‘Downton Abbey’ season 5 trailer: See Michelle Dockery, Maggie Smith, and change

Clearly, “Downton Abbey” wants you to know that the upcoming fifth season is really all about change. How else would you describe some of the latest footage released by ITV?

The extensive video below, which was released as a part of the network’s big “X Factor” premiere weekend, contains a bevy of new footage that includes a fire, some romance, Mary (Michelle Dockery) getting close to a man, and of course some classic lines from the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith). This actually seems to be a more eventful season than what we’ve seen recently, and we are well aware that we are basing that off of a pretty tiny sample size. That’s just how confident that we are with some of what we’re seeing right now.

Also, we may be doing our best to hope for something greater from the show thanks mostly to our feeling that last season was really missing when it comes to some of what we want to see from the show. For example, the stories were dragging out for a long period of time, and despite being the supposed lead character, Robert really had very little to do. Maybe this is one of the things that we really hope changes itself for the fifth season, and we haven’t seen a whole lot of evidence of this yet.

We also thankfully now have an official premiere date: Sunday, September 21. This is a day before the falls season technically starts for TV fans in America … though Americans have to wait until January to watch the show.

What do you think about this promo overall? Share below, and head over to the link here if you’re curious in snagging some additional “Downton Abbey” details about a big premiere party! Also, you can sign up to secure some further TV scoop on all we cover right now via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: ITV