--- title: Downton Abbey Season 5 Finale and Season 6 Predictions from History description: What does history hold in store for Season 6 of 'Downton'? canonical: https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-02T06:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:40:52.374Z article:section: History og:title: 7 Historic Moments 'Downton Abbey' Could Tackle Next Season og:description: What does history hold in store for Season 6 of 'Downton'? og:url: https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfe71b2b99812e56/698780e6cd68487136099dd9/dachristmas2014ret64add.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 8917 og:image:height: 5016 og:image:alt: Downton Abbey, Season 5 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Historic Moments 'Downton Abbey' Could Tackle Next Season twitter:description: What does history hold in store for Season 6 of 'Downton'? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfe71b2b99812e56/698780e6cd68487136099dd9/dachristmas2014ret64add.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Historic Moments _Downton Abbey_ Could Tackle Next Season > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-sub-2026q3/newsletters?i=12264fd0-f73d-44ac-97dc-4309b417274e&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) * TIME Subscriptions: [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-sub-2026q3/subscribe?i=12264fd0-f73d-44ac-97dc-4309b417274e&cr=time-sub-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Real Downton Abbey: Highclere Castle [Watch (HLS stream): The Real Downton Abbey: Highclere Castle](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/urM3euyX.m3u8) (4:01)  _Published 2012-01-05. The Countess Carnarvon gives a tour of the fabulous Highclere Castle, her family home and the set of the Masterpiece Classic series Downton Abbey_  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 2, 2015 6:00 AM UTC  The Season 5 cast of 'Downton Abbey' The Season 5 cast of 'Downton Abbey' Nick Briggs—Carnival Film & Television Ltd/PBS  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Mar 2, 2015 6:00 AM UTC **_Contains minor spoilers for the fifth-season finale of_** **Downton Abbey** Now that the fifth season of _Downton Abbey_ has concluded for U.S. viewers, fans have begun the annual months-long wait for new news from Lord Grantham and friends. It’s a wait that tends to be a long one in the real world as well as for the fictional characters: the show, which typically airs in the fall in the U.K. and then in the U.S. at the beginning of the following year, has frequently used the gap between seasons to jump forward in time, which is how the show has covered a dozen years in five seasons. This past season concludes on Christmas Eve, 1924 — and we [know](http://time.com/3718050/downton-abbey-julian-fellowes-jewish/) that the show will not take us beyond the ’30s, no matter how far ahead it jumps — so it’s a safe bet that the Crawley family will likely find themselves picking up the plot sometime in the 1925–1927 range. It’s also a safe bet that the show, which has relied on history as a framing device ever since the sinking of the _Titanic_ set the whole story in motion, will play with some of the biggest moments of that era. So, though little information is known so far about what [Season 6](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/news/downton-abbey-season-6-announced/) holds for _Downton,_ here are a few guesses as to what next season may hold in store: 1\. Even though the rise of Naziism in Germany—and the related death of Michael Gregson—was felt by Edith during the 1924-set season, the years that follow would see much **more Hitler,** as he was no longer in prison. In July of 1925, his book _Mein Kampf_ was released. 2\. Though it’s unlikely to hit the Grantham estate too closely, it would be difficult for the show not to address **trouble with the coal industry.** Low wages and high unemployment had long led to dissatisfaction among miners; in 1926, that distress was the impetus for a general strike among workers from a wide range of industries. Transportation and the press were among the services affected. 3\. It’s extremely unlikely that a **television** will be installed at Downton Abbey—Lord Grantham is only just getting used to a wireless, after all—but news may trickle down of the birth of a new entertainment medium, especially as it will have been a fairly local innovation. “In London, a concern called Television Ltd. obtained licenses to retail the “televisor,” a radio device invented by John L. Baird of Glasgow that permits “looking in as well as listening in,” TIME [reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1926-02-22/page/21) in 1926\. “Broadcasting from a televisor station in London was to begin at once.” 4\. If Edith keeps working at her magazine, she’ll likely have cause to report on the 1926 feat of Gertrude Ederle, who became the **first woman to swim the English Channel,** during a period of what TIME [dubbed](http://time.com/vault/issue/1925-08-17/page/33) “feverish eagerness” to attempt the crossing. 5\. As babies Sybie, George and Marigold grow, they might read from a first edition of A.A. Milne’s **_Winnie-the-Pooh_**, which was published in 1926. 6\. Add this to the list of ways that characters might be killed off: the **influenza epidemic** of 1926–27\. Though not as famous as the Spanish flu outbreak of 1918, the disease was severe enough that TIME [noted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1927-01-24/page/24) that it was “increasing throughout western Europe at so alarming a rate that public health officials have come to fear a pandemic, a world-wide occurrence of this disease” and that “Switzerland, Germany England and France have been severely hit.” 7\. With Rose, Atticus, Tom and Sybie all looking forward to futures across the pond, here’s some very good news for their prospects as guest stars: as of 1927, it was getting easier than ever to communicate and travel between the U.K. and the U.S. January of that year saw the success of the first **transatlantic telephone call**, between the president of the American Telephone & Telegraph Co. and the secretary of the General Postoffice of Great Britain. It wasn’t exactly cheap—$25 a minute, according to TIME’s [report](http://time.com/vault/issue/1927-01-17/page/28)—but it was more accessible than the year’s other big transatlantic feat: the flight of **Charles Lindbergh,** who went to London after his famous landing in France. “\[The crowds\] broke down police barriers, swarmed on the landing-field as soon as his plane was sighted. He swooped down looking for barren ground, saw none, returned skyward,” TIME [reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1927-06-06/page/14) of his arrival in England. “On the second attempt, his plane touched ground, but was forced to rise again because hero-worshipers insisted on dogging his path. His third attempt was rewarded with a clear field. Before he could climb out of his plane, the sea of the mob surrounded him-bowling over women, leaving the official reception committee stranded in the distance.” No matter which of these events actually makes it onto the show, one thing is certain: Mr. Carson and Lord Grantham will say something about how the world is changing, and they’ll be right. _Read next:_ [_Watch_ ](http://time.com/3724702/downton-abbey-hogwarts/?xid=time%5Freadnext)[Downton Abbey _Stars Sort Their Characters Into Hogwarts Houses_](http://time.com/3724702/downton-abbey-hogwarts/?xid=time%5Freadnext) ### See Photos of Maggie Smith Before Her Downton Days  Caption from LIFE. In Maggie Smith's dressing room at London's Old Vic Theatre last winter, the Stephenses modestly entertain other members of the cast of Beaux' Stratagem, a National Theatre production. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Maggie Smith in her dressing room during a break from the play Beaux' Stratagem at the Old Vic Theatre. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens, 1971. Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens, 1971. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. On a Malibu beach outing, Toby rides his father's shoulders, while 4-year-old Christopher romps with his mother. The Stephenses spent 11 weeks rehearsing and performing their revival of Noel Coward's play Design for Living. Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Near the house they rented in Malibu this spring, the Stephenses play with younger son Toby, 2. Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens and their children Toby and Christopher play on the beach in Malibu, California. Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens first met when she joined the National Theatre Company in London. Stephens had been there since its inception in 1963\. It was, as they say, love at first sight: he was already married. Christopher, their first son, was born only four days after the divorce came through and they were able to marry in June 1967. Michael Rougier—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Robert Stephens, Maggie Smith and Denholm Elliott in a scene from the play Design for Living at the Ahmanson Theatre. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens at their home in London, 1971. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. In the sitting room of their London house, Maggie lets Christopher sip some champagne while Robert looks on curiously. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Maggie Smith and her sons Christopher and Toby, 1971. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ## Transcript But welcome to Highclere Castle. I'm Lady Carnarvon and this is a family home. And you'll also know it as Downton Abbey. And the series is shown by PBS. And I'm delighted to show you some of the highlights and some of the ways round our wonderful state rooms. My husband's family have lived here since 1679 and the bishops of Winchester owned it for 800 years before that. But the current castle built on top of the previous buildings was done by Charles Barry, who did the Houses of Parliament in London. So it's a very important building. It's got two or 300 rooms, 50 to 80 bedrooms, some cellars, and it's a masterpiece of Victorian confidence and inspiring architecture and most people will recognize this room from Downton Abbey. It's much used by Julian Fellowes when he's writing the script, but for us as well, it's a much used family room. We normally have a bar set up here with coffees and drinks and champagne or whatever we're having before lunch or supper, and we collect around the fire in the winter evenings to play quiz games and charades. During the First World War, the castle was actually turned into a hospital, and the woman who ran it was the first Countess of Carnarvon. She made herself head matron, and she was called our Mina, our Mina Carnarvon. And I've written a book about this. The history at that time was almost as good as the fiction that you're all seeing on television. The State Dining was a marvelous room. Downton Abbey spent an awful lot of time in here. There's often 14 of them around this room. While the room is dominated by this wonderful van dike of Charles first on horseback. It was painted about 1633. And it's the most amazing feeling to sit in this room with such an extraordinary, huge painting above you. Now, I actually always sit in this chair and my husband always sits opposite me and interestingly enough, I think my mother in law sat here, her mother in law sat there and the staff dining room used to be underneath this dining room and the top ladies made the housekeeper would sit here and the butler where my husband sits, they would mirror the small downstairs we have upstairs. This is our indoor bedroom. It was actually turned into the operating theater in the First World War by America. Now, in the fifth contest, there was no National Health service or during the First World War. It was up to people like our Nina or the military hospitals to nurse men back to health. What is wonderful is having Downton Abbey here means we we have a lot of visitors when we're open, which means the pubs, the local hotels are full. We buy all our local produce from from local suppliers. We've got lots of part time employees and we're completely amazed. And we're all working jolly hard to kind of try to make hay while the sun shines, I think, and make sure visitors who come here enjoy it to make sure we've still got enough days for filming the third series and see where we go after that. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/"},"headline":"7 Historic Moments Downton Abbey Could Tackle Next Season","datePublished":"2015-03-02T06:00:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:40:52.374Z","description":"What does history hold in store for Season 6 of 'Downton'?","url":"https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/","keywords":["Television","TV"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfe71b2b99812e56/698780e6cd68487136099dd9/dachristmas2014ret64add.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdfe71b2b99812e56/698780e6cd68487136099dd9/dachristmas2014ret64add.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Downton Abbey, Season 5","caption":"Downton Abbey, Season 5","creditText":"Nick Briggs—Carnival Film & Television Ltd/PBS","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/","name":"7 Historic Moments Downton Abbey Could Tackle Next Season"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Real Downton Abbey: Highclere Castle","description":"The Countess Carnarvon gives a tour of the fabulous Highclere Castle, her family home and the set of the Masterpiece Classic series Downton Abbey","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/urM3euyX/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-01-05T20:00:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/urM3euyX.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/","duration":"PT4M1S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3721893/downton-abbey-season-six-history/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```