The cast of Downton Abbey have finished filming the final ever episode of the ITV drama that's taken the world by storm.

The sixth and final series of the period drama from Julian Fellowes will premiere on Sunday, September 20, so here's everything you need to know as viewers prepare to bid a fond farewell to the Crawleys and the Granthams.

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Downton Abbey: Why it had to end after its 6th series



When will the final episode air and be set?

There are no precise dates yet, but the final ever episode of Downton Abbey will be its Christmas special, and will most likely be broadcast on Christmas Day as with previous years.

The eight-part final series will mostly take place in 1925, the year of John Logie Baird's first TV with greyscale images and The Great Gatsby. By the time of the finale however, it will have taken us up to Christmas 1927.

But if you're in the US, you'll have to wait until next year - the final run only gets started on PBS in January 2016.

What's happened between series 5 and 6?

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Fellowes recently confirmed that the series takes place six months after last year's Christmas special, with Lady Rose (Lily James) moving to America with new husband Atticus (Matt Barber).

Meanwhile, Tom (Allen Leach) has moved to Boston, while "some faces that we met towards the end of the fifth season may or may not be coming over the horizon to break or make the hearts of Lady Mary and Lady Edith and people like that".

Edith continues to raise Marigold, Carson and Mrs Hughes are planning their wedding, and Anna still remains under suspicion over the death of the nasty Mr Green.

Who will be coming back?

Carnival/Nick Briggs



The majority of all the main cast members are back again, including Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Rob-James Collier, Phyllis Logan, Sophie McShera, Elizabeth McGovern, Lesley Nicol, Laura Carmichael, Penelope Wilton and, of course, Dame Maggie Smith.



Series five newcomers Michael C Fox and Sue Johnston are back as Andy and Denker, while Jeremy Swift's Spratt will also get a bigger role.

Who's uncertain to return?

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Allen Leach's Tom Branson appeared to be on the way out at the end of series five, but the actor was spotted filming scenes for the Christmas special at the very least.



Lily James's rise to Hollywood may reduce her involvement in series six, while it has yet to be confirmed whether Tom Cullen's Lord Gillingham or Julian Ovenden's Charles Blake will come back, though the latter told Digital Spy that he'd love to.

Who has joined the cast this year?

She's recently best known for playing Miranda Hart's mum in Miranda, but Patricia Hodge has joined the cast in an unspecified role for the Christmas special.

Matthew Goode is also back full-time as Mary's latest love interest Henry Talbot, who appeared very briefly in last year's Christmas episode.

There is no firm plan to make a movie



Julian Fellowes and producer Gareth Neame said earlier this year that they had mixed feelings about making a movie spinoff, and that the end of the series will have some form of conclusion.



Neame said: "We are up for doing it, the cast is up for doing it. There are a lot of things to work out. We have the ambition to do it, but no firm plan about it or when it would happen."

Violet Crawley may return in another show

Nick Briggs



Fellowes has hinted that a young version of Maggie Smith's Dowager may make an appearance in his upcoming drama The Gilded Age on NBC.



The series will follow millionaires living in New York City during the 1880s, and Fellowes said: "Robert Grantham would be in his early teens, Cora would be a child. A young Violet could make an appearance."

There could be a spinoff set in the 1970s

Nick Briggs



Fellowes has spoken about the prospect of future spinoffs of the Downton Cinematic Universe, including one featuring grandchildren in the 1970s.



"I think in ten years, it could be quite fun - when we have all forgotten about it - if it came back as Downton struggling in the 1970s," he said.

There might even be a prequel



Another of Fellowes's ideas could see a one-off or series that tells the story of how the Earl and Countess of Grantham first met.



It would feature younger actors playing the parts made famous by Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville, with the latter's character previously admitting that he only fell in love with his wife after they married. It remains to be seen whether ITV decide to pick this idea up.

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