'Downton's Lesley Nicol to Guest on FOX's RAISING HOPE

Entertainment Weekly reports that 'Downton Abbey' star Lesley Nicol will guest star on an upcoming episode of the FOX comedy RAISING HOPE. The actress is best known for her role of Mrs. Patmore on the PBS historical drama series.

The actress will portray Eleanor's (Tippi Hedren) former maid, who returns from time off for surgery to continue work. According to the report, the episode is scheduled to air this spring.

Nicol's other TV credits include the UK's Blackadder II, and Casualty. She has had guest spots on Showtime's Shameless and Once Upon a Time, which airs on ABC.

About RAISING HOPE:

Raising Hope airs on Fridays at 9pm ET on Fox.

Raising Hope is the critically acclaimed comedy created by Emmy Award winner Greg Garcia and executive-produced by Mike Mariano ("My Name is Earl," "Yes, Dear") that follows the continuing comic adventures of the Chance family as they raise an adorable girl named HOPE (guest stars Baylie and Rylie Cregut).

Following JIMMY's (Lucas Neff) marriage to longtime crush SABRINA (Shannon Woodward), the young couple moved into their own home this past season. But they found that they still need Jimmy's parents, VIRGINIA (Emmy Award winner Martha Plimpton) and BURT (Garret Dillahunt), to help them raise Jimmy's daughter, Hope. Having been teen parents themselves, Virginia and Burt see Hope as their second chance to get Parenthood right, after all the mistakes they made with Jimmy.

They continue to live with Virginia's erratic grandmother, MAW MAW (Emmy Award winner Cloris Leachman), whose eccentricities keep everyone on their toes, as she has a tendency to lose her clothing and, in her mind, it just might be World War II. To make ends meet, Jimmy and Sabrina still work together at Howdy's Supermarket, under the supervision of their goofy manager, BARNEY (Gregg Binkley).