From 1970 to 1975 Upstairs Downstairs was a hugely popular British television series that juxtaposed the two worlds within an upper class London house.
Upstairs was the Bellamy family and downstairs the household’s servants. The story of the two ‘families’ was seen through the eyes of head parlour maid Rose Buck during the inter-war years of the early 1930s.
Now there’s a new series of the show, thirty five years after it went off the air. Actress Jean Marsh returns as Rose Buck who now, five years later, is running a recruitment agency for household staff. She’s charged with finding a full complement of staff for Sir Hallam Holland (Ed Stoppard) and his wife Lady Agnes (Keeley Hawes Spooks, Tipping the Velvet, Ashes to Ashes) who have just purchased a house in Belgravia. Rose is pleasantly surprised that the address is 165 Eaton Place, the Bellamy family’s former residence.
Persuaded to become the house keeper for Sir Hallam and Lady Agnes Rose goes about finding a new complement staff for the household. She recruits old friend Clarice Thackeray (Anne Reid) to be the cook; finds a butler, former cruise ship employee Mr Pritchard (Adrian Scarborough); hires a young maid Ivy (Ellie Kendrick) and a handsome footman, Johnny (Nico Mirallegro). Driver Harry Spargo (Neil Jackson) completes the household staff.
Upstairs Sir Hallam and Lady Agnes are joined unexpectedly by his meddlesome mother Maud, Lady Holland, played by the scene stealing Dame Eileen Atkins, and her secretary Mr Singh (Art Malik). Lady Agnes’ younger sister, the flirtatious Lady Persephone Towyn, also joins. In no time there are conflicts galore as Sir Hallam’s young wife tries to assert herself as the lady of the house, servants flirt with their betters and individuals’ secrets are revealed. Set against the backdrop of growing political tensions in Europe, the abdication of King Edward VIII and the rise of Oswald Mosley and the Black Shirts there is drama within a mountain of drama inside the house and the world outside.
The series has been popular in Britain and a second series has been commissioned for 2012, where it goes head to head with the very similar Downton Abbey. Actresses Jean Marsh and Dame Eileen Atkins wrote the original series and this re-dux version. Back in 1971 Atkins could not take on a role in the show because of her stage commitments, so it’s lovely to see her join the cast three and half decades later. The pair also created the hugely popular TV series House of Ernest.
Upstairs Downstairs starts on ABC1 on Sunday December 4th. Catch up with past episodes on ABC’s iView.
Graeme Watson
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