Downton Abbey gets its first black character next season

The fourth season of Downton Abbey, which will beging filming in March, will feature its first black character, The Sun reports.

The character, a jazz singer named Jack Ross, will factor into a race relations storyline.

Casting notes sent to acting agencies described the character as:

• Male, 25-30. A musician (singer) at an exclusive club in the ’20s.
• He’s black and very handsome. A real man (not a boy) with charm and charisma.
• Ideally be able to sing brilliantly . . . Overall he should be a very attractive man with a certain wow factor.

Jack Ross won’t be the only new character next season. According to The Sun, “Lady Mary Crawley gets a new love interest — dashing Lord Anthony Gillingham” and a party-loving reveler called Sir John Bullock will also appear. The casting notes for the latter insist the actor “must be able to act drunk.”