Downton Abbey series 5 first trailer: 'Things are changing' warns Mr Carson

Life for the Crawley family and their household looks set for a shake-up

British drama Downton Abbey is to return later this year (ITV)

Game of Thrones has come to an end, but the new season of a rather different drama is soon to hit our screens.

ITV have released a teaser trailer for the fifth series of Downton Abbey – and things are set to change for the Crawley family and their household.

Featuring a series of images from the period drama’s opening credits, including the iconic servants’ bell, the short film is overlaid by the voice of Mr Carson, played by Jim Carter.

“I feel a shaking of the ground I stand on; the nature of life is not permanence but flux,” he says.

“Things are changing.”

The ominous message comes as the characters find themselves living in a Britain that is heading towards modernity – and the Second World War.

Filming of the latest series is due to finish in August, with the drama airing later this year.

And there will be a number of new faces to look out for, including Richard E Grant, who will play Simon Bricker, a guest of the Granthams, as well as Four Wedding s and a Funeral star Anna Chancellor as Lady Anstruther.

Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary, has recently quashed rumours she is leaving Downton Abbey after the next series, and says she will continue to act in the drama “till the end”.

However, creator Julian Fellowes has hinted that the fifth series could be the show’s last.

“I don't know yet if there is a season six, but it's not going to go on forever,” he said.