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COVER STORY Life after death at 'Downton Abbey' By Jacqueline Cutler © Zap2it Last season's cliffhanger of "Downton Abbey" left people around the world shocked, angry and eager for the next installment. Season 4 finally returns Sunday, Jan. 5, on PBS (check local listings). It picks up six months after Matthew (Dan Stevens) was killed in a car crash, immediately after his wife, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery), gave birth to their son, George. Mary is bereft in a way that only those utterly in love can be heartbroken. Wan, thin and brittle, she has little interest in her baby and none in anything else as she floats about in exquisite black dresses. "She is now a widow and a mom," Dockery says. "There have been so many parts of her character I have played over the three years. She started out as a spoiled young aristocrat. The incident with the young Turkish aristocrat quite wobbled Mary. "She became flawed and a little more humbled," Dockery continues, referring to the Turkish diplomat dying in her bed. "In the second series, Matthew was bringing out her softness. There has been such a palette of things to play. "In the third, she was happily married and becoming more domesticated, planning for a future," Dockery continues. "Now it's a whole other journey this series. I have enjoyed Series 4. It's about recovery for her. It's six months on, and she is still wearing black and refuses to come out of mourning." Without divulging spoilers, it's fair to say Lady Mary is a bit much in her grief. As the season progresses, men fairly trip over her. She may have grown listless and pale but remains gorgeous and captivating, and she has her choice of suitors. "Downton Abbey," a genuine global phenomenon, continues to enchant as it reveals the mannered world of an estate in the English countryside between the world wars. "I was surprised when it became so popular because I thought it was so quintessentially English," Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham, says. PBS' most popular show ever devotes as much of its plot to the servants as it does to the gentry. Tom Branson, played by Allen Leech, is the only character who has been both. He was a chauffeur who married Lady Sybil, who died after giving birth to their daughter. Branson has never been comfortable among the rich, but now manages Downton and is considered family. Michelle Dockery stars in "Downton Abbey," airing on "Masterpiece Classic" Sunday on PBS (check local listings). 1 x 4" ad 2 – JANUARY 5 - 11, 2014 – BRAINERD, MN/DISPATCH 2 x 4" ad

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