Hugh Bonneville has spoken out about the end of Downton Abbey, saying he was amazed it got past a first series.

The actor stars as Lord Grantham in the ITV period drama, which will draw to a close after series six, due to air later this year.

Downton Abbey Elizabeth McGovern and Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Bonneville stars alongside Elizabeth McGovern as Lord and Lady Crawley in Downton Abbey (ITV)

Speaking on Good Morning Britain, he said: “Bearing in mind that we were amazed that it went beyond series one – those who follow the show might remember at the end of series one there was a slightly odd feeling because some of it was wrapped up in case the show never returned and some of it was left open in case it did – so there was no guarantee the show was going to continue.”

Hugh added of filming the final series at the moment: “It’s going to be quite an extraordinary experience.”

Asked how he would like his character to say goodbye at the end of the series, he said: “Oh my goodness, that’s a hard one, I’d like the daughters to be happy.”