George Clooney Appears in 'Downton Abbey' Charity Short (VIDEO)

George Clooney has finally arrived at Downton Abbey.

The Oscar winner appeared in a special charity short as part of the Text Santa fundraiser that was held by ITV on Friday night. The special generated £5.5M for UK charities. The success of the show was largely driven by the wall-to-wall celebrity appearances, from Ben Stiller, Ricky Gervais and Rebel Wilson, to Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan and The X Factor UK's Simon Cowell.

However, the most notable inclusion in the night's festivities was a special Downton Abbey short. The segment, which was more or less an homage to It’s A Wonderful Life, featured Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) seeing what would happen if he'd never been born. Clooney is the highlight, but he's not the only notable guest star in the short, as Absolutely Fabulous's Joanna Lumley, Mr. Selfridge's Jeremy Piven, and even Downton creator/writer Julian Fellowes make appearances. It's an amusing short, and kind of surreal, considering how stuffy Downton Abbey can occasionally be. But it's a lot of fun, and Clooney really seems to relish in playing in the Downton world. And the actors (and their characters! Look no further than Maggie Smith) seem absolutely stoked to have him there. I loved this, personally.

Check out the full short below: