NEW YORK (AP) – The timing couldn’t be better for the International Emmys to honor “Downton Abbey” writer and creator Julian Fellowes as the acclaimed British period drama wraps up its sixth and last season with a Christmas Day finale on Britain’s ITV.
Elizabeth McGovern, who stars as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, and the show’s executive producer Gareth Neame will present the honorary International Emmy Founders Award to Fellowes Monday night at the Hilton New York.
“Downton Abbey” was never nominated for an International Emmy honoring excellence in TV productions outside the U.S. because its producers opted to compete in the Primetime Emmys, winning 12 awards and earning the most nominations ever for an international TV series. The show’s final season begins airing on PBS in the U.S. on Jan. 3.
“Downton Abbey,” portraying the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants amid the backdrop of such historical events as the sinking of the Titanic and World War I, has become one of the most popular TV shows in the world, airing in at least 150 countries.
“We give the Founders Award to somebody whose work crosses cultural boundaries to touch our common humanity,” said Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “It’s amazing with ‘Downton’ – almost any place you go in the world people watch it, like it and refer to the characters.”