Downton Abbey fans from both sides of the Atlantic can block off their TV viewing schedules as the air dates for Season 5 have been announced already. American fans can mark their calendars for January 4, 2014 as the official premiere of the popular series. Meanwhile, fans in the UK will get to reunite with their favorite post-Edwardian family at a much earlier date. The screening for Britian and the rest of the United Kingdom is scheduled on September 14, 2014.

A few months earlier, the show released a 20-second teaser trailer about what to expect for the new season in the lives of the Crawley family and their servants. The trailer hinted of a major changes, as Carson the butler narrates the snippet with the following ominous words:"I feel a shaking of the ground I stand on. The nature of life is not permanence, but flux."

Indeed, if the newest additions to the cast say anything, there will be several movers and shakers who will be descending upon Downton Abbey. Among them: an art historianan, an aristocratic lady who Jimmy the footman previously worked for, and several Russian refugees.

News is also coming out that the baby that Lady Edith secretly gave birth to, will make several appearances. A pair of twins will take turns portraying Lady Edith's daughter, whom she bore to her journalist lover Michael Gregson.

Meanwhile, the rape that Anna endured in the previous season will also figure in Downton Abbey's Season 5. Let's hope that this will not spell trouble for her husband, Bates.

But while there will surely be some dramatic changes expected in this season, one thing that fans can be assured of is that no major character is expected to be killed off, unlike in previous seasons. This was confirmed by Lesley Nicol, who plays Mrs. Patmore on the show, to the Daily Star Sunday