'Downton Abbey' season 6 to premiere next year

LOS ANGELES: British period drama " Downton Abbey" will return for its last season on Janaury 3, 2016.

PBS network announced the premire date at the Television Critics Association tour over the weekend, reported Aceshowbiz.

PBS chief Paula Kerger also revealed that the show would have a float in the Pasadena Tournament of Roses parade.

The series, set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era--with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.

It stars Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Brown Findlay, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy and Brendan Coyle among others.