'Downton Abbey' Final Season premieres January 3 on PBS; Series Finale to Air March 6

Michelle Dockery stars as Lady Mary Crawley.

The top PBS drama of all time approaches its climactic chapter when the final season of Downton Abbey premieres January 3, 2016, on Masterpiece.

The year is 1925. Momentous changes threaten the great house, and its owners and its servants, while past scandals loom. The beloved ensemble is back for the farewell season, closing the book on a television legend.

Downton Abbey will air Sundays, January 3 - February 21 at 9 p.m. ET. The series finale will air March 6 at 9 p.m. ET.

Watch a preview of the sixth and final season below:

'Downton Abbey' Final Season Trailer Released

Maggie Smith stars in Downton Abbey as Violet Crawley,
Dowager Countess of Grantham.

Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama Downton Abbey returns to PBS for a sixth and final season of intimately interlaced stories centered on an English country estate in January 2015. The show, which the highest-rated drama in PBS history, premieres on September 20 in the UK.

Making their bittersweet farewell are members of the beloved cast, including Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter, Joanne Froggatt, Penelope Wilton, Phyllis Logan, Laura Carmichael, Brendan Coyle, Lesley Nicol, Sophie McShera, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Kevin Doyle, Samantha Bond, David Robb, Raquel Cassidy and Michael Fox.

The UK's ITV network has released a trailer for the final season. Watch it below:

'Downton Abbey' Season 5 Premiere on PBS Averages 10.1 Million Viewers

Downton Abbey Season 5 premiered to a huge audience on PBS.

Sunday’s Season 5 premiere of Downton Abbey on PBS' Masterpiece delivered an average audience of 10.1 million viewers tuned in for Sunday’s premiere (Nielsen Fast National data, 6.1 household rating). Downton Abbey on Masterpiece remains the highest-rated drama in PBS history.

The fifth season premiere of the Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG Award-winning series, a Carnival Films/Masterpiece co-production, is the second-highest rated episode of the series to date, nearly even with the Season 4 premiere (10.2 million viewers, 6.2 household rating – Nielsen Fast National, Live+Same Day). Between 9:00-10:15 p.m., PBS was the second most-watched network on Sunday (based on weighted metered market program averages).

Viewership for the premiere remained solid throughout the episode’s one-hour, 15-minute duration. Many of these viewers stayed to watch THE MANNERS OF DOWNTON ABBEY, a one-hour documentary exploring the world of English etiquette with host Alastair Bruce, historical advisor to “Downton Abbey.” Viewership for the program was 250 percent above the season-to-date time period average for Sunday nights from 10:15-11:15 p.m.

'Downton Abbey' Season 5 Premieres Tonight on PBS

Downton Abbey Season 5 premieres Sunday,  January 4 on PBS.

New loves, new secrets, new Downton Abbey! Season 5 of the international hit series from writer and creator Julian Fellowes returns to Masterpiece on PBS tonight at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Downton Abbey returns for an epic fifth season featuring returning stars Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Jim Carter, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Robert James-Collier, Penelope Wilton, Phyllis Logan, Lily James, Brendan Coyle, Lesley Nicol, Sophie McShera, Samantha Bond, Ed Speleers, Kevin Doyle, Raquel Cassidy, David Robb, Tom Cullen, Julian Ovenden, Daisy Lewis, Douglas Reith, Jeremy Swift, and Andrew Scarborough.

This acclaimed ensemble is joined by guest stars Harriet Walter (Atonement), reprising her role as Lady Shackleton, and Peter Egan (Death at a Funeral), who returns as Lord Flintshire, together with completely new characters played by Richard E. Grant (Girls), Anna Chancellor (The Hour), and Rade Sherbedgia (24).

Watch a scene from tonight's premiere episode below:

DOWNTON ABBEY Season 4 Finale Preview

Shirley MacLaine returns to DOWNTON ABBEY.

The finale of DOWNTON ABBEY Season 4 airs on PBS' MASTERPIECE on Sunday, February 23 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.,

Six months after the bazaar, the Crawleys head to London for Rose's presentation before the king. Mary's suitors await them, the Levinsons join them, and a potentially explosive scandal threatens to embroil them.

Watch a sneak peek video below:

DOWNTON ABBEY Preview: Estate Management, Anna's Secret and a New Ally for Thomas

Anna (Joanne Froggatt) tries to keep her secret.

Season 4 of DOWNTON ABBEY continues on PBS' MASTERPIECE on Sunday, January 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Questions of estate management pit Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Tom against Robert, while Bates' questions about Anna's (Joanne Froggatt) suffering pressure Mrs. Hughes. Thomas installs a new ally, Violet hires a new gardener, and Alfred (Matt Milne) cooks up some ambition.

Watch a sneak peek video below:

DOWNTON ABBEY Preview: Mary, Edith, Tom and Anna Each Struggle With A Dilemma

Gary Carr debuts on DOWNTON ABBEY as Jack Ross.

Season 4 of DOWNTON ABBEY continues on PBS' MASTERPIECE on Sunday, January 19 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Love is in the air at Downton Abbey and darker emotions too, as Mary (Michelle Dockery), Edith (Laura Carmichael), Tom (Allen Leech), and Anna (Joanne Froggatt) each struggle with a dilemma. Things are cooking for Ivy (Cara Theobold) and Alfred (Matt Milne) , and heating up in London.

Watch a sneak peek video below:

PREVIEW: DOWNTON ABBEY (Season 3, Episode 6)

The third season of DOWNTON ABBEY continues its PBS run on Sunday, February 10 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In the two-hour sixth episode, Robert is keen on putting together a viable team for the annual cricket match against the town.

Also, Lady Violet's niece, Rose, arrives.

Watch a sneak peek below:

NEWS ROUNDUP: Scott Foley Joins SCANDAL, Maggie Smith Staying With DOWNTON ABBEY

Scott Foley joins SCANDAL
Details on Foley’s role are being kept under the tightest of wraps, but sources confirm that he’s on board for a major arc to air towards the end of the show’s current second season.

Apple To Offer Three DOWNTON ABBEY Episodes On iTunes Ahead Of PBS Broadcast
Apple said yesterday that North American subscribers to iTunes who purchase a season pass for the show will get a jump on the last three episodes of season three before they air on PBS. The episodes, including the special season finale which airs on February 17, will be available for download on iTunes beginning January 29.

Maggie Smith returning to DOWNTON ABBEY for Season 4
Smith’s decision to stick around ensures that all of the show’s major castmembers are on board for Season 4, with the exceptions below:

PREVIEW: DOWNTON ABBEY Season 3 Continues On PBS

The third season of DOWNTON ABBEY continues its PBS run on Sunday, January 13 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

In the episode, the fate of Downton Abbey hinges on a letter from a dead man, while Edith and Sir Anthony face their own fateful moment.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hughes confronts a crisis.

Watch a sneak peek below:

Indian Character on DOWNTON ABBEY? Maggie Smith Leaving?

Julian Fellowes, DOWNTON ABBEY's creator, said that he would like to introduce black or Indian characters into the program.

When asked about criticism in some quarters that DOWNTON, which concluded its third season on ITV in the UK last night, does not contain any black characters, the writer said it would be “rather nice to open it up ethnically a bit”.

He told The Daily Telegraph: "Oh I think that’s rather a good idea. You have to work it in in a way that is historically believable, but I am sure we could do that. [The show] certainly ought to have an Indian character from that period."

NOMINATIONS: BAFTA Awards 2012 - Maggie Smith, EASTENDERS, CORONATION STREET

The nominations have been revealed for the Arqiva British Academy Television Awards which will take place on Sunday, May 27, 2012. Below are some of the categories of interest to soap fans:

Soap & Continuing Drama
CORONATION STREET, ITV Studios/ITV1

NEWS ROUNDUP: Chandler Massey's 16-Love, Y&R Cover Charge, Sh!t the Dowager Countess Says

Chandler Massey talks about his 16-Love character
"I like quite a bit about him. The thing I liked is he's a guy whose not afraid to stick his neck out there and go for it and fall flat on his face sometimes," Massey said.

Y&R: "Really should be listed with the sex stations and accompanied by a cover charge"
Terry Sprague laments the decline of quality programs on television: "Even THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, a program that really should be listed with the sex stations and accompanied by a cover charge, has deteriorated well beyond what I thought it was capable of doing. There is not one living soul in Genoa City who has not been in bed with everyone else in that city."

Y&R's Tonya Lee Williams believes daytime drama is dying
“Now I look at daytime drama as a piece of history,” Williams said during a recent telephone interview from her home in Los Angeles. “Popularity is cyclical and budgets (for network television) are shrinking. If you’re not a CSI or CRIMINAL MINDS with gory autopsies and psycho killers, you’re at the bottom of the ladder. Things are changing, shifting. Reality television rules. I’m not dissing reality television. It’s just the way things are now.”

Williams will receive the Martin Luther King Jr. Award at the Black Theatre Workshop Vision Gala, Jan. 28.