“Downton Abbey” fans prepare yourselves for a shocker: Shirley MacLaine to join the cast for Season 3!

Mother and daughter: Shirley MacLaine to play Elizabeth McGovern's mum in "Downton Abbey".

Michael Ausiello at TVLine has the scoop: Oscar winning American actress Shirley MacLaine will be heading to the UK to join the cast of the hot British soap opera, “Downton Abbey” for Season 3 which begins filming soon. The soapy period drama about the “Upstairs Downstairs” lives of an upper crust British family and their servants has become a huge worldwide hit, with millions of American fans tuning in to PBS’s “Masterpiece” to catch the currently airing second season of the show which is set during the years of World War I. MacLaine will portray the mother of Elizabeth McGovern’s American-born Lady Grantham.

One of the highlights of “Downton Abbey” is the acidic presence of the iconic British actress Dame Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Grantham, whose tart and withering jabs at anyone not meeting her expectations, tend to delight all her many LGBTQ fans. We can only imagine that the “Downton Abbey” writers will be cooking up some very barbed encounters between the characters played by Dame Maggie and Ms MacLaine…we know they won’t go as low as to actually get physical, but the verbal gymnastics should be FIERCE!

Season Three begins filming soon and should air in the UK in the fall of 2012 with an early 2013 airdate likely for the US. Ultra serious fans of British film and TV might consider getting a region free DVD player…stuff frequently comes out on DVD in the UK before it even airs in the United States…you could be the first kids on the block to check out the hot UK shows! (Or, just rip them off the Internet if so inclined to break the law…)