The Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) may reach for the smelling salts because it looks like “Downton Abbey” is about to get some rhythm.
Among the many new characters viewers will see in Season 4 is jazz singer Jack Ross, a black musician with a supple voice and an amazing stage presence.
Ross will be played by Gary Carr, a British actor who has appeared in the TV shows “Death in Paradise” and “Bluestone 42.”
Executive producer Gareth Neame released a statement, saying that Carr’s arrival would bring “interesting twists” to the already melodramatic drama, where characters’ lives, such as Sybil Branson (Jessica Brown Findlay) and Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) are regularly cut short.
There’s no information on how Jack Ross will figure in the usual upstairs/downstairs scenario as the Crawleys and their servants seldom leave the estate.
Will a trip to London in a roadster be in order?
Carr joins Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Dame Harriet Walter and Tom Cullen, among other new cast members.
And Shirley MacLaine will be back for another go-round as Martha Levenson, the filthy rich mother of Lady Cora Crawley (Elizabeth McGovern).
Season 3 of “Downton Abbey” was the show’s most successful yet, in terms of ratings and awards. Season 4 is now in production and will premiere on PBS next January.