Set in September 1912. Matthew Crawley, a young solicitor and the new heir, arrives at Downton Abbey with his mother, Isobel. They, the other Crawleys, and the servants all have difficulty adjusting to differences in class and culture whilst facing some resentment from certain family members and staff. Isobel Crawley, having worked as a nurse during the war, pressures Dr Clarkson into performing pericardiocentesis on a hospital patient suffering from dropsy, and is made chair of the hospital board, upsetting the Dowager Countess.