Downton Christmas special is so good you'll vomit, says Lady Emma Fellowes

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But the wife of Julian Fellowes, the writer of ITV's hit period drama, has warned that the Christmas special is so good that it could do just that.

ITV will be hoping to end the BBC's dominance of Christmas viewing with its two-hour special, in which it has promised high drama as we learn the fate of Bates, the valet, who is on trial for the murder of his wife.

The cast and crew are sworn to secrecy on plot details, but Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary, told ES Magazine: "Julian's wife Emma [Lady Emma Kitchener-Fellowes] often comes on set, and she'd read all the scripts before anyone else.

She said to me, 'Just wait till you see what happens. It's so good, you'll vomit'."

Fellowes would not be drawn on his wife's comments, telling the Standard he is "always nervous of over-selling" the hugely successful programme, but mischievously added: "It does sound rather like Emma."

As well as Bates's trial, viewers are willing Lady Mary to fulfil her romance with Matthew Crawley, played by Dan Stevens. The path appears to have been cleared after Crawley's fiancée Lavinia died.

Stevens said of his character's relationship with Lady Mary: "What's fun is that we're never at the same pitch of emotion - it's one of those 'I can't quit you' relationships, a bit like Brokeback Mountain."

The pair were vamped up for their ES photoshoot, drawing inspiration from Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's characters in the Twilight movies for the shoot at Fulham Palace.

ITV did release some sketchy details of the Christmas special today. New character Lord Hepworth (Nigel Havers) will be at the centre of a "sensational" storyline, while Lady Mary and Crawley's relationship will suffer more "twists and turns". The two-hour episode includes a Christmas ball in which the upstairs and downstairs characters come together for a night of dancing.

Those hoping for all final answers will be disappointed though, it is expected to end on a cliffhanger. The third series will screen next year.

The full interview can be read in Friday's ESMagazine