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These are stories about a family, and stories about its servants. There is love both spoken and concealed; there are new allegiances, new rivalries upstairs and down, old scores to settle, the reappearance of an old flame. Even the dowager countess, still played to withering perfection by Dame Maggie Smith, has a surprising new cause to champion. The spice and intrigue comes from picking out the glorious detail of English country life in the early Twenties – not from the appearance of deformed foreign cousins, spines broken in the war, and miraculous medical recoveries.

And, for the first time in Downton history, we meet a character whose arrival hasn't been heralded by online gossip about the arrival of a new cast member – the estate itself. Downton's isolated, windswept outbuildings feature gloriously in this new episode as the question of who will manage Downton, and how, comes into sharper focus than ever before. New methods of estate management are personified by Lady Sybil's widower, Branson (Allen Leech), now Downton's agent – and conflict is brewing with the old guard, led by Lord Grantham himself, played by Hugh Bonneville.

^{The cast from series four of Downton Abbey (ITV)}

More glamorous locations, too, come into play as the roaring Twenties take hold in London: clever photography sees St Pancras station and the Criterion restaurant splashed across the screen with not a single yellow line or satellite dish in sight.

Across the last couple of series – as plot has trumped character again and again – the sumptuous look of Downton has also suffered in the crush. But, both in London and in the country, it's back again for series four – and how. The lighting on Lady Mary's face in one particularly pivotal scene says as much about her agony as any dialogue ever could. The opening music – specially composed for this episode, but don't worry, still a variation on the traditional Downton theme – sets the scene viscerally for bereavement and misery. But the on-screen beauty extends to flowers, and a sunrise, too.

Bereavement isn't the only thing making the aristocrats miserable as the pot begins to boil again above stairs. Financial conflict – prompted by death duties on Matthew's estate, if nothing else – threatens the family's harmony. And, as the mourning continues upstairs, the servants are having misunderstandings – both big and small – below stairs. After all, it's Valentine's Day, and none of the cards have been signed.

And, as always, technology is marching on. After the arrival of the telephone, electricity and the motor car, Downton Abbey is now welcoming … an electric whisk. Kitchen maids Ivy and Daisy are keen to try it – with traditionalist cook Mrs Patmore not so sure. "Well," she says suspiciously, "on your own head be it."