‘Downton Abbey’ season 4, episode 1 preview: First spoilers from premiere released

For those of you desperate to find out what happens on the “Downton Abbey” season 4 premiere, ITV is now doing you a pretty massive favor. Why? Some of the first official details about this episode (which airs on the British network next week) have finally been released.

Based on what we are reading today, it appears as though this is going to be very much a feature-length episode all about moving on. We have yet to see the reactions of Lady Mary or anyone else to the death of Matthew, and this is going to be felt reverberating throughout Downton, even months after the event first happened. Take a look at the full synopsis below:

“Following Matthew’s untimely death, new mother Mary is struggling to come to terms with her loss. Robert and Violet disagree on how to bring her through it. Downstairs, hearts are set to be broken as Jimmy finally takes an interest in Ivy. Carson has an unwelcome reminder of his past while Mrs Hughes sees an opportunity to help grief stricken Isobel. Thomas is up to his old tricks and has the children’s Nanny in his sights.

“The opening and closing series episodes will again be feature length continuing the story of the Crawley family and their servants in the early 1920s.”

One thing that is worth mentioning here is that there will be no appearance during this episode from Tom Cullen’s Lord Anthony Gillingham or Gary Carr’s Jack Ross, who are each being considered to be two of the most-important new characters this season. They will show up instead a little later on in the season as this first episode seems to be more intent on addressing the aftermath of a deadly third season.

Take a look here if you want to read some more news on “Downton Abbey,” including why one actor in Allen Leech has no plans at all to leave.

Photo: ITV