Although the death of Matthew Crawley in last year's Downton Abbey Christmas Special wasn't exactly warmly welcomed by its fans, they'll surely be excited to learn that news has indeed surfaced on the upcoming holiday episode.

According to Carter Matt, actors Shirley MacLaine (Martha) and Paul Giamatti (Cora's brother) will be present in the highly anticipated installment. The announcement was made by director Jon East, who will be at the helm for it.

"I think all DA fans are going to love this special, it's a dazzling script," East said.

Despite the worldwide heartbreak that Dan Stevens' admirers suffered amid his character's death, creator and writer Julian Fellowes still considers the circumstances as a positive, according to the Inquisitr.

"Well the advantage of Dan dying at the end of last season as opposed to the beginning of the new one is we are able to have a six-month gap. So we don't have to do funerals and memorials and all that stuff," he said.

With the program's time gap in place, Fellowes explained that they could better focus on the character development of Lady Mary, who is both a widow and a new mother.

Downton Abbey is slated to kick off in the U.S. on Jan. 5, 2014, and run until February 23, 2014. Only time will truly tell what lies in the cards for Lady Mary and her relationship status. Be sure to keep checking back for more of the latest details on the British-American period piece. For more DA dirt related to the upcoming season, a video clip can be viewed below.

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