Jim Carter, Phyllis Logan bid adieu to ‘Downton’

Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan don't think the end of "Downton Abbey" is really going to set in for the actors and crew until early 2016, when they would all normally gather to begin production on a new season of the critically-acclaimed, and criminally addictive, PBS drama.

"That's when it's going to be a real tragedy," says Logan, who plays kindly housekeeper Mrs. Hughes, with a laugh. She thinks a support group might be in order for the actors.

We recently chatted with the actors at the Brighton studios of WGBH, which co-produces the series.

That need for a support group may extend to viewers who have enjoyed the various romances, heartbreaks, and shenanigans that have gone on both upstairs — with the aristocratic Crawley family — and down, with the long-toiling servants.

Last season, Logan's Mrs. Hughes and Carter's Mr. Carson finally got a love story of their own. In the upcoming sixth, and final season, premiering Sunday at 9 p.m., the couple is set to wed.

As sad as they were to see the series end, the actors expressed excitement about what may be coming next. Carter is working on a magic-rooted charity initiative called Wand-Aid as well as a documentary about the late British musician Lonnie Donegan. Logan says she's "taking time out to reflect and to catch up with normal life, friends and family and husbands and all that. Well, one husband, not husbands plural."

Q. Were you excited when you heard that Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson were finally getting together? It seems like the fans were really rooting for it.

Logan: This is what we found out in our various [promotional] tours that we do. Everyone who was keen on the characters would say, "When are they going to get together?" Which, I must say, is not anything that particularly crossed my radar. Why would they be interested in a post-middle-age couple?

Carter: We would've killed [the producers] if they hadn't [laughs]. You could see it coming a long way off. In fact, I wrote to [series creator] Julian Fellowes at the end of series 1 saying, "However this ends, Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes have to get married." So I think it was all the more successful in a way that it was spread out over such a long time. Series 4 we got to hold hands, series 5 I got to propose, series 6, I can't tell you what happens.

Q. It must be a relief to know that soon you won't have to worry about spoilers anymore.

Logan: Yes, we have to keep our mettle not to give anything away too much. I must say there are so many people that could find out easily if they wanted but they're determined to wait, and I think it's admirable.

Carter: It's weird, everybody knows, but we don't say. It was helped by the fact that I had forgotten anyway, usually [laughs].

Q. Beyond your own characters or story lines what did you enjoy the most as a fan?

Logan: I love Penelope [Wilton]'s character [Mrs. Crawley]. She's so fantastic and all the stuff with her and Lord Merton. And I always love Daisy and Mrs. Patmore's story lines and how they're like mother and daughter and wonder whether Daisy is ever going to make more of herself and if she's ever going to find love.

Carter: I think Kevin Doyle [Mr. Molesley] is a wonderful actor and had he not been so good he might have disappeared when Cousin Matthew died. And when you see Penelope Wilton and Maggie Smith [the Dowager Countess] together . . . both immaculate in different ways, that's always great stuff.

Q. So how about a spinoff, "The Carsons' Guesthouse"?

Logan: I think we should go in it together: Mrs. Patmore, Mrs. Hughes, and Mr. Carson. We could become like "Fawlty Towers."

Q. What kind of character would you like to play next?

Logan: It would be nice to do something comedic for a change.

Carter: I want to play someone really evil and really funny, that would be good [laughs].