Dame Maggie Smith has revealed she expects to bow out of Downton Abbey at the end of the next series.

The 80-year-old actress is a huge hit with fans of the ITV period drama for her portrayal as the sharp-tongued Dowager Countess, and is currently filming the sixth series.

But Dame Maggie said: “They say this is the last one, and I can’t see how it could go on.

Maggie Smith says working in television 'does you in' (Jonathan Brady/PA0
Maggie Smith says working in television ‘does you in’ (Jonathan Brady/PA0

“I mean, I certainly can’t keep going… To my knowledge, I must be 110 by now. We’re into the late 1920s.”

She added: “Television really does you in.”

Dame Maggie admitted she misses the stage – she hasn’t done a play since 2007, the same year she was diagnosed with breast cancer – but admitted theatre was even more “exhausting” than TV and film.

Downton's Dowager Countess is loved for her  cutting one-liners ((NBC/Universal/ITV)
Downton’s Dowager Countess is loved for her cutting one-liners ((NBC/Universal/ITV)

And the star of Harry Potter and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel admitted she struggles with the global fame that Downton has brought.

She revealed: ”One isn’t safe after doing Downton. What’s sad is I’ve gone through my whole life without any of that. I could go round galleries and things on my own and I just can’t do it now. If someone decides to get at you, you can’t get away.”

(NBC/Universal/ITV)
Don’t ask Dame Maggie for a selfie (NBC/Universal/ITV)

And Dame Maggie is not a fan of selfies.

She said: “What’s awful is it used to be just autographs, but now everyone wants photographs. You begin to feel like all those people who believed photographs took the soul away. There’s nothing like privacy, but nobody will have that soon. Nobody’s private any more.”