All ‘Downton Abbey’ seasons ranked worst to best
If you haven’t yet fallen down the rabbit hole that is Downton Abbey, what are you waiting for? It’s only one of the most delightfully snooty television series ever made!
Downton Abbey went on to air for six seasons, including with two Christmas specials. Two feature films followed in 2019 and 2022. A talented ensemble cast includes highly respected actors such as Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Brendan Coyle, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, and Siobhan Finneran.
Read on to see our ranking of each season of Downton Abbey, from worst (but still outstanding!) to best.
Season 4 (2013)
For many fans, season 4 felt like a placeholder for the series. After Matthew’s (Dan Stevens) explosive death in the season 3 finale, Lady Mary (Dockery) finds out that his death has relieved her and Downton Abbey from their financial troubles … for now. She’s left to raise their newborn son and turn down suitors, and her story is just terribly sad. Meanwhile, Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) begins a doomed romance with a married man and has a baby out of wedlock, later secreting the baby onto the grounds to be raised by a servant. Downstairs, Anna (Joanne Froggatt) is raped, and Bates (Coyle) gets framed for murder (again). It’s bummer after bummer in this season, and with no unifying storyline the whole thing falls flat.
Season 6 (2015)
The final season of Downton Abbey is satisfying because it wraps up multiple storylines at once, including the marriage of Carson (Jim Carter) and Elsie (Phyllis Logan). However, a lot of people complained that it seemed rushed. Both Mary and Edith have stepped up as working mothers, with Mary managing Downton’s daily business and Edith managing a magazine. Lady Rose (Lily James) and her new husband leave for New York City, Tom Branson (Allen Leech) goes to Boston, and Anna faces murder charges. It’s a nostalgic goodbye to characters we’ve come to love.
Season 5 (2014)
Season 5 of Downton Abbey feels like a true soap opera, but any time spent with these characters is still time well spent. Robert (Bonneville), Mary, and Branson are running Downton together now, but Branson wonders if he’s meant for more. Mary finds that she’s ready to love again, and Edith has trouble coping with giving her daughter up. Soon Violet (Dame Maggie Smith) finds out about Marigold, and it’s just a matter of time before the little girl is brought to live in the big house. Downstairs, the servants worry about the future of the estate as well.
Season 3 (2012)
Fair warning, season 3 of Downton Abbey will require all of the Kleenex you have. Not just some; all of them.
Downton Abbey is transformed into a convalescent home for wounded officers at the end of World War I. Sybil becomes a nurse to pitch in on the war effort, and Mary and Matthew finally tie the knot. Robert watches as other great estates in England fail to move into a more modern new world and close their doors for good. Then, the unthinkable happens. Sybil, the sweetest, kindest member of the Crawley family, dies in childbirth. Just when we’ve recovered from that sudden loss, Matthew also loses his life in a driving accident, leaving the season dangling on a cliffhanger.
Season 1 (2010)
The first season of Downton Abbey is the one that got us all hooked, so it has to be high up on this list. Here we get to meet each member of the Crawley family as well as the servants who complete their lives. In the first season, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 causes financial and inheritance concerns for the family. Robert frets that the estate will go to a distant family member, and World War 1 looms.
Season 2 (2011)
Fans and critics adored the second season of Downton Abbey, which felt practically perfect from start to finish. The estate is struggling to stay afloat amidst the ongoing Great War, and Matthew comes home paralyzed from the waist down. He becomes engaged to marry Lavinia (Zoe Boyle), but when she dies from Spanish Flu he and Mary rekindle their romance. With themes like blackmail, betrayal, and lust at play, this is one of the poshest soap operas you’ll ever fall in love with.
All seasons of Downton Abbey are currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
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