'Downton Abbey' to return for fifth season

Hugh Bonneville as Lord Grantham, left, and Jim Carter as Mr. Carson from the popular series 'Downton Abbey,' in this image provided by PBS.

LONDON -- Fans of "Downton Abbey," rejoice! There will be another season yet of period romance and upstairs-downstairs drama at the country estate.

ITV announced Sunday that it has commissioned a fifth season of the popular television show, a costume drama about a British aristocratic family and their servants in the 1910s and 1920s. As before, the new series will be written by Julian Fellowes.

ITV said the fourth season's holiday special, shown in Britain on Christmas Day, will feature Paul Giamatti, who joins the cast as Cora's playboy brother, Harold, and Shirley MacLaine, who will reprise her role as Cora's mother Martha Levinson.

The show, which debuted in 2010, has won millions of fans in Britain, the U.S. and beyond.