Image courtesy ITV Press Centre

ITV, the producers of Downton Abbey, tweeted this Crawley family photo confirming the date and time of the Downton Abbey Christmas special and I had to share it. Check out the Crawleys in their finery along with Carson, Thomas and James. (SPOILER ALERT: Scroll down for more details on the episode. Stop here if you don’t want to know.) The two hour season ending episode airs on Christmas day in the U.K. But that’s the only connection the show has to the holiday as the storyline takes place in the summer.

Spoiler Alert: Don’t read any more of this if you don’t want to know what happens.

Blogs are buzzing that the episode takes place at Buckingham Palace where Lady Rose is presented to society. Lady Cora’s casanova brother Harold (played by Paul Giamatti) makes an appearance to skirt chase and we welcome back their mom Martha Levinson.

A major drama rocks everyone's world, but I won't completely spoil the fun by hinting at it here.

The season ending Christmas episode has typically trotted out jaw-dropping plots. At the very end of last year's special cousin Matthew was killed in a car crash. U.K. viewers’ promptly complained to the network that their Christmas had been ruined.

Dan Stevens who played Matthew issued an apology of sorts in later interviews and creator  Julian Fellowes offered explanations.

American viewers will have to wait to find out what drama enfolds. Downton Abbey premieres January 5, 2014.

What do you think of the photo and the costumes? What would you like to happen during the episode? Let me know.