The long-awaited return of Downton Abbey on PBS’ Masterpiece series is so close you can almost reach out and touch it. We are in countdown calendar mode, folks. The Crawley family returns a mere 6 weeks from today or 42 days if that makes it seem even closer. Or, how about the fact that there are approximately 1000 hours until January 4, 2015! While I’m still a bit upset that Nanny West and all the drama that she would bring to the table will not be around for series 5, there are a number of new characters that will be joining the Crawley’s both upstairs and down when January 4 rolls around. It will truly be a ‘you can’t tell the players without a scorecard’ scenario this season. There are new ladies, lords, and maids this season, all bringing there own special drama and all that that entails to Downton.
 

 
While the main cast remains from last series (sans Michael Gregson, at this point in time), as you can see, there are a number of new faces with Richard E. Grant, Sue Johnston and Anna Chancellor all arriving at Downton this year. New faces aside, I so can’t wait to see the storyline that emerges that suggests Violet really ought not to be the one to throw stones while living in a glass house….Are you ready for some Downton?