Synopsis

Six months after Downton Abbey's great tragedy, Mary is mired in grief and the estate is engulfed in death taxes. As the family struggles to lift their financial and emotional woes, clashes arise, sparks fly, and it is up to the older generation to bring Mary back to life, and Robert to his senses – no easy task in either respect. Another departure leaves no tears in its wake, but rather opportunity for new faces – and drama, alliances, and sparks of an entirely different sort – below stairs. As London draws Downton's youth with its glamorous jazz clubs and sparkling literary scene, social change sweeps its way up to the venerable estate, bringing with it a threat to the continued relevance and very existence of Downton Abbey. But neither the Crawley family nor its servants can anticipate a dire new threat that penetrates the Abbey's ancestral walls, buttressed as they are by loyalty and love. Amidst dark secrets, budding romances and surprising revelations, Downton Abbey returns with a gripping fourth season starring Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Shirley MacLaine, Paul Giamatti and the rest of the stellar cast in the award-winning series from Julian Fellowes.