Downtown Abbey Season 5 Spoilers: Are We Saying Goodbye To Lady Rose and Branson? Has Lady Mary Finally Chosen A Suitor?

The last time viewers saw the folks of Downton Abbey, they were having a grand summer trip to the beach, with the hint of Carson and Mrs. Hughes developing a relationship that would perhaps go beyond friendship.

Now that the fifth season is nearing its UK premiere in September (January for US audiences), a 20-second teaser trailer has been released by ITV which hints at major waves of changes descending on our favorite 1920s family. 

Carson the butler played by Jim Carter provides the voice over of the trailer, saying "I feel a shaking of the ground I stand on. The nature of life is not permanence, but flux."

Although creator Julian Fellowes had promised not to kill off any major character this season (unlike what he did with poor Sybil and Matthew Crawley in season 3), it doesn't mean that our beloved characters are here to stay either.

Indeed a host of brand new characters are set to invade Downton, as ITV has confirmed that several actors are coming on board. Richard E. Grant (Gosford Park, Doctor Who) will be playing Simon Bricker, a guest of the Granthams, Anne Chancellor (Four Weddings and a Funeral), will be guest starring as Lady Anstruther, while Rade Sherbedgia (Eyes Wide Shut, 24), will play a Russian refugee.

Lady Anstruther for one, is a character that Jimmy the footman used to work for. So that may mean a stirring up of the past of one of the more mysterious characters of Downton. Meanwhile, a Russian refugee at Downton? We can only conclude that things will be shaking up at the genteel house.

Yet even if a major death is not in the works in Downton Abbey Season 5, this doesn't mean that our beloved characters will be there forever. Lily James, who plays Lady Rose, will be busy promoting Disney's live action reincarnation of Cinderella. So she most likely will have a storyline where she will leave for a long time.

Branson has also hinted  to Lady Mary of his desire to start anew somewhere else. Allen Leech, who plays the former chauffeur was seen filming scenes with the schoolteacher Sarah Bunting, whose character was seen in a shoot apparently leaving town. Will Branson pack his bags and join her?

But the more likely development is that Lady Mary has finally chosen a suitor to be her new beau. And it looks like its Lord Gillingham.  The pair have been caught shooting a kissing scene. So is it over for Charles Blake? Reports have said the Julian Ovenden, who plays Blake will return this season, so perhaps the love triangle is far from over.