Holly, ivy, roaring fires and figgy puddings? We can take or leave them. Forget about jolly St Nick and his sleigh full of goodies, there’s only one festive treat we’re looking forward to this Christmas: Downton Abbey being back on our screens on December 25th.


We know a little about what to expect from the feature-length festive special and we’ve predicted a whole lot more, and now that lovely lot over at ITV have treated us to an early present: a sneak-peek at the action.

There’s a stony-faced Lady Mary (no change there, then) visiting Anna Bates in jail, while Mr Bates can be seen sitting down to what could be Christmas dinner with an empty place for his wife. Prince Kuragin’s missing princess makes an appearance as do a few other unfamiliar faces. Meanwhile, the Crawleys are waving guns around at the Aldridge’s and celebrating Christmas in style…

Downton Abbey returns on Christmas Day at 9:00pm on ITV


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