'Downton Abbey' to release first Christmas album

LONDON, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Downton Abbey will release a Christmas album in November.

The ITV series is well-known for its annual Christmas special, and plans to spread more cheer by releasing Christmas at Downton Abbey on November 10. The album is a 45-track, double-LP, and includes hymns, carols and holiday songs.

Cast members Elizabeth McGovern (Cora Crawley), Julian Ovenden (Charles Blake) and Jim Carter (Charlie Carson) contributed to the record alongside established musicians such as Dane Kiri Te Kanawa, the Choir of Kings College and the Budapest City Orchestra. McGovern and Ovenden, who have both previously released albums, called the opportunity "so exciting" and a "massive honor."

Downton Abbey premiered in 2010, and airs on PBS in the U.S. The period drama takes an upstairs/downstairs look at the aristocrats and servants who live and work at an English manor in the 1900s. Season five will debut in the U.S. on January 4, 2015.