When Downton Abbey returns with its fourth season, it's February 1922 and six months will have passed since the death of heir Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) — who perished after driving off the road shortly after the birth of his son, George — and the Crawley household is still in a state of mourning. But, fortunately, the mourning period won't last all season, for life must go on for Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and the other members of her well-heeled aristocratic clan.

"Series 4 brings in humor, drama, grief, romance, backbiting between characters, and underhand happenings," series star Joanne Froggatt — who plays lady's maid Anna Bates — told BuzzFeed. "It's got everything in there."

Season 4 will also have to reassure the audience after the shocking deaths of not one, but two beloved characters, which came on the heels of the horrors of World War I and the Spanish flu in the second season. The show's executive producer Gareth Neame said Season 4 contained the "spirit of rebirth," both for the Crawleys and for the Julian Fellowes-created British period drama itself. "Clearly, there's a change of direction," said Neame, speaking to BuzzFeed earlier this week. "In Mary's life particularly, because she is so much a central figure in the show and Mary and Matthew were so central. When we rejoin the show, several months have passed, just as several months have passed in real life for the audience."

So what lies ahead in the fourth season of Downton Abbey? BuzzFeed spoke with Neame as well as cast members Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, and Phyllis Logan to glean some secrets about what will happen in the halls of Downton.