Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine appeared in the ratings-winning season premiere of the British drama "Downton Abbey" Sunday on PBS. CARNIVAL FILM & TELEVISION LIMITED for Masterpiece
Sunday's season premiere of "Downton Abbey" marked a milestone for public television.
The British drama, which returned for its third season on channel 11, scored big with viewers, drawing a record 7.9 million total viewers, according to nytimes.com.
The premiere "quadrupled the average PBS prime time rating and exceeded the average rating of the second season premiere of 'Downton Abbey' by 96 percent," according to WGBH, a PBS member station, in a news release issued Monday.
PBS outdrew Fox, ABC and NBC in the 8-9 time period Sunday but was beaten by CBS' "The Good Wife" with 10 million viewers and "The Mentalist" with 10.7, according to the report.
That's almost twice the 4.2 million who watched season two opener. A typical PBS prime time show draws about 2 million viewers, according to guardian.co.uk.com.
"'Downton Abbey' continues to enthrall audiences nationwide, and this season is especially riveting with the addition of Shirley MacLaine to the cast and the lively interaction between her and Maggie Smith," Paula Kerger, chief executive of PBS, said in a statement to the website.
"I'm so pleased that audiences have returned to 'Downton Abbey' on their local stations to continue to enjoy some of the best drama on television."
This season of the hit series, which airs Sundays through February 17, also features the addition of several faces, a threat to the "Downton" way of life, a further shakeup of British tradition and the widely reported deaths of two characters.
"Downton Abbey" has won seven Emmy Awards and is nominated for three Golden Globes on Sunday.
Here's a preview of episode two, airing at 8 p.m. Sunday on PBS, channel 11.
Watch Downton Abbey, Season 3: Episode 2 Preview on PBS. See more from Masterpiece.
