Matthew Goode

It’s true – we’re all counting down the days (Hours? Minutes?) until Downton Abbey returns. What will Series 4 have in store for us after the dramatic cliffhanger in Series 3? Who are all these new people we keep seeing in magazine spreads and entertainment articles? What will become of our favorite characters? Well, in a new clip from PBS, several of the Downton creators and cast give us (the briefest) look (ever) at what we can expect from the new season of everybody’s favorite costume drama.

Julian Fellowes, Gareth Neame, Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael discuss what we can expect to see this season for Crawley daughters, including a period of mourning and darkness for Mary and a surprising evolution for Edith.

They also do superbrief introductions to three of the new faces we’ll be seeing around Downton this year. (Warning, there be spoilers here if for some reason you’ve not finished Series 3 yet.)

Everyone remain calm. The moment we have all been waiting for is finally here.

The first trailer for Downton Abbey Series 4 has arrived. And it is a joy to behold.

The minute-long clip gives us our first look at Downton and the Crawley clan in the wake of the tragic loss of Matthew at the end of last season. Much of the clip focuses on what appears to be Mary’s attempt to move on without her husband, but we get a glimpse of nearly every major character – and a few new faces as well.

There’s laughter and tears and fistfights and kissing and meaningful glances and just, well. Basically everything you’d expect from Downton Abbey. Watch for yourself below and swoon

Get excited, people: The first teaser trailer for Downton Abbey Series 4 is here.

Well, sort of. Sure, it doesn’t contain any actual footage. Yes, it’s only just over ten seconds long. (Even the first Sherlock Series 3 teaser – which pretty much defined tease – gave us more to work with than that!) But even so, this super brief promos is still going to make you excited in spite of yourself.

The clip features merely a tiny snippet from the show’s opening credit sequence set to a voiceover by the Dowager Countess. “You have a straightforward choice before you. You must choose either death or life,” intones the most awesome lady on television, and clearly must be speaking to her granddaughter Mary about the fallout from last season’s dramatic (and heartbreaking) finale. Though I suppose she could be talking to either Robert or Cora as well, but Mary certainly makes the most sense.

Watch for yourself below.

It’s official: the highly-anticipated fourth series of blockbuster costume drama Downton Abbey has an American premiere date! The series is set to return to Masterpiece on Sunday, January 5, 2014 and will run for eight weeks, concluding on February 23. So, if you’ve been waiting for confirmation to get started making your elaborate Series 4 countdown calendars, party hats or other paraphernalia, well, now you know.

Series 4 will feature the return of series regulars Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Jim Carter, Joanne Froggatt, Brendan Coyle, the indomitable Dame Maggie Smith and more. Several new guest stars are also set to join the fray as well, including Gary Carr, Tom Cullen, Nigel Harman, Joanna David, Julian Ovenden, Dame Harriet Walter, and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Oh, and Shirley MacLaine will also be back as Cora’s mother Martha and newcomer Lily James is sticking around as wildchild Cousin Rose. So you know, looks like there’s still plenty of drama in store for us this year.

Though the end of Downton Abbey Series 3 is only a couple of weeks in our collective rearview mirrors, most everyone has already moved on to speculating/panicking/ardently wishing for the arrival of Series 4. Sadly, the new season of Downton has only just started filming in England, and won’t make its way to America until January of next year. (Is it too early for a countdown calendar? Probably not, right?)

The waiting game has brought us one bright spot, however – with the start of production on Series 4, this means that we’ve finally got some news about what the next season of everyone’s favorite costume drama will look like – and who we’ll see in it (as well as some tidbits about who we won’t).

Here be spoilers, obviously, so proceed at your own risk.