Members of the media who attended Sunday's 'Downton Abbey' panel at the Television Critics Association press tour were treated to several minutes from the second season of the period drama, which takes place during World War 1.

The staples of the series were still there -- the gorgeous interiors and exteriors of the stately home gleamed, the starchy butler Carson disapproved of something being done by one of the aristocratic Crawley sisters, the snippy ladies' maid O'Brien looked down her nose at a cheeky new member of the below-stairs staff, and the relationship between Matthew Crawley, the man set to inherit Downton Abbey, and Lady Mary, an aristocrat with a scandal in her past, looked as complicated as ever.

But in interviews conducted before the panel, members of the 'Downton' cast said the war lent a new sense of urgency to the country house drama, which returns Jan. 8.