Maggie Smith to depart 'Downton Abbey'

LONDON, March 2 (UPI) -- Maggie Smith plans to leave Downton Abbey.

The 80-year-old actress portrays Violet Crawley on the ITV series, and revealed she will depart after season six in an interview with The London Times. The announcement comes amid rumors the program will come to a close after the upcoming season.

"They say this is the last one, and I can't see how it could go on," she confessed before commenting on her character's advanced age. "I mean, I certainly can't keep going. To my knowledge, I must be 110 by now!"

Downton Abbey debuted in 2010, and airs on PBS in the U.S. The period drama follows the aristocrats and servants who live and work at an English manor in the 1900s, and creator Julian Fellowes recently admitted he is unsure if the show will continue past season six.

"I don't own Downtown Abbey now. NBC Universal [does]," he told the New York Times. "So I could walk away, but I wouldn't walk away. It's too much my baby. It won't go on forever -- I'm not a believer in that. But I can't immediately now tell you where the end will be."

Downton Abbey concluded a fifth season on ITV in November 2014. The series co-stars Hugh Bonneville as Lord Robert Crawley, Elizabeth McGovern as his wife Cora, and Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael and Jessica Brown-Findlay as their daughters Mary, Edith and Sybil.