Downton Abbey’s executive producer has promised that, unlike last year, nobody will meet their maker in the forthcoming Christmas special.
Liz Trubridge told TV & Satellite Week that after 2012’s sob-fest, which saw us weeping into our crackers and Christmas pudding following the shocking death of Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), no one is set to end up in a coffin this year.
“Nobody dies, that much I can tell you,” she laughs. “I am sorry about last year, but what do you do when you have a treasured character who wants to leave? But we won’t do that this time!”
That’s not to say the Christmas special won’t be exciting. It is set to follow on from the cliffhangers that are left from the series finale that airs this Sunday on ITV at 9pm, and will also see the return of Shirley Maclaine as Cora’s mother Martha and Paul Giamatti as Cora’s playboy brother Harold.
“It is packed full of story and it is without question the biggest episode we have ever done, it is the most spectacular, it’s not set at Christmas and we won’t be splitting up the family and the servants this time,” reveals Liz. “It is lovely how happy Shirley was to come back and Paul is just a dream, you can’t take your eyes off him.”
For the full interview with the inside story on the finale and the controversies surrounding the current series, read TV & Satellite Week.
