The hit ITV "Downton Abbey" is a British period drama series set in 1920s and may soon feature a first black character on the show.

The producers of the series decided to add some racial diversity in season 4 by casting the first black character, Jack Ross and are searching for an actor to play the musician.

The characters on the series so far expand to include Catholics and Americans among the storylines. Ross will be introduced as part of a storyline about race relations in the time period.

The casting notes sent out to regarding the character described Ross as, "Male, 25-30. A musician [singer] at an exclusive club in the 20s. He's black and very handsome. A real man [not a boy] with charm and charisma," The Sun reports.

The notes add, "Overall, he should be a very attractive man with a certain wow factor."

Ross is expected to play a key part in the next season. Also a new love interest for Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) named Lord Anthony Gillingham is to be introduced.

"I'm not giving anything away by saying that one of the main themes is the rebuilding of Mary, that Mary has to rebuild her life in a society which is changing," "Downton" creator Julian Fellowes told The New York Times about Season 4. 'We would see women's roles in the '20s as being very much behind women today. But it was a big advance on what it had been 30 years before. And that's all explored in the show."

The upcoming season 4 is scheduled to begin filming on March 23 and premiere in January 2014 in the US.