Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines. The premiere of Downton Abbey 3 is just around the corner in the UK on ITV and every day that goes by, it’s closer to the January 6, 2013 premiere on PBS in the States. This has to be the most eagerly-awaited bit of appointment television in recent memory. Not since the “Who Shot JR?” episode of Dallas has there been this much interest in a series returning. Ok, maybe I left out those two little bits of brilliance, Doctor Who and Sherlock but still, Downton Abbey has to be right up there with the best of them.

Aside from the general interest in the series, the addition of Shirley MacLaine has all but made this and unbearable length of time since the sun set on Downton Abbey and the Crawley family last year. We’ve all seen the few brief clips of the first encounter between the Dowager Countess (Dame Maggie Smith) and Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine) but this new trailer, just released, really makes me want to find a Free Bates t-shirt and sit down for the series 3 premiere tonight. You?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZevgdSyxlZo