DOWNTON ABBEY Set for 10 More Seasons?

According to the New York Daily News, Downton Abbey executive producer Gareth Neame hopes to see the popular historical drama remain on the air for another ten seasons. Neame tells the News, "I think it is going to Go On for a while. Right now the show is still growing in the U.S. and it would be awful to think of the show ending."

He adds, "I would rather let the show run between four and 10 years, I imagine," he says, "I would rather that we picked the right year [to end] and that in 20 years time the show was loved, rather than we went on a season too long and people fell out of love with it."

The EP credits creator and writer Julian Fellowes with the show's enormous success, both in the UK and the U.S. and hopes the day will never come when he'll have to find a successor for him. "I dread that day when there might be a time we might bring a couple of other writers into that process. We have been very fortunate and a key part of the show's success is Julian. He invented all the characters and every word they say and that has got to be part of the success of the show," says Neame. "I hope to keep him for as long as we possibly can. What Julian does is unique."

"Downton Abbey" will return for its fourth season in September 2013 in the U.K. American fans will have to wait until January 2014 to watch the continuing saga.