Downton Abbey officially has a season premiere date but sadly for American fans, it won’t coincide with the premiere date in the U.K. The fifth season of the popular British period drama will return to American television screens on PBS beginning on January 4.
PBS chief Paula Kerger made the announcement of the series’ return this morning at the TCA Summer TV Press Tour, while also commenting on the fact that the series saw a 16 percent increase in viewership over the course of the fourth season.
While American fans will undoubtedly be disgruntled over the fact that the return of Downton Abbey will not bring with it an air date that closer coincides with the UK release of season 5, Deadline points out that Kerger has spoken in the past about the matter. Specifically, during the last round of TCAs, Kerger was quoted as saying that PBS has no plans to air the show closer to when it premieres in the UK. The decision is also fueled by the fact that the show has seen a significant increase in viewership over the course of the four seasons which only serves to entice PBS to keep it where it is in their yearly lineup. “It’s become a bit of a tradition after the holidays to come together to watch Downton,” said Kerger. “The audience build over the years…argues to keep the January time frame.”
While Downton Abbey is slated to make its grand return early next year, Kerger made a point to say that PBS still has yet to receive a tentative date for when Sherlock will be ready to air. “Because it’s coming from our partners in the U.K., we have to wait to know when it will be finished.” said Kerger. “But whenever it comes, we’ll put it in a wonderful place and we know the next season is going to be terrific.”
Downton Abbey season 5 returns to PBS in the U.S. on January 4, 2015.