The final episode of Downton Abbey takes place in 1925, ending on New Year’s Eve. The episode brings several major storylines to a close while showing the Crawley family and their servants preparing for a changing future.
The finale includes Edith Crawley’s marriage to Bertie Pelham, now the Marquess of Hexham. Anna Bates also goes into labour during the wedding reception, and she and Bates become parents to a healthy son. These celebrations provide a deliberately hopeful ending for the long-running period drama.
The series began in 1912, shortly before the sinking of the Titanic, and followed the household through the First World War, the Spanish flu pandemic and the social changes of the 1920s. By the finale, the world around Downton is becoming less rigid and the estate’s traditional order is under pressure.
The year is sometimes confused with 1926 because some summaries describe the show’s broader timeline as extending into that year. However, the series finale itself is set on New Year’s Eve 1925, making 1925 the canonical quiz answer.