'Downton Abbey' EP: Emmy Noms Will 'Inspire Everyone to a Great Finish'

Downton Abbey is closing its doors for good later this year, but it’s hoping for one last hurrah before the end.

The British drama, which is currently filming its sixth and final season, earned eight Emmy nominations Thursday morning, including Outstanding Drama, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Joanne Froggatt), and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Jim Carter).

The good news is welcome to the cast and crew, who are mourning their final days on the Downton set, as executive producer Gareth Neame tells Yahoo TV. We spoke to him a few hours after the nominations were announced.

Congrats on all the nominations! Did you watch the announcement or did you get a phone call?
Every year, I watch it live. I’m always up to see the announcements, then I have the joy of ringing around my team to say who’s been nominated for what. I managed to get Jim Carter, who was collecting his bicycle from the bicycle repair shop, and told him the good news.

What was his reaction?
I think his head was in fixing his bike, so he was a bit thrown. I think he forgot that it was being announced today. He was very pleased.

Will the cast and crew be celebrating in any special way?
We are shooting at the moment. We are literally into the final four weeks of the final season, Season 6. The crew right now are shooting up in the north of England, quite a distant location for us. But everyone is very happy, and it’s just the kind of thing you need when you’re coming into the final few weeks of the show. Everyone is feeling a bit mixed about it all coming to an end — people are disappointed and sad that the journey is going to end very soon, so this is great news to inspire everyone to a good finish.

This is Jim Carter’s fourth nomination as Mr. Carson. Do you think he’ll finally get the win now that Carson proposed to Mrs. Hughes?
Well, I love Jim. It’s amazing how he keeps getting these nominations. Jim Carter was a pretty well known actor in England, but very unknown in the United States before this show. And I think what that says is that people really respect his acting, and they love the character that Julian Fellowes has created.

Joanne Froggatt also was nominated for a third time as Anna. She won the Golden Globe earlier this year, so do you think that gives her a better chance to win the Emmy?
I have no idea. She’s given a very compelling performance. It’s such an adorable character, who’s had so many interesting storylines. Joanne is another actress who wasn’t hugely well-known in the U.S. before the show, but her profile has been raised enormously. People just love the character. Of all of the characters in Downton, she’s the most expressively warm-hearted, good person, but she’s had so much misfortune, so that makes her such a compelling character to watch.

Do you and the writers try especially to give Anna and Bates stories that challenge them?
Definitely. The story of Anna and Mr. Bates is one where they connected right from the moment they met in the first episode, but they’ve had more roadblocks put in front of them — probably even more than Lady Edith, who’s had her share of disappointments. It’s been such a twisty, turning, meandering storyline, and she’s played it with such conviction.

So, as you mentioned before, you’re in the last few weeks of filming. Can you describe the final season in a few words?
We always said that the show is about an end of an era, so this will be the season where we start to see some of these stories tied up. Some people reach resolutions. Some of the stories will be good, and some will be bad — that’s the normal way with Downton. I think it will be a satisfying conclusion for the fans.

But we shouldn’t expect happy endings for all of the characters?
Not with this show.

Not even Lady Edith? Oh, come on! Give her a break!
[Laughs.] Oh, we’ll have to see.

The 67th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will air Sunday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. on Fox.