Downton Abbey creator, Julian Fellowes, has hinted that the hit period drama could continue without him.
The award-winning screenwriter hinted his commitment to US TV show 'The Gilded Age', for which he has written the pilot episode, could bring his involvement with the popular ITV period drama to an end.
He told The New York Times: "If I'm doing a series at NBC, I would not be able to write all of 'Downton' and all of that series at the same time. I would hope that by the time all the hurdles have been cleared, the timing makes it so I can then concentrate on the new series.
"If 'Downton' goes on - of course, that's not my decision - then it would be with other writers. Perhaps with me supervising, but with other writers ... I know I would not be able to write 11 hours of 'Downton' and 10 hours of 'The Gilded Age', or whatever it is, side by side."
Despite the Emmy award-winning drama gaining international success and recently being renewed for a fourth season, Julian believes the show's shelf life is short and it would be time to move on soon regardless.
He acknowledged: "My own belief is that these things have a life, and one of the tricks is to recognise when it's time to come to an end. But we haven't made a decision when that will be. Some things go on for 20 years, don't they, but I just don't see 'Downton' being one of them."
The writer did admit, however, that he wants to see the show end on his "own terms".