‘Downton Abbey Season 4’ Arrives Jan. 28

 
Downton Abbey Season 4 photo for Downton Abbey Season 4 (2014) “Downton Abbey Season 4” airs Sundays on Masterpiece on PBS from Jan. 5 to Feb. 23, 2014. The returning cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Joanne Froggatt, Rob James-Collier, Lily James, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Maggie Smith, Penelope Wilton and a host of others, joined by Shirley MacLaine, who reprises her role as Martha Levinson, the forthright American mother of Cora, Countess of Grantham (McGovern). Martha again battles wits with Cora’s wickedly acerbic mother-in-law, Violet (Smith). Among the new faces are Paul Giamatti as Cora’s playboy brother, Harold, who appears in the season finale; Harriet Walter as Violet’s old friend Lady Shackleton; Gary Carr as jazz singer Jack Ross; Joanna David as the Duchess of Yeovil; Tom Cullen as the dashing Lord Gillingham and Julian Ovenden as an unexpected houseguest.

All who tuned in last season know that Matthew Crawley — heir to Downton Abbey, husband to Lady Mary (Dockery), and brand new father to a baby boy and successor — lies dead on a country road next to his overturned roadster. On top of this, the family is still grieving over the death in childbirth of Sybil, Mary’s youngest sister, who also left a baby behind. Season 4 opens six months later. Although it is the 1920s, Britain still observes mourning rituals that are almost Victorian in their solemnity. Nonetheless, the Crawleys are beginning to snap out of it: Robert, Lord Grantham (Bonneville), must manage the estate without his canny son-in-law; Cora suddenly faces a staffing crisis; Violet, who has seen enough tragedy, knows how to recoup quickly; Isobel (Wilton), Matthew’s mother, may never recover; Edith (Carmichael), who was jilted at the altar, tempts scandal with a new beau; and Mary now finds herself the most desirable widow in Yorkshire. The servants also pick up, buck up, and get on with it — with new arrivals, departures, rivalries, and betrayals among the downstairs staff. Life goes on at Downton Abbey. Formats: Three-disc DVD, $49.99; three-disc Blu-ray, $54.99, Digital. Extras: TBA. (PBS Distribution).

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