During season four, one important change that occurred in the kitchen was the arrival of the electric mixer, which Mrs. Patmore, the cook, dislikes both as a device and as a herald of evolving needs for a house. Grandmother Violet (Maggie Smith) seemed to be one of the people most set against modern advances, mentioning what she believed to be "vapors" associated with electricity, but viewers who look closely at her drawing room will see that even the stubborn Dowager Countess now has an electric lamp.
Nick Briggs/PBS/AP
