Shirley MacLaine May Return for Fourth Season of DOWNTON ABBEY

SPOILER ALERT!! Season 3 plotlines will be revealed in The Following article.

Have Downton Abbey fans seen the last of Cora's mum Martha Levinson? Not according to series creator Julian Fellowes. In a recent interview with Digitalspy.com, Fellowes revealed that he has not ruled out the possibility of a return of the boisterous character portrayed by Shirley MacLaine.

In other revelations about the upcoming season, Fellowes shared that he plans to make Lady Mary the focus of the storyline, now that she is forced to raise her child on her own. "Mary is trying to rebuild her life", he explains.

However, he has no further plans to 'kill off' any more central characters from the series."We don't want it turning into 'Midsomer Murders,' he joked, "where they live in the same village and 450 people get murdered."

Fellowes also commented on the recent departure of actor Dan Stevens and confirmed that he has no ill feelings towards his decision to leave the series. "I'm not going to criticize him. It's a very funny career to try to make any sense of as I only know too well. And when you definitely feel like something is the right move you've got to do it. But I was very sad."

The fourth season of Downton Abbey begins filming in three weeks.