Finally, some good news for Downton Abbey fans. After killing off several beloved characters in recent seasons, the show’s creator Julian Fellowes has introduced a couple of adorable child actors to play the offspring of some of the show’s departed characters.
![Downton Abbey](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/da5_8914_1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
The little ones already look adorable — now, just imagine them with British accents. Fifi Hart, 4, will play Sybbie Branson, daughter of the late Lady Sybil Crawley and Tom Branson, once Downton’s chauffeur. As a tearful refresher, Sybil died of toxemia shortly after giving birth in a heart-wrenching episode that was only the first to outrage fans.
![Downton Abbey](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/da5_8914_2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
Later that same season, Matthew Crawley died in a car accident on the drive back to Downton from the hospital where his first son and heir had just been born. Master George Crawley will be played by 3-year-old twins Oliver and Zac Barker, who look like they could be the actual offspring of Dan Stevens, who played their fictional father. Lady Mary, George’s mother (Michelle Dockery), is not pictured with her son, of course, as she’s probably too busy being courted by many a gentleman to bother with the nanny’s work.
The children, only seen before as infants, represent the time jump the show is taking for next season. Mary could be remarried by now, for all we know.
Downton Abbey season 5 will premiere in the U.S. on Jan. 4, 2015.
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