Have you been experiencing a kind of withdrawal that will only be eased by a healthy dose of rolling estates, dramatic evening gowns, and Dame Maggie Smith one-liners? Rest easy, fellow Downton enthusiasts. Masterpiece has released five new photographs from the upcoming Season 4 of Downton Abbey to keep us going.
MAJOR SPOILER ALERT! Ok, now that I’ve warned you:
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Following the events of the Season 3 finale, Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) and Tom Branson (Allen Leech) are now both single parents. Sybil Branson (named for her late mother) and George (hmm, a popular name as of recent!) Crawley will both be raised within the comfort of Crawley estate, but what will Season 4 bring for their young parents?
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Widower Tom Branson with darling Sybil – will his little lady have the same warm yet headstrong spirit as her mother?
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Lady Rose MacClare (Lily James), wild Crawley cousin, may have calmed down to take up residence with Lord Grantham’s family, but we all know that her obedience will surely not last long!
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Ever loyal to the Crawley family, butler Mr. Charles Carson (Jim Carter) will continue to make sure that Downton runs without a hitch. Having long shown his partiality to Lady Mary, Carson should be one of her closest confidants during her coming years without Matthew.
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No one knows the bottom of the Downton food chain quite like Daisy Robinson Mason (Sophie McShera), but circumstances began to brighten for her in Season 3 and will likely continue to improve in Season 4!
Not enough Downton for you? Well, you’re in luck – we’ve got the scoop on the drama’s newest cast members.
Of course, Season 4 will see the emergence of a few new characters at the Crawley estate. No less than Paul Giamatti makes his Downton debut as Cora’s womanizing brother, Harold Levinson. Lady Mary is in for a surprise as a family friend, Lord Anthony Gillingham (Tom Cullen), a figure from her past, reemerges to conceivably shake up her future. Jazz singer Jack Ross (Gary Carr) may provide a sparkling new love interest for the free-spirited Lady Rose. Other additions include Lady Shackleton (Dame Harriet Walter), an old friend of the scene-stealing Dowager Countess Violet; Green (Nigel Harman of EastEnders fame), a visiting valet; aristocrat Charles Blake (Julian Ovenden); and the Duchess of Yeovil (Joanna David). Also proposed to arrive is a nanny for the Downton tots, Sybil and George.
Siobhan Finneran – who portrays the scheming lady’s maid, Sarah O’Brien – will not return for Season 4. Her character will not be killed off, as in the case of both Dan Stevens’s Matthew Crawley and Jessica Brown Findlay’s Sybil Crawley Branson, leaving the option for a future return.
The Season 4 premiere of Downton Abbey airs this fall in the United Kingdom and on January 5, 2014 in the States (why, oh why, PBS?!). What are your predictions for the Crawley household in Season 4?
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