The death of Matthew Crawley will cast a shadow over Season 4 of “Downton Abbey” — but his widow, Lady Mary Crawley, will not be hanging black crepe in the drawing room for the entire season.
The cast and producers of the wildly popular British period drama have met with press in LA and in London to tease and torment fans about possible juicy new developments.
Well, what exactly do we know?
The first episode will take place in 1922, six months after Matthew’s untimely demise (due to actor Dan Stevens’ decision to seek his acting fortunes elsewhere).
Lady Mary, says her portrayer Michelle Dockery, has the running of the estate to distract her. What’s likely to be more problematic for Mary is caring for her son, George.
“It’s hard to bond with the baby,” Dockery says. “She looks at him and she sees Matthew. It’s a slow process, I think, with motherhood for Mary. The aristocracy didn’t really see their kids very much. So there’s a nanny, and, eventually a governess looking after baby George.
“You don’t see much interaction between the baby and Mary.”
Expect some gentleman callers for Lady Mary as well, now that she’s back in circulation. One is an old family friend, a Lord Gillingham, played by Tom Cullen. Another is bluestocking Charles Blake (Julian Ovenden).
Given Lady Mary’s dismal track record with suitors, they might want to reconsider before they declare their affections.
“The new actors coming into the show as suitors are really brave, because God knows what can happen,” Dockery says.
“They’re kind of like praying mantises, aren’t they?” said executive producer Gareth Neame. “They come in to it once and that’s it.’
Dockery dismissed any suggestion that Lady Mary would look for her brother -in-law Tom Branson (Allen Leech) — who also lost his partner, Mary’s youngest sister Lady Sybil — to get her through the lonely Downton nights.
“They’ve become close because of what they’ve both been through. But romantically, I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” Dockery said. “It’s very inappropriate.”
There has been some buzz that one of Lady Mary’s suitors will be an African-American jazz singer, Jack Ross, a new character played by Gary Carr.
(A British series, “Dancing on the Edge,” concerning the interaction between the aristocracy and jazz musicians, has already run on the BBC and would seem to have covered this particular sociological development.)
Neame spoke about Ross’s arrival on the scene as part of a trend of jazz singers touring in Paris and London at the time — and as a way for “Downton” to get a bit more modern.
“He’s got a great voice,” he said.
Americans will have to wait until Jan. 5 — when the fourth season of “Downton Abbey” premieres on PBS — to hear it for themselves.
“Downton Abbey” became the most-watched series in PBS history last season — eclipsing Ken Burns’ documentary “The Civil War,” which held that title for over 20 years.
Its fourth season premieres next month in the UK.