The highly anticipated fifth season of Downton Abbey returned to British television screens last night, drawing 8.43 million viewers.
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But while those numbers may look enormous when compared to Australian TV ratings, where comparable hits draw between 1.5 and 2 million viewers, they fell short of expectation in the UK.
The result was the second lowest rating season premiere in Downton Abbey's five year history. (The lowest was its debut season.)
It was also short of the 9.51 million viewers who tuned into last year's season opener and the 9.8 million who watched the fourth season finale.
On the upside, it sliced off 39.6 per cent of the available viewing audience.
The fifth season of the show features a number of high profile guest stars, including Pride and Prejudice's Anna Chancellor, who plays Lady Anstruther.
She joins actor Richard E. Grant, seen most recently in the Kath & Kim spin-off film Kath & Kimderella, who plays Simon Bricker, a guest of the Granthams at Downton Abbey.
The fifth season of the show will air in Australia on the Seven Network; no airdate has been announced.
