Downton Abbey at Beamish for final episode

Downton Abbey won the battle of the Christmas Day ratings as 6.9 million tuned in to wish a fond farewell to the Crawleys on ITV and catch-up services.

Downton Abbey was scheduled against the BBC One soap a year ago, but the Walford-set show triumphed with an overnight average of 7.5 million viewers.

Teasing what will happen in the special Christmas Day episode during an interview with Good Morning Britain, Michelle Dockery, who plays the role of Lady Mary, said: “We’ve had some dramas”.

The final episode of the hit ITV drama was trending on Twitter worldwide on Christmas Day with the final scene, which saw the cast singing Auld Lang Syne as they celebrated New Year’s Eve, an emotional farewell to the show.

A scene from Downton Abbey’s Christmas Day episode set at Alnwick Castle..

Over on ITV, the final two-hour instalment of Downton will kick off at the exact same time.

That compares with the first Downton Abbey Christmas special in 2011, which drew a consolidated audience of 12.1 million. So does this mean that Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael) will finally be given the happily ever after that she deserves?

“I arrived here as a boy, I leave as a man”, he tells those assembled, as George begs him to stay.

We’ve been on lots of red carpets together and to the Met Ball a few times, which was incredible and surreal because all these really famous people, like Mick Jagger, Bruno Mars, Marc Jacobs and P Diddy, were coming up and talking to us.

Lily James, soon to be seen in BBC One drama War And Peace, reprises her role as Lady Rose Aldridge.

Anna and John Bates, played by Joanne Froggatt and Brendan Coyle, welcomed their newborn son, who was controversially born in Mary’s bedroom.

The show, which was first screened in 2010, has become a global phenomenon, winning Golden Globe, Emmy, BAFTA, National Television and Screen Actors Guild awards.