Fans of the hit PBS show Downton Abbey will have to tune in tonight to see how the show handles the fallout from the surprise death of Matthew Crawley... and, if some reports are to be believed, fans better get their licks in now, before the show ends after next season! 

According to The New York Daily News, supposedly, when Matthew Crawley died (or, if you prefer, actor Dan Stevens left), it didn't seem that the show had many other places to go. However, according to the Powers that Be of the show -- Julian Fellowes, the writer of Downton Abbey, and producer Gareth Neame -- there was no other option BUT to write Season Four. "When I first heard Dan was leaving, it was a bit unsettling," said Michelle Dockery, who plays Matthew's wife Mary on the show. "But it's also an opportunity to do other things. For Mary, it sent her back to that rather cool side she showed in the first season. I have to say I enjoy playing that." 

The News also reports that the show will go in an entirely different direction now that the main protagonist has had his final curtain call, and this could mean richer characters. "Stevens' departure has two immediately obvious and profound effects on Season Four. First, it rearranges almost all the relationships on the show. Beyond the fact Matthew's love affair with Mary was the romantic centerpiece of 'Downton Abbey,' the good-natured Matthew also became a bridge for numerous other characters. He connected Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) and chauffeur turned son-in-law Tom Branson (Allen Leech). He connected Dowager Countess Violet (Maggie Smith) to his modern mother Isobel (Penelope Wilson). He also served as a bridge between generations, gently working to catapult a resistant Lord Grantham into the 20th century," says The News. 

But there won't be much time to resolve these issues, it seems -- according to UK's The Telegraph, the show only has one more season to go before it ends for good. "Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton, has suggested that the next series of the drama may be its last. In an interview, the screenwriter admitted there was no way he could continue to write the show's storylines at the same time as working on his next major project -- to create what has been described as an American version of the series," writes The Telegraph.