ITV caught fans of Downton Abbey unaware this evening, dropping a trailer for the final series prior to X-Factor as well as announcing the “beginning of the end.”
The end is nigh, Downton fans. We may be writing this article with eyes bleary from a cascade of tears. If we’d deluded ourselves into thinking we might be emotionally prepared to say goodbye to the beloved period drama, we were woefully unprepared for this trailer.
Set to “Time to Say Goodbye” by Lauren Aquilina, making it through the one minute trailer with dry eyes is nearly impossible, as we see flashes of what’s to come in the run up to the Christmas Special — our final goodbye. Well, unless that rumored movie comes about.
We’ll leave you to watch the emotional roller coaster for yourself below. Grab your tissues, you’re going to need them.
Didn’t we warn you it was an emotional roller coaster?
It features everything from lingering moments in empty rooms, to dancing and smiles. We’re not sure we’ll make it out the other side unscathed, before Downton closes its doors for good. Though, with the worrying flashes of Carson removing his name tag and abandoned rooms, we hoped the stately home isn’t actually going to be our final “death” of the series.
During a time where many aristocratic families could no longer use their wealth to keep their opulent houses and lifestyles — though Highclere Castle, the home used for the titular house, was one of the few that remains standing — and most fell to ruin and rubble, it wouldn’t be entirely out of the question that the fictional Downton may follow the same path.
Jim Carter (Mr. Carson) did recently warn us that the final episode on Christmas day would bring even the most stoic of people to tears. He even recommended we bring “two tissues” to the finale.
With the series hitting screens on September 20 in the U.K., we don’t have much longer to wait to find out the fates of all of our favorite characters. From everything concerning Mr. Green’s death still to be resolved and Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes’ wedding, we certainly will have a packed final season.
We just hope we’ll get mostly happy endings for everyone.
Leave us to be optimists.
Downton Abbey returns to ITV for its final outing on September 20, at 9 p.m.