Death in Paradise’s Gary Carr joins Downton Abbey

Actor Gary Carr best known for Death in Paradise has joined the cast of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning ITV Drama, Downton Abbey.

Carr will play a jazz singer called Jack Ross, a charming and charismatic young man. He joins new cast members Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Tom Cullen, Julian Ovenden, Nigel Harman, Joanna David and Dame Harriet Walter who are all set to star in the fourth series.

Carnival Films’ Managing Director, Gareth Neame said, “We are delighted to introduce another fantastic, dynamic character to Downton Abbey. His addition will bring interesting twists to the drama which we can’t wait for viewers to see in Series 4”.

As well as filming an eight-part fourth series, Downton Abbey will return at Christmas 2013 with another feature length episode. The new series will see the return of Shirley MacLaine as Martha Levinson alongside series regulars Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery and Jim Carter.

In the UK, Series three of Downton Abbey continued to hit new ratings highs, and was the most watched drama of 2012, averaging 11.9 million consolidated viewers. The drama also broke records in the US recently with the Series three Season finale beating all broadcast and cable competition to become the highest rated show on American television that evening. The series, which aired on Masterpiece on PBS averaged 11.5 million viewers, with the finale averaging 12.3 million viewers.