Even the crusty Dowager Countess would be impressed.
The season finale of “Downton Abbey” scored big numbers for PBS last Sunday night, snaring 8.2 million viewers.
That was up 50 percent over the show’s Season 2 finale (5.4 million viewers), which aired in February 2012.
The British drawing-room series — set in the 1920s and starring Dame Maggie Smith as snarky Dowager Countess — is the the biggest hit for PBS since Ken Burns’ five-part documentary series, “The Civil War,” which averaged 14 million viewers in 1990.
For the season, “Downton Abbey” was up 66 percent in viewers from Season 2.
Last Sunday’s Season 3 finale ended with the death of Matthew Crawley, played by Dan Stevens. He was the second major character killed off this season, following the death-in-childbirth of Lady Sybil Crawley (Jessica Brown Findlay).
The series, which airs on ITV in the UK, has begun production on Season 4 — which will move the action ahead six months, according to “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes. It’s expected to air next fall on ITV, followed by an early 2014 premiere on PBS.
The Season 3 finale averaged 12 million viewers last fall on ITV — huge numbers for British TV.