海角大神

For those of you (us) now mourning the end of season two of PBS鈥檚 "Downton Abbey", it鈥檚 going to be many barren months before season three of the British period drama picks up again next January. Meanwhile, we can only wonder what will be.

Will Lady Mary and Matthew Crawley really settle their passionate-but-prickly relationship? Will the valet Mr. Bates be released from prison and into the arms of his beloved lady鈥檚 maid, Anna? Will the footman Thomas and lady鈥檚 maid O鈥橞rien 鈥� ever the schemers 鈥� finally be found out?

And perhaps most titillating, will Shirley MacLaine as Lady Cora鈥檚 American mother strike acting sparks with Maggie Smith as the dowager countess? The clash of the Oscar-winning septuagenarian mothers-in-law? That alone makes it worth catching up on the first two seasons on Netflix and PBS.org.

Bloggers are going nuts, and there鈥檚 some actual reporting to note.

鈥淥n my Irish trousers... The 3rd series rocks more than the Cliffs of Moher!! (Irish national treasure!)鈥� tweets Allen Leech, who plays the Irish chauffeur, Branson, love interest to Lady Sybil, youngest of the three Crawley daughters.

Naturally, Julian Fellowes, "Downton Abbey" creator and writer (who won an Oscar for his "Gosford Park" screenplay and who also played the wonderful Lord Kilwillie in the terrific BBC series "Monarch of the Glen") plays it very close to the vest in a New York Times interview.

Will Patrick Crawley, the crucial missing heir (who went down with the Titanic in 1912 but may 鈥� or may not 鈥� have reappeared years later) reenter the narrative, which would upset the whole story line about who gets the estate? (And make us revisit that British legal oddity known as the 鈥渆ntail.鈥�)

鈥淪ome people have washing lines full of characters and blackboards covered with designs and things pointing at each other,鈥� said Fellowes. (Known more formally as Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, he's a member of the House of Lords.) 鈥淚 don鈥檛 really have that. I feel we need to know a little bit more about him, but whether we go back there, I don鈥檛 know.鈥�

We鈥檙e pretty sure he does know; he鈥檚 just not saying.

Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham, is similarly tight-lipped.

"Season 3 鈥� well it starts in the spring of 1920, that's a few months after the end of season 2 and spans about 18 months,鈥� he tells Zap2it. 鈥淎fter the urgency of the war years, things calm down a bit 鈥� but only a bit! 鈥� There are plenty of surprises in store, put it that way."

Will there be a season 4?

鈥淪ufficient unto the day,鈥� "Downton Abbey" creator Fellowes tells the Times, quoting biblically. 鈥淚 feel that one can鈥檛 really think much beyond that. Although I agree, I do not think it should just go on and on forever.鈥�

Many of us Masterpiece Classics fans would strongly disagree. Surely the story line could go on to include Princess Di and then Kate Middleton. We already know that Helen Mirren (that鈥檚 鈥淒ame Helen Mirren鈥� to those of us whose ancestry was definitely 鈥渂elow stairs鈥�) could play a terrific Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, we can watch YouTube videos of Elizabeth McGovern (who plays Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham) do what she does in real life: fronting the band Sadie and the Hotheads.