Claim: Iain Glen is a television actor.

Downton Abbey is a 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 .   The series , set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey between 1912 and 1925 , depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era -- with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy . Events depicted throughout the series include news of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in the first series ; the outbreak of the First World War , the Spanish influenza pandemic , and the Marconi scandal in the second series ; the Irish War of Independence leading to the formation of the Irish Free State in the third series ; the Teapot Dome scandal in the fourth series ; and the British general election of 1923 , the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre , and the Beer Hall Putsch in the fifth series . The sixth and final series introduces the rise of the working class during the interwar period and hints towards the eventual decline of the British aristocracy .   Downton Abbey has received acclaim from television critics and won numerous accolades , including a Golden Globe Award for Best Miniseries or Television Film and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie . It was recognised by Guinness World Records as the most critically acclaimed English-language television series of 2011 . It earned the most nominations of any international television series in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards , with twenty-seven in total -LRB- after two series -RRB- . It was the most watched television series on both ITV and PBS , and subsequently became the most successful British costume drama series since the 1981 television serial of Brideshead Revisited . By the third series , it had become one of the most widely watched television drama shows in the world .   On 26 March 2015 , Carnival Films and ITV announced that the sixth series would be the last . It aired on ITV between 20 September 2015 and 8 November 2015 . The final episode , serving as the annual Christmas special , was broadcast on 25 December 2015 . Although there are no plans in place , there are strong rumours of a future film adaptation , with executive producer Gareth Neame saying that he was `` very interested '' and bookmakers Ladbrokes stating that `` it only looks like being a matter of time before the film is released '' .