Actress Kerry Washington poses at the 21st annual ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards
IN PHOTO: Actress Kerry Washington poses at the 21st annual ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards in Los Angeles, California October 20, 2014. Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

ABC political drama series “Scandal” is returning this fall, with new twists, cases and surprises. Olivia Pope & Associates (OPA) opens the season with a case that involves someone from the British royal family.

Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) will be called upon to fix a case of a client who belongs to British royalty, according to TV Line’s spoiler report.

Meanwhile, Cornelius Smith Jr. will be returning to reprise his role as Marcus Walker in the upcoming season. He has signed on as a series regular for Season 5. The previous season saw him making an appearance in two episodes, “The Lawn Chair” and “I’m Just a Bill.” There are speculations that he will be joining Olivia’s team as one of her gladiators. She, for sure, needs one more gladiator after the death of Harrison Wright (Columbus Short) and Abby (Darby Stanchfield) taking the press secretary job at the White House.

It was earlier confirmed that Portia de Rossi, who had a recurring role in Season 4, has been promoted to series regular, and her character, Elizabeth North, will be seen as the new chief of staff at White House. The last season finale saw President Fitz (Tony Goldwyn) firing Cyrus (Jeff Perry) after he found out that he colluded with Rowan Pope (Joe Morton). Soon after that, North moved into Cyrus’ office as the new chief of staff.

Also Scott Foley has hinted that his character, Jake Ballard, will be returning in Season 5. He said on his Twitter feed, “I heard they're getting the band back together tomorrow. #ScandaI.” The previous season finale saw him saying goodbye to Olivia after her father, Papa Pope, was put behind bars, saying that his mission is complete, and she should go for what she truly wants.

The cast recently had a table read. Washington posted a photo of herself and Goldwyn on her Instagram account, with the caption, “Ran into this guy today. #5candal table read.” Earlier, she posted on July 14, “Today is the Day. #5candal #501TableRead Woooooo hoooooooo! Cannot wait to see the fam & find out what our @ScandalWriters have been cooking.”

“Scandal” Season 5 is scheduled to premiere on Sept. 24.

You may email the writer your feedback at a.shrivastava@IBTimes.com.au.

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