Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey.

ITV could head into space for a replacement for its hit show Downton Abbey, according to the broadcaster’s director of drama.

The period drama has been a huge hit for ITV winning awards and pulling in millions of viewers across the globe, but is bowing out this Christmas.

Steve November told the Royal Television Society’s (RTS) magazine Television the replacement show could be “one of three things” and hinted he might commission a sci-fi show.

He said: “I genuinely think that the new Downton won’t be a country-house drama in the Edwardian period. The danger is that we say, ‘Edwardian period drama in that tone works – the new Downton will be something similar’. The new Downton might be sci-fi, it might be something completely different.”

Downton, which received eight Emmy nominations yesterday, is filmed at Highclere Castle and features a cast of established stars including Dame Maggie Smith and Hugh Bonneville.

The show, which follows the fortunes of the Crawley family and the people who work for them from the sinking of the Titanic through World War I and beyond, helped launch the careers of actors including Michelle Dockery, Lily James and Dan Stevens.