Downton Abbey has been renewed for the fifth season by the British ITV TV network, and is expected to return in the fall of 2014. It is reported that the news of the renewal was announced by the British ITV TV network immediately after the broadcast of the fourth season finale. The fifth season will continue the configuration of the previous four seasons, with a total of 8 episodes, and the production of the traditional Christmas special episode every year. The script of the fifth season will still be written by the gold medal screenwriter Julian Fellowes, and Gareth Neame will serve as the producer. Neame promised that the new fifth season will be "up and down, romantic, dramatic and full of comedy" like the previous seasons.