks to her quips and insults. (Of course that's just one of the many amazing characters Dame Maggie Smith inhabitated before her death at the age of 89 on Sept. 27.
) After ending its initial run in 2015, viewers made a return trip to Downton Abbey when the first film hit theaters in September 2019 followed by Downton Abbey: A New Era in May 2022. As for Smith, she nabbed three Emmys throughout the series' six-season run, reprising her role in the 2019 and 2022 film adaptations. But when asked about if she had any interest in her celebrity status, Smith told CBS News in 2013, "Absolutely none.
I mean, why would I?" "I don't feel any different to the way I felt before and I'm not quite sure what it means," she continued, though noting that people do recognize her more on th.