The much-anticipated return of Downton Abbey is tonight at 8 p.m. on WSRE. The show centers around the comings and goings inside the Edwardian country house of Downton Abbey set in the early 1900s. The aristocratic Crawley family is not without drama.

“The story is fiction, but it’s very true to the time period,” said Robin McArthur, marketing director for the PBS station to the IN when we interviewed her in December. “There’s drama and love stories. It keeps you hanging on with all the twists and turns and interwoven stories. You can’t wait to see what happens next.”

There’s also a history lesson packed into the episodes. In the first season, you see the Crawleys react to the sinking of the Titanic and in the second season you see how World War I affects England.

This year Shirley MacLaine joins its cast as Martha Levinson, the mother of Cora, Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern), who arrives from America bringing a tart tongue and liberal attitudes unfamiliar to her daughter’s aristocratic household. The NY Times has an interview with MacLaine in today’s edition, MacLaine’s Next Life.

You can find more information and watch a preview of Season 3 and a recap of Seasons 1 and 2 at wsre.org/downton.