Downton Abbey Announces Season 5 With Full Cast Photo And Character Stills

PBS’ Masterpiece has released several brand new looks at Downton Abbey season 5, including the annual cast photo in front of their iconic home.

This year’s Downton Abbey group photo, pictured above, includes several notable additions: Robert’s dog is making his first appearance in the group photo as are Lady Mary and Branson’s respective children (the new actors for the kids were announced last week).

Several high-res Downton Abbey season 5 stills were also released by PBS/Masterpiece today. In them we see characters like Branson, Lord Gillingham, Lady Mary, Isobel Crawley, Bates and Anna, Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes, Thomas, Daisy, Cora, Branson, and others.

Emmy Awards - Uzo Aduba, Orange is The New Black Nominated, GoT and Downton Abbey Face Off

They were favorites at the TV critics awards last month, and now Uzoamaka Aduba speaks on their Netflix show "Orange is the New Black" getting 12 nominations for the Emmy Awards;

"I'm just really truly grateful that they've chosen to recognize the entire cast. We're Team Orange all the way...We just got back to work and it's been really exciting to be back because we've really just been able to see each other. It feels like the first day of school." 

Uzo Aduba, is nomited for guest actress in a comedy series along with two other actresses in Orange Is the New Black. Uzo is born of Nigerian parents and attended Boston University, earning recognition for her acting with a performance in Translations of Xhosa, in 2003.

Check out the full list of nominees below..

A Birth Story, Preeclampsia and Eclampsia

Hmmm..sometimes, pregnancy is just so scary, and when a woman goes through and has a healthy baby, it is really a thing of joy and thanks to God. Downton Abbey is, like any soap worth the name, without its twists. Last night we had one of those shocking episodes that reminded me of Grey's Anatomy, not only in the way it made me cry but also that I went hunting webMD and Wiki. For those who haven't watched it, there may be spoilers ahead.

On Sunday , after the two weddings of the first few episodes, there was a death. Sybil Crawley went into labor, but the joy of having a baby was stifled when the family doctor, Dr. Clarkson, noted that she was suffering from symptoms of preeclampsia - she had swollen ankles, her mind was muddled and there was excess protein in her urine. However, there was a know it all medical man, Sir Philip, who insisted the symptoms were just normal signs of labor.

As they were debating rushing her to the hospital for a cesarean, (her father and Sir Philip preferred a home birth befitting nobility), Sybil goes into labor. She gives birth successfully and there we were thinking it was all over, and was well that ended well. That was not to be.

Downton Abbey Season 3 Begins With a Wedding

I first heard about Downton Abbey from Sting and after a while, I decided to check it out. The first episode I caught up with on PBS was not so encouraging. There were some characters I knew I could get to love, like Maggie Smith's sharp witted old Dame, but not knowing the full story held me back.

However, finding out over the weekend on Twitter that a new season was starting, I decided to try again. And I was rewarded with a fantastic episode, which included a lovely wedding. Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary of Downton Abbey had a beautiful spring wedding in their village church.