At a PBS panel last night, the cast and crew of Downton Abbey shared some clips from the upcoming series 3, as well as revealing the date of its American broadcast. This post contains mild spoilers.

Variety’s Stuart Levine was tweeting from the event, in which the series was announced to be returning to PBS Masterpiece on Jan. 6, 2013. This seems consistent with previous series, and suggests that it will première in the U.K. sometime in September or October. Showrunner and creator Julian Fellowes also revealed that the story would focus on “recovering from the War” that featured so prominently in the previous series.

Next came two clips, one which illustrated that the family was going broke, and a second which suggested that Matthew and Lady Mary’s engagement could be in trouble.

Are you excited for the return of Downton Abbey?