Characters Come and Go, But DOWNTON Lives On
The first trailer has just been released for season 4 of Downton Abbey, which begins in the U.K. on Sept, 22. American audiences will have to wait until Jan. 5, when the series returns to PBS for an eight-week run. Shirley MacLaine and Maggie Smith will be back to trade barbs, but Siobhan Finneran, who played the conniving lady’s maid O’Brien, is not returning. Among the new faces are Paul Giamatti, who will appear in the season finale as Lady Cora’s playboy American brother and the show’s first black character, jazz singer Jack Ross, played by Gary Carr.
For those who can’t wait, the official season 4 tie-in book, Behind the Scenes at Downton Abbey (Macmillan/St. Martin’s) will be published here at the end of October and promises to be “full of images from the new season.”
Also arriving at the end of October is Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey (RH/Broadway) by the current resident of Highclere Castle, where Downton is set, Countess Fiona Carnarvon. It follows the author’s best selling book about the Castle’s earlier resident, Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey (RH/Broadway; Tantor Media).
Below is the trailer: