Julian Fellowes explains why he didn’t take ‘Downton Abbey’ into the 1930s

The creator of Downton Abbey has revealed why he chose not to explore the characters in the pre-World War II setting of the 1930s.

The period drama’s final episode was set in 1925.

Taking part in a webchat with The Guardian, writer Julian Fellowes was asked: “Why didn’t you extend Downton Abbey into the 1930s and the rise of Hitler?”

The fan suggested: “Within that estate you could have Chamberlain/Baldwin/appeasers, the Churchillians, communists, Mosley’s fascists. Great fun. Lady Mary should be appeaser who realises her grave error.”

Fellowes answered: “For me, in one way, I felt I’d already done that in [Gosford Park].”

He explained: “I did think it would be fun to do it in the [1970s]. In the whole series we went from 1912 to 1925 and you can believably keep the same actors in that range – maybe with a bit more grey at the temples. If there’s a bigger jump in time there’s less believability in it.”

The complete Downton Abbey collection is available on DVD on Amazon.