Ladies and Gentlemen, we’re delighted to announce that Downton Abbey will be back for a phenomenal fifth series.

Audience figures for the fourth series have hit an average 11.8 million viewers – making it the highest rated drama on television in 2013.

Once again Julian Fellowes will be putting pen to paper as writer of the new series and will continue Executive Producing duties with Gareth Neame and Liz Trubridge.

Gareth had this to say:
“We promise all the usual highs and lows, romance, drama and comedy played out by some of the most iconic characters on television.

“All the actors and makers of the show continue to be humbled by the extraordinary audience response and want to take the show from strength to strength next year”.

Viewers can look forward to the return of Downton Abbey on Christmas Day, with a 2 hour feature episode which will see Shirley MacLaine reprise her role as Martha Levinson and Paul Giamatti join the cast as Cora’s playboy brother, Harold along side all the much loved regular characters of the show.

(Source)