'Downton Abbey' Season 6, Final Episodes Spoilers [RUMORS]: 2015 - 2016 Series Finale Will End PBS Show?

After a great run on PBS's Masterpiece Theater, iTV's Downton Abbey will officially end in 2016 with the airing of its season 6 episodes. This news comes soon after the announcement that Maggie Smith would leave the show after the sixth season, bringing an end to her character, the Dowager Countess. Considering how important her role is to the show, we assume the end of the series had at least something to do with her leaving, but now we have to think of how the story will come to and end! Keep reading to learn more about this news.

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Though this news has yet to be confirmed by iTV or PBS, a TVLine report quotes an inside source saying that season 6 will end the series (via The Hollywood Reporter).

"You can keep the show going without Matthew and Sybill, but you can't continue it without the entire Crawley family," the source reportedly said.

PBS recently announced that season six of the series had started production, with no mention of a finale or an end in sight.

"At its heart, television is about storytelling, and Downton Abbey is certainly storytelling at Downton Abbey and the Crawley family have kept us on the edge of our seats as they navigate through some of the biggest moments of the 20th century," said PBS CEO Paula Kerger. "Along with our member stations, PBS can't wait to share the next season of Downton drama with our audiences."

Meanwhile, Maggie Smith's recent announcement of her leaving the show started the rumors of the series coming to an end next year.

"They say this is the last one, and I can't see how it could go on," Smith told the Sunday Times last month. "I mean, I certainly can't keep going... To my knowledge, I must be 110 by now. We're into the late 1920s."

You can read more on this report here!