Downton Abbey fans left reeling that the hit show is coming to an end can rejoice – for the sharp-tongued Dowager Countess is among a clutch of characters who may return to our screens. Played by Dame Maggie Smith in the ITV drama, Violet, Countess of Grantham may be coming back in the new American show The Gilded Age, from Downton creator Julian Fellowes. Made by the US network NBC, The Gilded Age will be set among the high society families of New York in the late 19th Century – meaning that Violet will be seen as her far younger self, with events taking place decades before the first series of Downton Abbey. Scroll down for video . Played by Dame Maggie Smith in the ITV drama, Violet, Countess of Grantham may be coming back in the new American show The Gilded Age . There may also be a place for Robert, the Earl of Grantham, and his wife Cora, who is American-born. Lord Fellowes told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Robert Grantham would be in his early teens, Cora would be a child. A young Violet could make an appearance.’ He said that plans for the series had yet to be finalised, adding: ‘We’ll have to see.’ Sources at NBC said last week the network ‘is buzzing’ about The Gilded Age, which will focus on the robber barons and get-rich-quick industrialists such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, John Jacob Astor and John D. Rockefeller who accumulated gigantic fortunes in the late 19th Century. The source said scouts were seeking ‘the American Downton’, saying: ‘One of the Vanderbilt mansions is a front-runner. Julian wants a month off after finishing Downton, but then it is full steam ahead.’ NBC President Robert Greenblatt told a meeting of TV critics he hoped The Gilded Age would ‘come to life sometime next season’ – which could mean it is on air as early as September. The sixth and final series of Downton Abbey goes out later this year on ITV. Set in 19th Century New York and focusing on the city's most privileged families, American-born Cora (played by Elizabeth McGovern) may also reappear .
Dame Maggie Smith's character may appear in American period drama . The Guilded Age was by Julian Fellowes and is based in New York . There may also be a plot for American-born Cora in the U.S. show .