Published Friday, 14 September 2012
Downton Abbey is set for a big return. (© ITV)
The third series will continue to follow the lives of the inhabitants of Downton Abbey - the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants - as they move into the Roaring Twenties.
But while big names like award-winning actress Shirley MacLaine have been added to the cast, for writer Julian Fellowes, Downton can only have one star and that's definitely the house itself.
And viewers are in for an interesting look at a period where changes were rapidly being made.
"At the beginning of series three, we are in 1920 - it's about a year on from where we left off in the Christmas special," actor Dan Stevens, who plays Matthew Crawley, explains.
Lord Fellowes adds: "Different values are coming in.
"Girls who, ten years before, were waiting to be spoken to before they spoke, suddenly there they were rolling down their stockings and rouging their knees and drinking like fishes ..."
In this weekend's first episode, Cora Crawley's mother Martha (played by Shirley MacLaine) makes a grand entrance when she arrives at Downton for the wedding of Lady Mary and Matthew.
But, with the couple struggling to stay united as their big day looms, will her Atlantic crossing have been for nothing?
Meanwhile, the Earl of Grantham receives news that could leave him facing the greatest crisis of his life - and plunge the rest of the household into chaos.
Downton Abbey returns to UTV on Sunday at 9pm.