"Upstairs, Downstairs" Reviews & Ratings - IMDb IMDb trailers and videos full cast and crew trivia official sites memorable quotes Overview 66 out of 68 people found the following review useful: Goosey goosey gander, wither shall I wander? Upstairs anddownstairs and in my lady's chamber... from London 3 July 2001 It is a widely held belief that Upstairs Downstairs was television at its finest, and the most popular tv drama in the world. But why precisely is so good? It is almost entirely studio bound and looks like it should be just another worthy but squeaky clean period drama. This is why it is very hard to convince anyone unfamiliar with the series of why it is so special. But John Hawkesworth, the producer, believed television was electronic theatre, not second rate film, and this allows the stories to concentrate on words, emotions and intense acting. The grittiness of the series, the performances and its skill at depicting human emotions were its chief assets. Gordon Jackson's magnificent character performance as Hudson is a display of a modest, warm actor who made a character who stood for all he disliked totally loveable.

David Langton's charming, liberal Richard Bellamy was a far less snobbish and severe man than his butler, but his first wife, the statuesque Lady Marjorie certainly made up for him. Simon Williams' portrayal of Lord Lucan lookalike James Bellamy showed real development over the years, the haughty, caddish son who is changed forever by the war and plays his final episode "All The King's Horses" nothing short of brilliantly. Lesley Anne-Down and Jacqueline Tong's introduction, the Christmas story "Goodwill To All Men" in many ways sums the series up, combining a devastating look at the London poor with the escapist charm of a traditional Edwardian Christmas, leading to a bittersweet conclusion offering an idyllic scene of Georgina being giving her presents as the snow falls outside, just after her grandmother's wise observation that her outing to help the needy was more out of a need for adventure than real charity. If the first season was the series finding its feet and the second was it settling down to more of the same, the third season is the oddest of them all.

It reflects a period of change both in pre-war Britain and behind the scenes, as Elizabeth and Lady Marjorie were both written out at the actors' requests. This leaves the upstairs structure of the house unsettled, and the series is dark and sombre, as James' doomed marriage and Richard's bereavement make the house seem a far cry from the high society gatherings and royal dinners of the early seasons. Although the fourth series, which depicts the war years so powerfully is considered the best, I would personally dispute this. Good as it is, what is most interestiung is the fifth series, as Britain's social structure is collapsing, and the full impact of the war is felt. The roarring twenties try to blot out the horrors of the trenches but leave James and many like him haunted, directionless, forgotten and despairing. The fifth series also introduces a new wife for Richard in the form of the delectable Hannah Gordon. Her interpretation of Virginia is a joy to watch; beautiful, witty and poetic.

The daring storylines provide all the characters with moments to shine in, from Lady Marjorie's adultery in the excellent "Magic Casements" which deals unconventionally with an age-old theme, to the heartbreaking "I Dies From Love" which details the suicide of a kitchen maid. The sexual attitudes of the day were explored in "A Suitable Marriage", the bleak "A Cry For Help" and the astonishing "Whom God Hath Joined." Some of the wildest plotlines should not have worked but did, such as Hudson's hopeless affair with a parlour maid in "Disillusion" and Mrs Bridges' breakdown in "Why Is Her Door Locked?" There are really only two unsuccessful episodes of the entire sixty eight, but many masterpieces. "The Glorious Dead" and "Another Year" are devastating essays on the tragedies of the war, and "Distant Thunder" is a superbly claustrophobic episode, as war looms both in the household and in Europe. "The Sudden Storm" ends the third season with war declared, Daisy crying with the fear of what is to come while the rest of the world seems to be celebrating.

The final episode, "Wither Shall I Wander" ended the series marvellously, with a perfect mixture of the happy and the sad. The pomp of Georgina's wedding allows a diversion from the sale of the house and the loss of James. Hudson delivers a tremendous speech to Edward on the tradition of service now dying out, and one can't help but be swept along with the fever of the episode. The final scene, as Rose is left alone in the house with the ghosts of the past echoing around her, is both a fine depictuion of the sentimentality of leaving a lifestyle behind and a cunning wallow in nostalgia. The like of Upstairs Downstairs will never be seen again. This type of television, like the England it depicted, is gone forvever. Was the above review useful to you? 26 out of 27 people found the following review useful: The Perfect Time Machine from Germany 6 October 2005 Probably the best TV series ever! For someone Anglophile like me it is the perfect time machine to enter a typical household of the Victorian/Edwardian era. Although it shows an "upper class" household, the focus is on the "downstairs" personnel.

The problems and stories of the kitchen maidens, footmen etc are much more colorful and sympathetic than the actions of "her ladyship" and Lord Bellamy upstairs. Nevertheless absolutely all characters are designed thoroughly, sympathetic and authentic. Furthermore this series shows a sort of real "theater" which has left TV long time ago and will never appear again! Long close-ups which show the affection of every actor, long dialogs with full sentences and - long pauses between them to enable the actors and the viewer to reflect everything. In addition the fine set design, the costumes, the "funny stuff" around, for example an early - hand-crafted! - vacuum-cleaner! Another extraordinary fact is the combination of fictional characters with real history: Everything finds its way into the story, the death of Queen Victoria, the Titanic Disaster, WW I, the Spanish Influenza, Wall Street and so on. A period of nearly 30 years is described, and with the last episode you are crying, just because you wish to know how everything will continue... But, that was a lack of this absolutely brilliant series: The main characters hardly age during the decades! Butler Hudson and cook Mrs.

Bridges for example are already "old people" in the first episode, playing 1901. In the last episode - 1929 - they have not changed in any way, they even plan to "start a new life", running a small guest-house. After having seen it in German TV, where several episodes are not shown, I bought the complete DVD edition and can only recommend this to everyone! Was the above review useful to you? 24 out of 25 people found the following review useful: Still pure magic......... from Blaenafon, Gwent 3 September 2003 Having first watched this series as a mere boy of 10 years in the early 70's, it is indeed a pleasure to see it being repeated on UK cable TV as I write. To me, it has lost none of it's charm and appeal, particularly the richness of characters, characters which were allowed to develop fully over the period it was screened. If you haven't seen this, make an effort to do so - it was and is one of the most beautifully written and acted British drama series to grace the screen. Was the above review useful to you?

21 out of 23 people found the following review useful: The Best Drama Ever on Television from Brooklyn NY 27 July 1999 It wasn't a huge budget that made this series great, immensely popular, much honored, and the biggest hit in PBS history. It was the fabulous writing and the rich characterizations presented to us every week. All these people we cared about, even negatively in the case of James. And that's why even now there is a U/D web site. Interwoven were the historical events of Edwardian England stretching through World War One into the Twenties. The series reached it's peak halfway through the war with "Women Shall Not Weep" - a magnificent episode available on video. By the Twenties the upper class was cracking more than the lower - a theme of the series. U/D was such a hit America tried its own hand at the wealthy/servants scenario with "Beacon Hill" - highly touted but dismally written flop. Special credits to Jean Marsh as Rose (who never found happiness, but wouldn't have been happy anyplace but the world she was brought up in!); Marsh also was a creator of the series. It was an absolute joy. P.S.

In case the credits don't reflect this, Daisy's last name was 'Peel". Was the above review useful to you? 21 out of 24 people found the following review useful: an Edwardian soap opera from United Kingdom 9 July 2005 Set from pre-World War I to the late 1920s, this series ran for five years and was a cornerstone of ITV drama in the UK. Co-created by Jean Marsh and debuting in good old black and white, before moving into colour, 'Upstairs, Downstairs' remains the best (and the soapiest) drama of above and below stairs. Too many people in the cast to mention, but kudos should go to David Langton, who played Richard Bellamy throughout, to the two Lady Bellamys, Rachel Gurney and Hannah Gordon, to Simon Williams and Nicola Pagett as James and Elizabeth, and Lesley Anne Down as Georgina. Below stairs there were three key characters - Gordon Jackson as Hudson the butler, Angela Baddeley as Mrs Bridges the cook (a character so famous she had her own range of biscuits and preserves for many years), and Jean Marsh as Rose, the house-parlourmaid.

I also remember Karen Dotrice as Lily, Jacqueline Tong as Daisy, John Alderton and Pauline Collins as Thomas and Sarah (who got their own spin-off series), and Christopher Beeny as Edward. Full of drama - the Titanic disaster, debt collectors, intrigue and affairs, and of course the obligatory conflict between ranks, this series had it all. It enjoyed several repeat runs on TV and now has a new life on DVD, well-deserved. Highly recommended if you've never seen it; if you have you don't need convincing. Was the above review useful to you? 15 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Classy, intelligent, and engrossing Edwardian era drama 2 April 2006 *** This review may contain spoilers *** This is the best dramatic series ever produced in Britain or aired on PBS. It chronicles life at 165 Eaton Place, depicting the personal lives of the aristocratic Bellamy family above stairs and their servants below. Actual historical events are incorporated into the story, including the death of Queen Victoria, the sinking of the Titanic, World War I, the General Strike, and the Wall Street Crash.

It paints a vivid portrait of the discrepancy in social status of those in service as compared with their wealthy, titled employers. Nevertheless, we see the loyalty and affection these servants frequently have to the family they serve. The master of the household is Richard Bellamy, a Conservative Member of Parliament and clergyman's son who married above his station in life. He is a man of both professional and personal integrity, whose political views sometimes come into conflict with his wife's titled family, the Southwolds. His wife, Lady Marjorie, is the Earl of Southwold's daughter, an elegant and gracious lady, the very epitome of poise, who can handle any situation with admirable aplomb. Their tall, dark, and handsome son and heir, Captain James Bellamy, is transformed from a haughty, aimless cad to a wounded, anguished officer devastated by war. Really, much of the series is a depiction of James's struggle to "find himself". The spoiled and rebellious daughter, Elizabeth, disdains the debutante life expected of her, opting instead for charitable and feminist causes, frequently setting the household into a stir. Eventually she makes an ill fated match with the poet Lawrence Kirbridge.

The middle class comes into play when James marries his father's stately, radiant, and dignified secretary Hazel, a kind and giving individual who is neglected and rejected by her husband in favour of his step-cousin, Georgina Worsley. Georgina is a stunning but absolutely self absorbed creature, initially engrossed with the social whirl of her own season. Her sole redeeming behaviour is her wartime nursing but alas, she follows it up with a decade of partying, cigarette holder in one hand and cocktail in the other. After the untimely death of Lady Marjorie on the Titanic, the genuine chemistry at Eaton Place is between Hazel and her father-in-law Richard, who hold the fort together while James is off soldiering. Later Richard marries a Scottish widow, Virginia Hamilton, a rather willful individual I never much took to. She lacks both Lady Marjorie's grace and Hazel's earnest integrity, making an uninteresting lady of the manor when compared with her two predecessors. Once again 165 is home to children after Virginia moves in with her two young offspring, Alice and William.

Frequent upstairs visitors include Lady Prudence, Lady Marjorie's loyal and outspoken friend, the most overbearing creature on earth and provider of comic relief, and Sir Geoffrey Dillon, the Southwold family solicitor. I quite enjoyed the character of this harbinger of financial gloom and discrete maker of "arrangements" to cover up the frequent family scandals. Downstairs the servants form a family unto themselves at their own kitchen table, with Mr. Hudson presiding in state at its head. Hudson is the stern Scottish butler who takes pride in the Bellamy family upstairs, manages their household efficiently, and puts the other servants in their proper place when necessary. The cook, Mrs. Bridges, is queen of her own domain, the kitchen. She can be maternal, but is generally in fine scolding fettle, always in a huff over some outrage, culinary or otherwise, and shouting at her poor scullery maid. Rose, the longtime parlourmaid, is one of the real stars of the entire series. We see much of life at "good old 165" through her eyes. She is such a kind, hard working, and loyal soul and deserving of so much better than life in service offers.

She longs for a husband and children of her own, and has her own ill fated romance with Australian sheep farmer Gregory Wilmot. There's also the blossoming romance and marriage between the vulnerable housemaid, Daisy, and her footman, Edward. During the series, we witness Edward's progress from cheeky young footman to shell shocked soldier to struggling unemployed husband to new chauffeur to butler-in-training. Various other servants come and go from 165 Eaton Place, including the feisty, brazen Sarah who both causes trouble in the household and induces it upon herself; the crafty chauffeur Thomas; Lady Marjorie's aloof and snooty personal maid Roberts; the deranged footman Alfred and the smug one Frederick; the naive parlourmaid Lily; the embittered governess Miss Treadwell; the tragic Irish scullery maid Emily and her later replacement, poor dear Ruby. Upstairs Downstairs depicts society galas, country house weekends, and an elegant dinner party fit literally for a king. It features five series, which can be divided into three groups based upon who is mistress of the household. Series 1-2 with Lady Marjorie involves almost a scandal an episode!

Series 3-4 sees Hazel as the new mistress and casts a darker, more serious tone with her marital difficulties and all the drama of the Great War. The final Series 5 features Richard's new wife Virginia, Georgina's flapper years, and focus on James's post war wanderings. The characters do not age during the thirty or so years spanned by the series, from the latter Victorian era to the Roaring Twenties. It's an absolutely magnificent series that boasts both wonderful screen writing and acting, as well as authentic period costumes and decor. It flawlessly captures a past era, contrasts graphically its titled and servant class distinctions, and involves the viewer emotionally in the fate of its characters, both those above and those below stairs. Was the above review useful to you? 14 out of 15 people found the following review useful: the finest thing that has ever been on television from New York, United States 15 June 2006 My wife and I are just starting the fifth and last season. Last fall we started going through all the episodes on DVD in order. We do around 3 per week. I never saw the series in the 1970s, though I heard of it.

Some time in the mid 80s the local PBS station in New York showed most of them in order, a couple per week. I was absolutely enthralled. It's been about 20 years so we decided to have another look. They absolutely stand up well. Better than well. I will emphatically repeat the judgment I made twenty years ago: this series is the finest thing that has ever been on television. Yes, I know, you can't compare "apples and oranges" like that. I suppose the single ONE best thing that's ever been on television (in the sense of a one day or briefer event) in my experience was the moon landing in July 1969. Still, in spite of that, all in all, if I had to pick, Upstairs-Downstairs is the best PROGRAM that has ever been on television. Far and away. If you are new to it, I envy you. I am already mourning the last episode, which I will see again in a few weeks at most. My only consolation is that in twenty years, I can watch it all again. Was the above review useful to you?

9 out of 11 people found the following review useful: The best TV drama series, ever, period. Author: bw92116 20 December 2009 No other television drama made in any country has equaled or surpassed this one in quality from the beginning to the end of the series. Interesting and relevant themes, historical background, outstanding writing, plots, characters, sets, direction, acting, photography, editing - every aspect is executed brilliantly and and so well that you don't even notice them. And yet it's more than just the sum of those elements - it's a complete package that is compelling and unforgettable. What else can you say? This is a milestone in television production. If you haven't seen it, you're missing a major event in television history. Get the entire series, and watch all 68 episodes, in order. You will never forget this show. Was the above review useful to you? 9 out of 11 people found the following review useful: Upstairs Downstairs from Canada 15 May 2005 I would just like to say that Upstairs Downstairs has got to be one of my most favorite British Soaps of all time.

It's such a shame that it had to end. The era is fascinating to me, and I really enjoyed the way the servants interacted with each other and the occupants of the household. The story lines were believable, as were the characters. And when the Titanic was mentioned as the cause of death to the first Mrs. Bellamy, it brought a sense of reality to the show. The whole premise of the show was brilliant, because I'm sure that was the ways it really was in those days. What with the class distinctions and all. Over all I truly enjoyed the entire production. Was the above review useful to you? 8 out of 10 people found the following review useful: "What are we going to do with Uncle Arthur?" 25 August 2008 *** This review may contain spoilers *** 'Upstairs, Downstairs' was the surprise television drama hit of 1971 despite originally going out late on Sunday nights with very little fanfare. The Edwardian drama was the brainchild of actresses Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, inspired by the immense popularity of the B.B.C.'s 'The Forsyte Saga'.

Set at 165 Eaton Place, it told of the lives of the Bellamy family and their servants. Marsh played 'Rose Buck', the ever so-prim head parlour maid, with Atkins earmarked for 'Sarah a.k.a. Clemence', the cheeky Cockney girl who brings scandal and shame to the Bellamy household. When she proved unavailable, Pauline Collins ( fresh from the first series of 'The Liver Birds' ) replaced her. With all due respect to Atkins, its impossible now to think of 'Sarah' being played by anyone else. I loved the way she stood up for herself, dreamt constantly of a better life, and gave as good as she got. Gordon Jackson played the strict Scottish butler 'Angus Hudson', with Angela Baddeley as 'Mrs.Bridges', who ruled her kitchen with a rolling pin of iron. Tory M.P. 'Richard Bellamy' ( David Langton ) seemed a decent man. In addition to him, there was his elegant wife 'Lady Marjorie' ( Rachel Gurney ), their caddish son James ( Simon Williams ) and wayward daughter Elisabeth ( Nicola Pagett ).

When not working, the servants used to discuss what was going on upstairs, such as James' money troubles ( 'A Pair Of Exiles' ) or The King coming to dinner ( 'Guest Of Honour' ) or Miss Lizzie marrying an impotent poet ( 'For Love Of Love' ). One of the strongest episodes was 'I Dies From Love' in which Irish scullery maid Emily ( Evin Crowley ) hanged herself after being cast aside by a footman. To add insult to injury, we then found out that her body had been earmarked for medical experimentation despite her Catholic upbringing. There was no equality in those days even in death. Other servants were cheeky footman 'Edward', played by Christopher Beeny, and Jenny Tomasin as dimwitted scullery maid 'Ruby'. John Alderton came aboard in the second season as chauffeur 'Thomas Watkins', a fairly straight character to begin with, but who then evolved into a devious con-artist - witness his fleecing of the Bellamy's when a blackmailer came on the scene with Lady Marjorie's love letters to Captain Hammond ( David Kernan ). Thomas and Sarah later got their own show.

Poor Lady Marjorie went down on the Titanic ( funny how James Cameron never mentioned this ) at the start of Season 2. Her replacement was the tasty Meg Wynn Owen as 'Hazel Forrest', Richard's secretary. Elisabeth's successor was 'Miss Georgina Worsley' ( Lesley-Anne Down ), a vacuous deb who eventually enlisted as a nurse during The Great War. One of the great things about 'Updown' was that, as well as being top-notch drama, you got a history lesson as well. The Great War episodes were fabulous. One of the most moving scenes ever shown on television was when Edward came back from the trenches with shell-shock. Full credit should go to script-editor Alfred Shaughnessy and producer John Hawksworth, who both took all the major creative decisions. The wonderful Strauss-like theme tune was by Alexander Faris. 'Updown' caught on in America, despite five Season 1 episodes being omitted due to being made in black and white. The Americans attempted their own version, the unsuccessful 'Beacon Hill'. After five seasons, 'Updown' ended in 1975.

A lengthy repeat run then followed, and 'Guest Of Honour' was chosen as part of I.T.V.'s 'Best Of British' season in 1982. It is presently to be found on I.T.V.-3. Sagitta Productions moved to the B.B.C. in 1976, where they did the equally popular 'The Duchess Of Duke Street'. 'The Two Ronnies' did an 'Updown' parody, as did Stanley Baxter ( filmed on the same sets used in the show! ), the 'Carry On' team spoofed it in two editions of 'Carry On Laughing', and it inspired Jimmy Perry & David Croft's last sitcom 'You Rang Milord?'. Perhaps the most inane spin-off was 'Russell Harty Goes Upstairs, Downstairs' in which the late chat-show host was seen dropping in on the residents of Eaton Place for tea and a chat. Forty years after it first appeared, 'Updown' remains compelling, powerful ( it tackled difficult subjects such as homosexuality, adultery, suicide, mental breakdown, and the aftermath of war ), sometimes humorous, always entertaining viewing. in 2010, the B.B.C.

revived 'Updown' with Jean Marsh reprising her role as 'Rose' and a new family at Eaton Place. Despite it boasting superior production values, it failed to grab the imagination the way the original did, and was axed two years later. T.V. bosses would do well to take a long hard look at the original in order to learn how to do a show of this kind. It managed to pull in big audiences without insulting anyone's intelligence. Was the above review useful to you? Page 1 of 3: Upstairs, Downstairs | Pop Culture Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit The BBC announced In August 2010 that the new series would consist of three one-hour episodes, with the actors: Keeley Hawes , Ed Stoppard , Anne Reid , Claire Foy , Adrian Scarborough , Art Malik , Ellie Kendrick and also Nico Mirallegro , Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins play with it. In the new series is to see in the role of Jean Marsh as Rose Buck any original member of the old series. Buck now has a maid? s Office.

She returns to 165 Eaton Place as a housekeeper by the new owners, the Holland family.In the middle of August 2010, filming began in Cardiff , with parts of the city transformed into 1930 Belgravia environment for exterior scenes, and the interiors were filmed at the BBC's studios in Llandaff North Cardiff. Further recordings by outdoor scenes took place in Leamington Spa , Warwickshire in september 2010 with a terrace in Clarendon Square. The new Upstairs Downstairs was scheduled for broadcast on BBC One on 26 december 2010, with the first episode. A soundtrack album of music from the new series of composer Daniel Pemberton is also scheduled for release on iTunes. The three episodes are/were also broadcast by foreign broadcasters, including ABC in Australia , New Zealand , Sky in DR in Denmark , Finland , TLE in IBA in Israel and TV4 in Sweden . The NCRV has the three episodes broadcast on 26, 27 and 28 december 2011 on Netherlands 2 and One on 14, 21 and 28 February 2012.

BBC One now has six 60-minute episodes planned by the drama to be broadcast in the course of 2012. Cast in the new series[ Edit ] Edit Richard Bellamy Played by David Langton , Richard Bellamy, Viscount Bellamy of Haversham, is the youngest son of a pastor. As a young man he won a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where he excelled. In 1880 he married the rich Lady Marjorie Talbot-Carey and was conservative member of Parliament. They had two children, James and Elizabeth. After the death of Lady Marjorie, he married Virginia Hamilton, a war widow. By this time he moved up as Secretary of State related to the Admiralty in the Balfour Ministry and he is later he is also the Viscount Bellamy of Haversham.

Lady Marjorie Bellamy Played by Rachel Gurney : Lady Marjorie was born on 6 may 1860, or according to another episode 12 July 1864, in Southwold, Wiltshire in the home of her wealthy parents, Walter Talbot-Carey, 12th Earl of Southwold and Mabel, the Countess of Southwold. The count had a major role in the conservative party. She had a brother, Hugo, Viscount Ashby, who later became 13th Earl of Southwold. Despite the objections of her parents, she went in 1880 married to the youngest son of a rural pastor, Richard Bellamy and they went to live in a Grand Victorian mansion that Lady Marjories father the Earl of Southwold belonged at Eaton Place in London's fashionable Belgravia. They had two children, James (born 1881) and Elizabeth (born 1887). Shortly before their marriage, was Richard become a conservatieveparlementslid with the help of his father-in-law.

In the summer of 1906, she had an affair with a much younger man, Charles Victor Hammond, a captain in the Khyber Rifles and a friend of her son. After the affair was going on a while he asked her to go with him to take the legs, but she refused because she realized that her duty was to stay with her family. Her lover was later, when he was a major, killed during a battle in India in 1909. In a later episode, came a man (Mr. Dooley) who personally tutor was Hammond's military with a package love letters they had written to him. He was turned away at the front door by Hudson (the butler) as an "unwashed Irish vagrant", but he went to the stables to Thomas to the driver. In a blackmail attempt by the driver, who had gotten the letters, he got after negotiations with Lady Marjorie and Richard Bellamy, without that they knew each other, money, in the end it was the result that Dooley without money in prison ended. They always had problems with her two children.

Elizabeths marriage ran out on a divorce and James, always her favorite, had an affair with the maid Sarah who was expecting a child from him. James was sent to India and Sarah was brought to Southwold, but returned to Eaton Place in May 1909 because they felt unhappy there. Sarah was busy giving birth while the King above was dining with the Bellamys. However, her child was stillborn. On 15 april 1912 Lady Marjorie and her waiting-woman went, Miss Roberts, along with the brother of Lady Majorie and his new wife the widow Marion Worsely as passengers with the ill-fated maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic. They were both supposed to be dead, but Roberts survived the disaster. The next day that Roberts was rescued, along with other survivors, she was in a State of shock, so no one knew her identity, with the result that it was thought that Roberts and Lady Marjorie both were dead. Later when she came in a New York Hospital she realized who she was and then she went back to London. James Bellamy Played by Simon Williams : James Bellamy is the son of Richard and Lady Marjorie Bellamy and the brother of Elizabeth.

James Bellamy is one of the main characters in Upstairs, Downstairs, that in 37 episodes as an arrogant and selfish individual occurs but charming with his mother. He never recovered from her death in the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. James was educated at Eton and then he went to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and 1904 he is Lieutenant in the Life Guards in the British army. In about 1908, James, now captain, starts an affair with the former MAID Sarah, who is now a music hall singer and that Elizabeth's wedding website. Soon, Sarah gets pregnant by James, which has debts of about € 1350. Sarah gives him a share of its profits. The family lawyer, Sir Geoffrey Dillon, Sarah goes to family of Lady Marjorie's House, in Southwold, and James goes to India with his regiment, although Lady Marjorie is furious over there that James was sent abroad. While he is gone, in the early months of 1909 Sarah returns, returns to Eaton Place. That same evening, they like a guy but who dies almost immediately.

After a few failed relationships, marries James with Hazel Forrest, but their happiness is short lived due to their diverse background, it dies in the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. James serves in the first world war , but is wounded severely at Passendale on the Western front in 1917. He commits suicide in 1929, after losing his fortune in the Wall Street Crisis. Elizabeth Bellamy Played by Nicola Pagett : Elizabeth Bellamy, later Elizabeth Kirbridge, born 1886 and is the daughter of Richard and Lady Marjorie Bellamy and the sister of James Bellamy. She is a socialististe and a Suffragette, she marries with poet Lawrence Kirbridge, but the marriage was Elizabeth Gets a daughter Lucy Elizabeth. Elizabeth moves to New York and marries there with Dana j. Wallace in about 1911, after which they never appears in the series. Hazel Bellamy Played by Meg Wynn Owen : Hazel Forrest the first time in the episode "Miss Forrest" as a Secretary of Richard Bellamy.

James Bellamy is immediately attracted to her, and marry them within two years, after initially rejecting her because she previously was married to an abusive alcoholic named Patrick O'Connor. The klassekloof soon between James and Hazel and disagreements. In the first months of 1914 has Hazel a miscarriage depression. James at the front during the war – as is – she is in love with a young Aviator named Jack Dyson, who dies in action. Hazel is particularly fond of Richard, Georgina and Rose, but Hudson accepts its middleclass, a woman, not as the mistress of the House. Hazel dies from the Spanish flu in the days before the first world war ends in 1918. Virginia Bellamy Played by Hannah Gordon : Virginia, nursed step is the widow of a naval officer who was killed in action during the first world war. She meets Richard when she is going to ask for help to a Fund for the children of naval officers who have been killed in the fight. Virginia turns over about a year later, when her seventeen year old son Michael (currently serves as a Midshipman in the British Navy), for court martial because of cowardice.

At the urging of Hazel, asks Richard to the family lawyer Sir Geoffrey Dillon for help. Michael is then killed in an action. Richard and Hazel are fond of Virginia and her two other children, Alice and William. Virginia and Richard go later get married and she is thereby Viscountess. Georgina Worsley Played by: Lesley-Anne Down , Georgina, Marchioness of Stockbridge (no Georgina Worsley, born in 1895), Lady Marjorie's brother Hugo is the stepdaughter of her natural father died when she was six years old. Her mother and stepfather die along with Lady Marjorie nThe the wreck of the Titanic in 1912, after which they moved to Eaton Place. She brings the war years as a nurse in France, among her patients is also her step-nephew James. During the twenties, joins the ranks of young people known as the "Bright Young Things"-mad empty-headed types, but change its ways after they accidentally kills a herder. She is rescued by the testimony of Robert, Marquis of Stockbridge, with whom she married in 1930.

Other characters Upstairs[ Edit ] Edit Lady Southwold Played by actress Cathleen Nesbitt : Lady Southwold Mabel was the mother of Lady Marjorie and grandmother of James and Elizabeth Bellamy. During a visit to the House of the Bellamys they allegedly lost a valuable brooch, and the suspicion of theft, to the staff. A jeweler who will arrive later at the House stated that Lady Southwold the brooch at the store had brought on to be repaired. "Bunny," Marquess of Newbury Played by John Quayle : Lord Newberry, later the Marquis of Newberry and his friends known as ' Bunny ', he is the best friend of James Bellamy. A meek and quiet man, he married Lady Diana Russell. Diana Newbury Played by Celia Bannerman : Diana, Marchioness of Newbury is a friend of James Bellamy, she married his best friend Bunny. Bring together a weekend by James and Diana after Hazel died, but James doesn't want to marry her as Diana was hoping for. She decides to return to Bunny.

Julius Karekin Played by Donald Burton ; Julius Karekin is a rich man and a very knowledgeable and talented stock broker of Armenian descent, he has an affair with the recently separated Elizabeth Kirbridge, to whom he gave both a hat shop, and a sum of money which successfully investment does with Elizabeth had inherited from her recently deceased grandfather. Karekin also buys 165 Eaton Place when the lease for sale is after the death of Lord Southwold, he then gives the Act to Elizabeth to her parents to save from eviction from the House. Lady Dolly Hale Played by Madeleine Cannon : Lady Dorothy "Dolly" Beatrice Louisa Hale is one of the best friends of Georgina's and a colleague. Lady Dolly is the daughter of the Earl of Shelbourne and lives, in 1928 in Mayfair. In 1927, during a visit to Georgina, Lady Dolly meets Frederick, the lackey of Bellamy, and soon they start an affair.

However, in the summer of 1928, do Lady Dolly, Georgina, Lord Stockbridge and three others took part in a treasure hunt, Georgina drives down to the ride to stop and she loses the wheel and kills a man on his bicycle. On the then next inquest, made Lady Dolly (who used cocaine), statements that harm Georgina's case.After the inquest, Georgina explained that she never wants to see Lady Dolly. Lady Prudence Fairfax Played by Joan Benham : Lady Prudence Fairfax is the oldest and best friend of Lady Marjorie. She loves to gossip and is frivolous, but she keeps a close and trusted friend of the family until the end of the series. Lady Prudence was a widow with a grown daughter, named Agatha. At one point, after Lady Marjories death, visited Lady Prudence regularly the House and saw how Richard Bellamy and his son James got. Lawrence Kirbridge Played by Ian Ogilvy , the Socialist poet Lawrence Kirbridge Arthur is the first husband of Elisabeth or Wallace. If the affair and pregnancy come to light, he gets a benefit and leaves for overseas. Their marriage was on the rocks when Lawrence proved to be not interested in sex.

He is the grandson of a baron from Dorset, he was educated at the University of Cambridge and married Elizabeth in June of 1908. Robert, Marquess of Stockbridge Played by Anthony Andrews : Lord Robert Charles Algernon St. John Stockbridge, Marquis of Stockbridge is the son of the Duke and Duchess of Buckminster. He's a somewhat reluctant Member of wild social group of Georgina Worsley and Lady Dolly. He and Georgina are in love, but his parents insist that he first starts on a long trip around the world without her, before they give their consent to marry him, which they do in the summer of 1930. Sir Geoffrey Dillon Played by Raymond Huntley : Sir Geoffrey Dillon is the family lawyer and notary of the Bellamy family and a personal friend of Richard and Lady Marjorie. His first loyalty is to the Talbot-Careys where he works, but he also often proves to be useful for the Bellamys.

Edit Angus Hudson = Butler and Chief of the staff Played by Gordon Jackson he won an Emmy for (Supporting Actor, Single Performance, Comedy or Drama Series, for "The Beastly Hun."): Angus Hudson was the Scottish authoritarian butler in the household of Richard Bellamy, 165, Eaton Place in Belgravia, London. Hudson was a well-educated man with a working class background, and although he is a bit narrow-minded in some of his views (in particular opposite Germans), he was essentially a fair, just and good-hearted man.He shows, on occasions, a sense of humor and makes occasional joking with the other employees and talk even about football matches with Edward the lackey! His talents lay in the Organization of the staff, his theological knowledge and also its beautiful handwriting, what is considered a great art, like every Christmas show when sending cards to friends and his brother in Scotland. He was portrayed as an exemplary butler, and his loyalty to the family Bellamy was without a doubt. This was a good thing too, because the Bellamy family had some shocking secrets. He was the Chief of the staff and at first were that Mrs.

Bridges (with whom he eventually married in the last episode of the series), the Irish Kitchen Maid Emily, the eccentric Footman Alfred Harris, the pragmatic head maid Rose Buck (and later waiting-woman), the naughty MAID Sarah Moffat, Coachman Pearce and Lady Marjorie's Lady 's-maid Maude Roberts. Later staff that comes under its authority, include the lackey Edward Barnes, dienstmeije Daisy Peel/Barnes and the silly Kitchen Maid Ruby Finch. In the last episode, go Mrs. Bridges and Hudson would marry and move to a guest house by the sea to make their existence. By the death of Angela Beddeley not this plan went through. Mrs. Kate Bridges = Cook Played by Angela Baddeley , who was twice nominated for an Emmy (outstanding performance by an actress in a supporting role).: Kate Bridges was the Cook in the House on Eaton Place in the entire series.

In the first series episode "why is her door locked", Mrs Bridges makes mention of her husband who fifteen years earlier would have died, and in the episode with a visit to King Edward VII, told Lady Marjorie that their Cook no French chef is, but "a temperamental widow from Bristol." But in the third set in the final "The Sudden Storm", says Mr Hudson that there will never be a "Mr. Bridges" was, but that the term "Mrs" a courtesy that is usually applied to a cook in the household of a gentleman. In the last episode, are Bridges and Hudson married and would move to a guest house by the sea to make their existence. By the death of Gordon Jackson who plays the role of Hudson went not by this plan. Rose Buck = head of the maids Played by Jean Marsh , who was nominated four times for an Emmy for best actress in a Drama Series and the Emmy won once. Along with Eileen Atkins she created the series. : Rose Buck began to work on 13-year old age all Porter and later became a star on the Southwold estate where Lady Marjorie was born and raised.

She is the principal service girl later on Eaton Place 1903-1919 (including a brief period as a maid at Elizabeth Kirbridge), Bellamy's waiting-woman of 1919 and Virginia tot1930. During the first world war she works also as a ticket-taker. Alfred Harris = Lackey Played by George Innes : Alfred Harris is the first lackey on Eaton Place in 1895. He flees from the House in disgrace in 1905 after discovering that he had a sexual intercourse with a guest, the German spy baron Klaus von Rimmer. He returns to the House in 1913 and looks for refuge after murdering his new employer and lover. Hudson tells all to Mr Bellamy, who the police warns. There will follow a dramatic confrontation, as Alfred Edward hostage with a knife. Alfred is later hanged. Daisy Peel = Maid Played by Jacqueline Tong , who once was nominated for an Emmy (special continuing performance by a supporting actress).

: Daisy Barnes-Peel is a maid and later the principal service girl in the period 1919-1930, then she goes with her husband Edward work for the couple Stockbridge Edward Barnes – house servant and lackey Played by: Christopher Beeny , Edward Barnes replaced Alfred as Footman in 1906, and continues until he leaves to go to the war in 1915, having just being married with Daisy. After the war, and after a short period in which he and Daisy leave, he is driver and butler under the Bellamys, and in 1930 he becomes butler of Lord and Lady Stockbridge. Emily – Kitchen Maid Played by Evin Crowley : the Irish Kitchen Maid Emily Aoibhinn is known in the House as she is a very kind, awkward girl that is often scolded by Mrs. Bridges. In the episode I Dies From Love, are Emily and a lackey called William from the household of the girlfriend of Lady Bellamy, Mrs. Van Groeben, fallen in love with and want to get married. However, Lady Bellamy and Mrs.

Van Groeben tell their employees that they may no longer see each other, and William conforms to it. After being a love letter that Emily wrote to him (and that he had never opened) sent back, Emily had a broken heart, and committed suicide. Frederick Norton = Lackey Played by Gareth Hunt : Frederick Norton appears for the first time as James Bellamy's personal servant as he arrives at Eaton Place to return from the war with some of James's belongings if it is assumed that he was killed in October 1917. After the war, and after the departure of Edward, Frederick James, who is still in one piece if lackey hired by came back. In June 1927 Frederick and Lady Dolly Hale, begin an affair, and Frederick resigns to start a new life as a film actor and as an escort. Lily Hawkins = Maid Played by Karen Dotrice : Lily Hawkins (born in Shoreditch, London) comes at Eaton Place as onderdienstmeisje replacing Daisy, who left for a new life with Edward. Lily is a quiet, hard-working and caring girl.

In the spring of 1924, Lily and Hudson bring their time together every now and then by Hudson to want to get married with her and gives. However, Lily Hudson sees more as a father figure. She leaves Eaton Place without telling someone something and goes to her widowed mother in Banbury. Miss Maude Roberts = Waiting-Woman Played by Patsy Smart : Maude Roberts has long been Lady Marjorie's maid (or tutor). She's quite picky and is suspicious of the people around her, both above and below. During an afternoon tea in the space of the staff she reveals a little about himself to the other servants that she as a young woman by her father was caught with a young man. Unhappy about that, he sent her later in a household service, where she rose to her current position and that remained to date. In april 1912, Miss Roberts survives the sinking of the Titanic during the trip to America with Lady Marjorie, who drowns. After a week specified as Miss Roberts appears to be missing on no. 165, of the manifest to the surprise of the staff, which also assumed they had been killed.

However, she is emotionally disturbed by the sinking and the loss of Lady Marjorie, and takes the blame personally, and is later sent by Richard a psychiatric hospital. Pearce = Koetsier Played by Brian Osborne : Pearce whose first name is never revealed, is the Coachman from 1903 to 1909, when he is replaced by Thomas Watkins. According to the story, nothing with cars, and has Pearce returns to his previous position as head of the stable groom by Lady Wanborough. Ruby Finch = Kitchen Maid Played by: Jenny Tomasin , Ruby Finch is the kitchen maid on Eaton Place. She was preceded by Doris, Nellie, and Emily. It is suggested that she is mentally impaired light several times. Ruby comes to Eaton Place in 1908 or 1909, just after the marriage of Elizabeth with Lawrence, but goes away in 1915 to work in a munitions factory in Silvertown. She returns in the beginning of the following year after the factory is destroyed by an explosion. She goes off again briefly in 1929 and going to work as a girl for a lady.

In 1930 she goes along with Mr and Mrs Hudson to work in their guest house. (By the death of Gordon Jackson who plays the role of Hudson goes this plan not by) Sarah Moffat = Maid Played by Pauline Collins : Sarah Moffat (also known as Clémence Dumas, Clémence Moffat, and Sarah Delice), claims to be the daughter of Albert Moffat and Marianne Dumas and the great-granddaughter of Alexandre Dumas, Père. Illiterate and inexperienced, she is sent to Eaton Place by an agency for domestic servants. She gets the name Sarah by Lady Marjorie. She has quickly an unlikely friendship with the principal service girl, Rose. In June 1904, asks Richard Bellamy the painter Guthrie Scone to paint his wife. Sarah is going to deliver to his atIelier Lady Marjorie's dresses, and soon Scone also paint her. When both paintings are exhibited together as "the Mistress" and "The Maids", Sarah and Rose, who Scone painted also through Sarah's descriptions, they almost fired, but Scone persuades Richard to keep them. Two months later, leave Sarah brutalised by James Eaton Place.

In 1908, turns Sarah returns to Eaton Place, but quickly goes away after she is accused of theft. She then begins a career as the music-hall entertainer Clémence Dumas/Sarah Delice, known for songs like "what are we going to do with Uncle Arthur?" Around the same time, she begins an affair with James Bellamy and becomes pregnant, resulting that James is sent to India. Sarah loses the baby and eventually she marries Bellamys driver Thomas Watkins, and they leave their position. Their lives after leaving Eaton Place is portrayed in the spin-off series Thomas & Sarah. Thomas Watkins = Lackey later Driver Played by John Alderton : Thomas David Watkins grew up in Wales. In June 1909 he becomes servant, Lawrence and Elizabeth Kirbridge, and later driver and friend of Rose. When the marriage of Lawrence and Elizabeth Thomas ends up being chauffeur at the Bellamys on Eaton Place, where he eventually Richard and Lady Marjorie blackmails and later with Sarah a garage begins. Gregory Wilmot = Fiance of Rose Played by Keith Barron : Sergeant Gregory Walter Wilmot is the fiance of Rose.

He is a British sheep farmer and living in Australia , he has Socialist views. He and Rose meet at a tram, in april 1914 when he accidentally sat down on a cake that they had. Soon they begin an affair and within a week, on 12 april, goes with him Rose agreement to go back to Australia and to be his wife, but they consider themselves at the last minute. After the outbreak of the war, he becomes a sergeant, involved in the battle of Gallipoli . During leave in London in 1916, are looking for Rose on and they agree to get married if the war ends. However, later in 1916, he is shot by a sniper while returning from patrol. He let Rose £ 1200 according to his will. Upstairs Downstairs | tomsoter.com You are here Magazines 1990-1999 / Television Shows / Upstairs Downstairs Upstairs Downstairs UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS AT 25 By TOM SOTER from DIVERSION, OCTOBER 1999 The setting is a grand dining room table, sometime in 1912.

A dapper thirty-something, mustachioed young man has been talking animatedly to a primly dressed young woman who sits at the other end of a long dining room table. The butler stands silently behind him. “Oh, by the way,” says the man to the butler, “we’ll have a bottle of the Cantenac ’93 with lunch.” He turns back to the woman. “My father has this marvelous claret –” The butler clears his throat. “Begging your pardon, sir, but I am afraid I cannot serve the Chateau Brane Cantenac ’93, sir.” “Oh? Why not?” The butler hesitates. “There are – certain difficulties. If I might see you in private, sir.” The difficulties, once explained, are relatively simple: the young man, James Bellamy, wants to serve his father’s best claret to his father’s secretary. (“He would not wish it to be served at luncheon,” explains Hudson, the butler, “especially in his absence and in the circumstances.”) The next day, after he has ultimately been forced to serve the claret, Hudson tenders his resignation.

James’s father, Richard, is furious, siding with Hudson: “He’s a man of high principles and, as you well know, he cares deeply for the welfare and honor of our family. And he expects things to be done correctly.” It is a highly dramatic moment – yet isn’t it just a tempest in a teapot? To us, perhaps, but not to the Bellamy household. And certainly not to the one billion viewers in 40 countries who made Upstairs Downstairs, the series in which the sequence appears, one of the most beloved series of its kind. According to the New York Times, the Emmy Award-winning program was savored by a wildly eclectic audience: Britons and Americans of every stripe, as well as Japanese pearl divers, Nigerian dentists, and the Shah of Iran. Now, 25 years after it made its American debut, Upstairs Downstairs is back in five boxed sets from A&E Home Video, which, for the first time feature all 68 episodes (including some not shown on the show’s initial American run). And, with it, come all the elegance, drama, and wit of a bygone era.

But the show is more than just another classy, slightly staid British costume drama. The series, which spanned an epic period of change in the British empire from 1903 to 1930, looked at the world through the prism of the masters (“upstairs”) and the servants (“downstairs”) in a way never attempted before and never equaled since. “...Upstairs may have been upstairs and downstairs downstairs,” observed Benedict Nightingale in The New York Times, “but together they formed an acting ensemble whose strengths and subtleties television has rarely if ever managed to duplicate...” Upstairs: Mr. and Mrs. Bellamy The basic concept originated with actresses Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins. Both felt that domestics had never been given a proper spotlight – the popular period drama The Forsyte Saga had just aired, once again offering servants simply as part of the furniture – so the two cooked up a comedy (which they hoped to appear in) involving the masters as seen from the servants’ point of view.

“We were both sick of playing smooth, middle-class ladies,” Marsh recalled, “and, being Cockneys, felt that the working class got as rough a deal on television as they did in real life.” Their concept (dubbed Below Stairs or The Servants’ Hall) followed the mostly comic adventures of two housemaids who worked in a Victorian country house. They brought their concept to TV producer John Hawkesworth who, with script editor Alfred Shaughnessy, reconceived the series as a drama about servants and masters. “We wanted to see the servants as people, to look at downstairs as carefully as upstairs for the first time,” Hawkesworth recalled. “This was the pearl in the oyster, the brilliant thing. Up to then servants had really just been mobile props.” As eventually developed, the series would observe the masters and the servants as two separate classes but two similar “families.” One story would act as a commentary on the other, and the drama often came from how the two groups, living under one roof, dealt with the encroaching outside world. And what a world!

There was the death of Edward VII (who had, in one memorable episode, visited the Bellamys for dinner), the glory and then the agony of World War I, the post-war trauma of shell-shocked veterans The primary setting was a grand, five-story house at 165 Eaton Place (the building used for the exterior shots is still standing at 65 Eaton Place; a “1” was painted in front of the number in an attempt to give its occupants anonymity). Upstairs were the Bellamys, who originally consisted of Richard, an ambitious but principled member of parliament; Lady Marjorie, his oh-so-proper wife; and their troublesome grown-up children, James and Elizabeth. Downstairs were Mrs. Bridges, the excitable cook; Rose and Daisy, the parlor maids; Edward, the footman; Ruby, the comical kitchen maid, and Hudson, the imperious Scottish butler who presided over them all like a major domo and father figure. In developing the characters, the casting was crucial, and the writers frequently altered the roles to fit the actors.

When casting director Martin Case saw Gordon Jackson, for example, he felt that he had found his Hudson, even though the man did not match the original conception. “Gordon is Scottish,” Case recalled in Backstairs With Upstairs Downstairs, “so I changed the name to Angus, and then we made him well-educated, even a little erudite – because Scots then generally were – and they were also Calvinists, slightly Puritanical, slightly rigid, so we had him saying grace...” The producers instituted other key production decisions. Going against the trends of the times, they opted to shoot on videotape instead of more costly film. They would mostly eschew location work and confine the action to a limited number of sets. The money saved in such choices was used to get the best acting and writing talent available – and also meant that the drama would have to be played out in the dialogue and the performances and not rely on the flashy visuals that other period dramas frequently fell back upon. The series was carefully researched, as well.

“There would be long discussions about from which side the salt would be delivered at the dinner table and whether people would drink coffee from a demitasse and stuff like that,” Simon Williams, who played James Bellamy, recalled in a TV documentary about the show. “What gave it extraordinary distinction,” Alistair Cooke observed in A Decade of Masterpieces., “was the sure observation of character, the confidence and finesse with which the social nuances and emotional upheavals between the two groups were explored, and the scrupulous accuracy of the period language, decor, mores, and prejudices.” To achieve that, Hawkesworth would search the microfilm files of the London Times, studying letters, memoirs, House of Commons debates, store and fashion catalogs, weather reports, song books, and theater programs. The producer then assigned each episode to a writer, who was allowed to bring his or her separate view to bear on any or all of the characters. “Thus,” observed Cooke, “the character of Richard Bellamy or Lady Marjorie or Rose or Hudson was never a single conception; it reflected such unexpected facets of temperament, moments of growth, as one might learn from the pooled memories of a group of friends.” Downstairs: Mr.

Hudson and Mrs. Bridges. Despite all the accuracy, however, the show could very easily have been a waxworks display, if not for the sharp writing, which could make even the most minor incident – to us, that is – assume major importance. And unlike later would-be-successors like CBS’s Beacon Hill or the current PBS Berkeley Square, Upstairs Downstairs was low-key in its drama but all the more devastating for that. For, as director Bill Bain noted in Backstairs With Upstairs Downstairs, the drama came out of nuances. When James says goodbye to his father as the son goes off to fight in World War I, for instance, the two never embrace – and are more moving because of that. “It was more poignant that they stood there, looked at each other, and didn’t touch,” Bain observed. “There was no release of emotion – which made you release yours. I’ve always thought, watching great actors, that it’s not their ability to cry that moves you; it’s their ability to make you cry.” Indeed, above all else, the series was popular not because of its attention to detail or its finely crafted scripts. It was because its characters seemed both achingly real and hit a crucial chord during turbulent times.

In an era of presidential scandal (Nixon’s not Clinton’s), economic crisis, and ongoing cultural clashes, Americans (and others) saw themselves reflected in the tumultuous period of pre- and post-World War I Britain. Like that country, America (and the world) was adrift, and the Bellamys and their servants held a mirror to popular concerns about order and family loyalty in changing times. “From time to time I say to myself that Upstairs Downstairs was just a middle-of-the-road television series – what is all the fuss about?” Jean Marsh, who played Rose, once noted. “But I realize it’s just a reaction to having had a little too much praise. It’s very rare for a series to appeal to both the critics and public. We did aim high and, if you aim high and nearly succeed, I think television serials can be the modern-day equivalent of Dickens or Trollope.” But the appeal of Upstairs Downstairs can be seen in even simpler terms: with its warm upstairs and downstairs families surviving both good times and bad, the series is as familiar and comforting as an old friend. It is, as Hudson might say, “very good, indeed, my lord.”

Question: What is the name of the butler in "Upstairs Downstairs"?
Answer: MR HUDSON