The servants’ bells at “Downton Abbey” will soon ring for their last time, the dowager countess will dispense¹ her final piece of tart-tongued advice, and the story of the changing fortunes of the Crawley family will come to a conclusion.

唐顿庄园》(Downton Abbey)召唤仆人的铃铛很快就要摇最后一次了，老伯爵夫人将再提出她最后一条尖酸刻薄的建议，克劳利家族多舛的命运也将有一个最终的定论。

On Thursday, the makers² of “Downton Abbey,” the lavishly³ costumed and circuitously⁴ written period drama about an aristocratic British household and its domestic staff in the early 20th century, confirmed rumors⁵ that its coming sixth season will be its last.

有着华丽服饰和曲折情节的年代剧《唐顿庄园》，讲述了20世纪初一个英国贵族家庭和他们的仆人们的故事。本周四，《唐顿庄园》的制片方证实了传闻，表示即将到来的第六季将是《唐顿庄园》的最后一季。

The announcement is a bittersweet moment for the worldwide audience that has followed this serialized drama from its debut⁶ in 2010. Its narrative⁷ was full of heartbreaking twists and turns, juxtaposing births, marriages, affairs, divorces, rape⁸ and sudden deaths with historical events like the sinking of the Titanic⁹ and the waging of World War I.

这个声明，对于从2010年《唐顿庄园》首登屏幕起就追随它的全球观众来说，是一个五味杂陈的时刻。这部戏充满了令人心碎、百转千回的情节，在泰坦尼克号沉没和“一战”爆发等历史事件的背景下，剧中人物出生、结婚、发生婚外情、离婚、遭到强暴和突然死亡。

The end of “Downton Abbey” is also a significant loss for PBS, which has shown it since 2011 on its “Masterpiece” series, where it has become one of the network’s most popular programs ever. Replacing it will be a challenge.

对于从2011年开始就在“名著”系列中播放《唐顿庄园》，并使其成为该台最受欢迎剧目之一的公共广播公司(PBS)来说，它的终结也会是一个巨大的损失。寻找新的剧目来替换《唐顿庄园》，对该电视网将是一大挑战。

Even so, “you can’t expect anything to go on indefinitely,” Julian Fellowes, the creator and writer of the program, said in a telephone interview. “That’s not what being a human being is about.”

尽管如此，“天下没有不散的宴席，”该剧的剧创和编剧朱利安·费洛斯(Julian Fellowes)在电话采访中说道。“这是人世间的规律。”

Gareth Neame, the managing director of the British studio Carnival¹⁰ Films and an executive producer of “Downton Abbey,” said in a telephone interview that several factors contributed to the decision to end the series. (This final season, now in production, will be shown on PBS next year.)

英国嘉年华电影公司常务董事、《唐顿庄园》的执行制片加雷思·尼姆(Gareth Neame)在电话采访中，他们做出这个决定，是基于好几个原因（正在制作中的最后一季，将于明年在PBS播映）。

If “Downton Abbey” continued, Mr. Neame said, its viewership would eventually decline and it would surely lose prominent cast members like Maggie Smith, who plays the acerbic¹¹ dowager countess, and Michelle Dockery, who plays the intrepid¹² Lady Mary.

尼姆说，如果《唐顿庄园》继续拍下去，它的观众人数只会越来越少，并且肯定会失去剧中的那些大牌演员，如饰演尖刻的伯爵夫人的玛吉·史密斯(Maggie Smith)，和饰演勇敢无畏的玛丽小姐的米歇尔·多克里(Michelle Dockery)。

While “Downton Abbey” has drawn¹³ criticism for its languid pace and drawn-out storytelling, Mr. Neame said he and his colleagues did not want to “make the mistake that so much television content does, which is to have a hit and then just keep knocking it out until it’s exhausted¹⁴.”

尽管有人批评《唐顿庄园》节奏缓慢、故事冗长，尼姆说他和同事不想“犯许多电视节目都会犯的那种错误——风靡一时之后不知见好就收，惨淡收场”。

Despite everything, the show’s ratings in the United States remained strong. Its fifth season, which ended on March 1, drew an average weekly audience of 12.9 million viewers, PBS said, down slightly from its fourth season, which drew 13.2 million. Its Season 5 premiere averaged 15 million viewers, making it the most watched drama in PBS’s history.

不管怎么说，该剧在美国的收视率任然保持强劲。PBS称，3月1日收尾的第五季，每周平均有1290万观众收看，比第四季的1320万人稍有下降。第五季首播吸引了1500万观众，成为PBS历史上首播收视最高的剧目。

Rebecca Eaton, the executive producer of “Masterpiece,” said in a telephone interview that “Downton Abbey” had been “a giant shot of vitamin B-12” for her franchise¹⁵, increasing its prestige and spurring PBS to add more “Masterpiece” content to its lineup in 2015.

“名著”系列的执行制片人丽贝卡·伊顿(Rebecca Eaton)在电话采访中说，《唐顿庄园》对她的栏目来说等于是“注入了大剂量的维生素B12”，增进了它的声望，并促使PBS在2015年的节目阵容更重视“名著”系列。

Pointing to other British period dramas like “Wolf Hall” (adapted from Hilary Mantel’s novels), “Poldark” and “Indian Summers,” Ms. Eaton said “Downton Abbey” had provided “the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of a giant.”

对于其他的英国年代剧，比如《狼厅》[Wolf Hall，改编自希拉里·曼特尔(Hilary Mantel)的小说]，《波尔达克》(Poldark)和《印度之夏》(Indian Summers)，伊顿认为《唐顿庄园》提供了“站在巨人肩膀上的机会”。

“ ‘Oh, my God, what are you going to do now, after “Downton,” ’ is the question,” Ms. Eaton said. “But how great to be in the position of heightened visibility that we are. We’ve seen this coming.”

“‘哦，天呐，《唐顿庄园》要播完了，你们怎么办’成了大家都关心的问题，”伊顿说，“但红成这样也很好啊。我们早就知道会红的。”

Mr. Neame said that while the idea of a “Downton Abbey” movie was appealing, there were no specific plans to pursue this or a television spinoff involving any of its characters. Mr. Fellowes is moving on to another period drama, “The Gilded¹⁶ Age,” which he is creating for NBC.

尼姆说，尽管把《唐顿庄园》搬上大银幕的想法很吸引人，但目前尚没有这么做的计划，也没有就剧中某个人物拍摄电视续集的计划。费洛斯的重心正转向他为NBC创作的另一部年代剧《镀金年代》(The Gilded Age)。

Asked if the “Downton” finale would bring closure for its many characters, Mr. Fellowes responded with a noncommittal “Eeeehhhh.” With a laugh he added: “I think it will be a quite satisfactory ending, in the sense that things will be resolved, either one way or the other. Not that everyone will be happy, but at least a decision will have been made.”

被问到《唐顿庄园》的结局是否会给众多人物画下句号时，费洛斯先是支支吾吾，然后笑着说，“不管怎样事情都会有个结果，从这个意义上，我认为这是一个相当令人满意的结局。不是每个人都会快乐，但至少尘埃落定。”