Downton Abbey - Series 5 First Look

With the latest series of The X Factor, currently dominating ITV's schedules, the station's another successful powerhouse will be back as well. With less than a fortnight to go, here's a look at what to expect for the upcoming fifth series of Downton Abbey ...

Judging by the new cast shot, the action has moved a few years (1924 supposedly) as we have both older versions of George and Sibbie standing alongside the rest of the cast and either Isis has lived a long life or the Crawleys have gotten a similar looking dog. As for spoilers in the new series, it seems like there won't be much time wasted in Mary picking between suitors if the latest trailer is anything to go by while a fire in the manor accidentally started by Edith will be the main focus of the first episode.

In terms of guest stars, the upcoming series will have the likes of Sue Johnson as a ladies maid for Violet, Anna Chancellor as a former employer of Jimmy's named Lady Anstruther and Richard E. Grant as Simon Bricker - a character who will be stirring up trouble for Cora when he arrives in the series. It's been confirmed that Lily James will be departing at the end of this series as Rose and hints of a romance for Isobel have also surfaced along with hopefully a resolution as to whether or not Mr Bates has blood on his hands from the previous series.

Meanwhile in probably the most surprising casting, it seems that George Clooney (yes, that one) will be appearing in the series - sort of. While the show has filmed it's Christmas episode, Clooney will however be playing an American guest at a wedding in a sketch scene for ITV's Text Santa fundraising appeal. That should be interesting to see.

Series 5 Trailer/Spoilers: http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/Downton%20Abbey

Series 5 of Downton Abbey will air Sundays 9pm on ITV from September 21st and January 4th 2015 for PBS.