WASHINGTON: Reports of the imminent demise of “Downton Abbey” are greatly exaggerated, the executive producer of the hit British period drama said Tuesday after its record-setting return to US public television.

Speaking by phone from London, Gareth Neame said “there is no plan to end the show” after production of season five wraps up later this year.

“It won’t go on forever. No show does ... (but) the show — first telecast in Britain in 2010 — will live to an age of somewhere between five and 10 years,” Neame told AFP.

Season four, already seen on Britain’s ITV, premiered Sunday on PBS in the United States where it pulled in a record 10.2 million viewers, compared to 7.9 million at the start of season three.

But in London, weekend news reports suggested the end was nigh for the Emmy-winning post-Edwardian saga after creator Julian Fellowes told the Wall Street Journal that “I don’t know yet if there is a season six.”

That’s because ITV and PBS, the two lead broadcasters of the series that is seen in 250 markets worldwide, have yet to sign on the dotted line for additional seasons.

“We don’t know beyond season five because that’s the order (from ITV and PBS) that we’ve got and that’s the season that we’re making,” Neame said.

Preparations for season five are underway, with filming due to start in February.

When the time does come to end “Downton Abbey,” it will be a creative decision with no question of stringing out the plot just for the sake of doing so, the producer said.

“Clearly the show is an economic success and it’s a great piece of business for us to have as a production company,” said Neame, managing director of NBC Universal International unit Carnival Film.

“But to me, the more important thing is to make sure it is well-formed, comes to an end at the right time, and is not lured into the usual thing of trying to keep something going past its time.”

He added: “It is really important that it comes to an end in a correct way, just as it started in the right way. Hopefully we’ll look back at it (and) feel the final episode was a strong as the very first episode.”