“Downton Abbey” returns to PBS for a fifth season beginning January 4; however, local fans of the MASTERPIECE Emmy® and Golden Globe® award-winning hit drama can watch the first hour of the new season during a preview screening event at WSRE on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. in the Jean & Paul Amos Performance Studio. Guests will enjoy light refreshments and door prize drawings along with the much anticipated return of Crawley household elites and domestics—with new loves and new secrets in store—on the Amos’ big screen. Admission is free, and guests are encouraged to dress in costume as “Downton Abbey” characters.
"Downton Abbey” intimately interlaces stories centered on an English country estate, and the entertaining formula has made it the highest-rated drama in Public Broadcasting Service history.
In Season 5, viewers can expect to follow plot threads left dangling from last season, including Lady Mary’s courtship contest, Lady Edith’s trials as a secret single mom, Thomas’s scheming against Bates, Robert’s battles against modernity, Tom’s quest to be true to his ideals, Violet’s one-line zingers, and much more.
One of the recurring themes of “Downton Abbey” is change, from the wrenching consequences of the Titanic disaster in Season 1 to a notorious automobile accident at the end of Season 3—plus World War I, women’s rights, and the new morals, inventions, and fashions of the 1920s.
Season 5 kicks off in 1924.The United Kingdom has its first Labor Party prime minister, the radio is the latest miracle of the age, and Downton’s traditional ways are besieged on all fronts, as evidenced by this exchange between the head housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes, and the butler, Mr. Carson:
“We’re catching up, Mr. Carson.Whether you like it or not, Downton is catching up with the times we live in,” says the forward-thinking Mrs. Hughes.
“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of!” the butler retorts.
“Downton Abbey” Season 5 airs Sundays, Jan. 4 through March 1 at 8 p.m. on WSRE, PBS for the Gulf Coast.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: "Downton Abbey" sneak peek at Season 5