News

WCNY presents ‘Downton Abbey’ Season 3 Jan. 6

by Rouhollah Goudarzi

January 16, 2013

WCNY, Central New York’s public broadcasting company, will present Season 3 of the popular PBS period drama “Downton Abbey” beginning at 9 p.m. Jan.6 on WCNY channel 24.1. The series will air for seven consecutive Sundays as part of “Masterpiece Classics”.

WCNY will repeat the previous week’s episode before each week’s premiere at 7 or 8 p.m., depending on the length of each show.

The series was written and created by Julian Fellowes and won six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe for its first season. Rebecca Eaton, “Masterpiece” executive producer, said last year’s second season of “Downton Abbey”was the most-watched Masterpiece series in its 40-year history.

In Season 3, The Great War is over and a long-awaited engagement is on, but all is not tranquil at Downton Abbey as wrenching social changes, romantic intrigues and personal crises grip the majestic English country estate for a third thrilling season. The show returns with its all-star cast plus guest star Academy Award-winning actress Shirley MacLaine.

The returning cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Dan Stevens and many more. The drama developed over the first two seasons as Cora (McGovern) rescued Downton Abbeywith her New World wealth by marrying Robert, Earlof Grantham (Bonneville). But the New World and OldWorld are about to clash when MacLaine, who plays Martha Levinson, the very American mother of Cora,locks horns with Robert’s mother Lady Violet (Smith).

Season 3 opens with the ending of the Great War and the long-awaited engagement of Lady Mary and Matthew. The story lines continue to build drama as a letter from a dead man could determine the fate of Downton Abbey, social revolutions escalate tensions and new faces try to fit into the tight-knit circle of servants.

For more information about “Downton Abbey,” visit www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey.