Preview: Downton Abbey Series Four

In a break from tradition, I am writing about an entity that isn’t a direct adaptation from a novel: my favorite television show right now, Downton Abbey. It was announced yesterday that Series Four would premiere on ITV in the UK on September 22nd and on January 5th on PBS in the US. With the premiere date released, so was a trailer.

Upon watching the trailer, I had a freakout of massive proportions, during which my heart stopped several times. Watch the trailer below, then continue reading for the recount of each moment when my heart stopped when I watched it for the first time. Beware: it goes by fast.

  • The initial conversation between Lady Mary and the Dowager Countess. Is it just me, or does the dialogue imply that Lady Mary at some point was considering suicide?
  • As the trailer continues, very distinct sections evoke serious emotions. First, there’s the dancing and kissing, indicating to us that there will be love in the air this season.
  • Second, there are tears, which shows us that we are likely to shed some of our own tears too.
  • Third, there are fights and catching people doing things they should be doing behind closed doors, which makes us curious as to what’s going on in those scenes.
  • Fourth, there are the gestures of consoling. What made my heart stop the most was Branson’s consoling gesture towards Isobel, who obviously is still freshly mourning her son’s death.
  • Fifth, there are smiles and laughter, which shows us that we, too, will smile and laugh as we watch. I wonder, though, why Robert is running into a room hand-in-hand with Lady Rose, and why Robert acts as though he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t in that moment.
  • Finally, the last statement by Rose, “Welcome to Downton”, followed by the image of Downton Abbey makes me feel at home, despite that the trailer, as a whole, makes me feel like everything is changing. That, in itself, is probably the most brilliant advertising tactic of them all.

From this point forward, everything changes. Characters leave us. New characters greet us. However, “come war and peace, Downton still stands, and the Crawleys are still in it.”

By the way, the song featured within this trailer is “Wolf’s Law” by The Joy Formidable. You can see the music video for that song below. The lyric that stands out the most for me from the song is “sends me spiraling”, which I think is in reference to what Downton Abbey does to us all—it sends us spiraling, spiraling with all the feels.

What are you most anxious to see in Series 4? Share your excitement in the comments!