Get a first look at our fave Downton Abbey characters in new images from the final season, including Mr. Carson (Jim Carter), Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan), Bates (Brendan Coyle), Anna (Joanne Froggatt), and more. Also read a sneak peek of what we can expect in Season 6.
With Downton Abbey’s sixth and final series about to debut next month in the U.K. (ITV), fans can expect a few sneak peeks of the upcoming episodes. While Season 6 won’t debut in the U.S. until Jan. 3, 2016 (PBS Masterpiece), we can still enjoy the glimpses of what the series holds for us!
Earlier today, (via Downton‘s official twitter account) fans were able to unlock the official Season 6 artwork. The poster (below) features our favorite Upstairs and Downstairs characters…though, there are noticeable absences, like Lady Rose (Lily James), Branson (Allen Leech), and Sybbie (Fifi Hart) 🙁
The artwork also makes it pretty clear that Downton Abbey is in it’s twilight as the sun is (literally) setting on the series:

ITV and PBS Masterpiece also released eight new photo stills from the upcoming season. We see that our fave couples—Mr. Carson (Jim Carter)/Mrs. Hughes (Phyllis Logan) and Bates (Brendan Coyle)/Anna (Joanne Froggatt)—are still going strong, Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) and the other Grantham ladies are looking gorgeous as ever, and Andy (Michael Fox) has officially joined the family:
On August 1, during their 2015 Television Critics Association (TCA) summer press tour presentation, PBS debuted the first look at Downton Abbey Season 6. According to Zap2It, the sneak peek teased Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes’ wedding (*EEEEEP*), Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) has struck out on her own as a London businesswoman, Branson (Allen Leech) is lonely in America and missing Downton, and unsurprisingly, Isobel (Penelope Wilton) and Lady Violet have some heated disagreements about the hospital and patient care. You can read more about preview HERE.
I don’t know about you, but I’m already getting verklempt just thinking about the end of Downton! Seeing all the photos that cast members have posted from set of their final days isn’t really helping matters either. Just check out the #LastDaysOfDownton tag on Twitter and Instagram (Hypable has a great summary post that you can see HERE).
I’m just hoping that everyone has a relatively peaceful HEA…especially Bates/Anna and Lady Edith! If you haven’t done so already, go HERE to take a look at how a few Downton cast-members would like to see the series end for their characters. Make sure to share your thoughts and feels in comments too!