‘Downton Abbey’ season 3 spoilers: First photo from Christmas special

Fresh off the news that “Downton Abbey” will indeed have a fourth season, we now have something new and rather exciting to share: a first look at just some of the fun we will see during the two-hour Christmas special airing of course on December 25.

For those of you looking to see the likes of Matthew, Mary, or any of the Granthams, this image does probably disappoint you. (Don’t worry; we’ll have more from some of them in our photo preview pieces to come.) What makes this image notable to us is that more so than anything else, it focuses on a woman in Mrs. Patmore, who often is seen having to clean up the messes of other people, actually getting an opportunity to have a rather good time. Could this be the beginning of some sort of romantic arc that carries into season 4? Anything is possible when you are talking about these characters.

Thus far, the only real tangible information to come out about the Christmas special is that Robert, Cora, and much of the upstairs gang will be traveling up to Scotland to visit Lady Rose’s family; meanwhile, the servants are going to be hard at work preparing for some sort of festival, which may be the reason why this merry-go-round is featured here at all. There are going to be some emotional moments throughout the two hours, and while it is actually set during September rather than the holiday season, let us still hope that there is still some amount of Christmas cheer present.

Do you like the prospect of seeing Mrs. Patmore getting to try out a different, happy experience for a chance on the show?