Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series)
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''Upstairs Downstairs'' is a British
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
series, broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
from 2010 to 2012, and co-produced by BBC Wales and Masterpiece. Created and written by
Heidi Thomas Heidi Thomas (born 13 August 1962) is an English screenwriter and playwright. Career After reading English at Liverpool University, Thomas gained national attention when her play, ''Shamrocks And Crocodiles'', won the John Whiting Award in ...
, it is a continuation of the
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
series of the same name, which ran from 1971 to 1975 on ITV. The series resumes the story of 165 Eaton Place in 1936 London, six years after the original series concluded.
Jean Marsh Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...
reprises her role as Rose Buck, who becomes housekeeper of the re-established household, with
Ed Stoppard Edmund Stoppard (born 16 September 1974) is an English actor. He is the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and doctor Miriam, Lady Hogg. Life Stoppard was born on 16 September 1974 in London, England, the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and Miriam ...
and
Keeley Hawes Claire Julia Hawes (born 10 February 1976), known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and '' Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Ha ...
playing its new owners Sir Hallam and Lady Agnes Holland. The first series, consisting of three episodes, was broadcast across consecutive nights during Christmas 2010. The second series consists of six episodes, first aired between 19 February 2012 and 25 March 2012. The series ends at the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
in 1939.


Production history


Series 1

In October 2009, it was announced that the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
was to revive the series as two 90-minute episodes to be broadcast on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
in the autumn of 2010, written by
Heidi Thomas Heidi Thomas (born 13 August 1962) is an English screenwriter and playwright. Career After reading English at Liverpool University, Thomas gained national attention when her play, ''Shamrocks And Crocodiles'', won the John Whiting Award in ...
and set in 1936, six years after the original series finished. The original series had concluded at the time of the Great Depression in 1930, with the Bellamy family having lost all its money in the crash of 1929. James Bellamy, the only son of Richard, Viscount Bellamy, had been responsible for persuading not only his family but also the faithful family servant, Rose Buck, to invest all their money in the stock market. Consequently, James committed suicide and the Bellamy family, as well as all the servants, left Eaton Place to start new lives. Mr. Hudson, the butler, and Mrs. Bridges, the cook, married and moved to the seaside, taking the kitchen maid, Ruby Finch, to live with them; Edward, the chauffeur, and his wife Daisy, the maid, were given new positions by the Bellamys' cousin, Georgina, and her husband, Lord Stockbridge, in their new country house; and Rose was offered a job as maid to Lord and Lady Bellamy at their small villa. The new series sees
Jean Marsh Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...
, as the only original cast member from the
LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
series, reprising the role of Rose Buck. She now runs a domestic service agency, after having spent time away nursing a relative in the country. She returns to 165 Eaton Place as housekeeper to the new owners, the Holland family. There are no explanations as to what has happened to the previous owners or their staff during the intervening six-year period. In the first instalment, the Bellamy family and the original staff are only fleetingly referenced when Mrs Thackeray, the new cook, refers to 165 Eaton Place as "the Bellamy house". However, Rose does mention Lord Bellamy as "the late", meaning he has died by 1936. Rose also mentions that a silver teapot, seen in some scenes of the first episode, was given to her as a gift by Lord Bellamy in appreciation of her years of "impeccable" service to the family. In another scene when Lady Agnes gives Rose the keys to the wine cellar, she mentions that they bear the name of Mr. Hudson on a label. In August 2010, the BBC announced that the planned two 90-minute shows would instead be three-hour-long episodes, with
Keeley Hawes Claire Julia Hawes (born 10 February 1976), known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and '' Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Ha ...
,
Ed Stoppard Edmund Stoppard (born 16 September 1974) is an English actor. He is the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and doctor Miriam, Lady Hogg. Life Stoppard was born on 16 September 1974 in London, England, the son of playwright Tom Stoppard and Miriam ...
,
Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, (born 16 June 1934), is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy Aw ...
,
Anne Reid Anne Reid, MBE (born 28 May 1935) is a British stage, film and television actress, known for her roles as Valerie Barlow in the soap opera '' Coronation Street'' (1961–1971); Jean in the sitcom '' dinnerladies'' (1998–2000); and her role ...
,
Claire Foy Claire Elizabeth Foy (born 16 April 1984) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayal of the young Queen Elizabeth II in the first two seasons of the Netflix series ''The Crown'' (2016–2017) for which she won a Primetime Emmy Aw ...
, Adrian Scarborough, Art Malik,
Ellie Kendrick Eleanor Lucy V. Kendrick (born 8 June 1990) is an English actress best known for playing Anne Frank in the BBC's 2009 miniseries ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', Ivy Morris in the first series of the 2010 revived '' Upstairs Downstairs'', and Meera ...
,
Blake Ritson Blake Adam Ritson (born 14 January 1978) is an English actor and director. Early life Blake was born on 14, June, 1978 in London and attended the Dolphin School in Reading, Berkshire until 1993, before going to St Paul's School in West Londo ...
, and
Nico Mirallegro ' Nico Cristian Mirallegro ( ; born 26 January 1991) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Barry "Newt" Newton in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' (2007–2010), Finn Nelson in ''My Mad Fat Diary'' (2013–2015), Joe Middleton in ...
joining Jean Marsh in the cast. Filming began in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
in the middle of August 2010, with parts of the city transformed into 1930s
Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dang ...
for exterior scenes, and the interiors shot in the BBC's
Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...
studios in Cardiff. Further filming of exterior scenes took place in Leamington Spa,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
, in September 2010, with a terrace in Clarendon Square doubling up as Eaton Place. The new ''Upstairs Downstairs'' was made in-house by BBC Wales as a co-production with '' Masterpiece'' on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
, and was broadcast on
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
with the first episode shown on 26 December 2010. A soundtrack album of music from the new series by composer Daniel Pemberton was released on iTunes. The three episodes were picked up by overseas broadcasters, including ABC in Australia, NRK in Norway, Sky in New Zealand, DR in Denmark, YLE in Finland, IBA in Israel, and TV4 in Sweden.


Series 2

BBC1 commissioned six 60-minute episodes of the drama to be broadcast in 2012, with Stoppard, Hawes, Reid, Foy, Malik, Ritson, Mirallegro, Scarborough and Jackson all returning to the series.
Sarah Gordy Sarah Gordy, MBE (born September 1976) is a British actress who has Down's Syndrome. She is best known for her roles as Katie Thorne in ''The A Word'', Orlando Quine in '' Strike: The Silkworm'', Lady Pamela Holland in the BBC TV series of ' ...
and Alexia James, introduced during series 1 as Hallam's sister Pamela, who has Down's Syndrome, and the household's Jewish ward Lotte, respectively, also continue to appear on a recurring basis. Eileen Atkins does not appear in series 2, having stated in the press that she was unhappy with the development of her character of Hallam's mother Maud; so Maud is said to have died in the time between the first and second series. Ellie Kendrick also left the cast, with the character of Ivy replaced in the household by Eunice McCabe (Ami Metcalf). The relationship between Eunice and Mrs Thackeray, the cook, is quite similar to the interaction between Ruby the kitchen maid (played by
Jenny Tomasin Jenny Tomasin (22 March 1938 – 3 January 2012) was an English actress best known for her roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and ''Emmerdale''. Early life Tomasin was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1938 to working class parents. S ...
) and Mrs Bridges the cook (played by
Angela Baddeley Madeleine Angela Clinton-Baddeley, CBE (4 July 1904 – 22 February 1976) was an English stage and television actress, best-remembered for her role as household cook Mrs. Bridges in the period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Her stage career ...
) in the original 1971 series. Jean Marsh, after suffering from a stroke and heart attack, was unable to attend the majority of filming for the series; scripts were altered shortly before filming to accommodate her absence. On-screen, Rose is confined to a
sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
after contracting
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
, and appears in just two scenes over the series. Other new additions to the cast include
Alex Kingston Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston (born 11 March 1963) is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in ...
as Blanche Mottershead, the younger half-sister of Maud, and
Laura Haddock Laura Jane Haddock (born 21 August 1985) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Zoë Walker in '' White Lines'', Kacie Carter in '' Honest'', Lucrezia in '' Da Vinci's Demons'', Meredith Quill in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'' and its s ...
as maid Beryl Ballard. Special guest stars in the series include
Kenneth Cranham Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. Early life Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-bor ...
as Sergeant Ashworth,
Michael Landes Michael Christopher Landes (born September 18, 1972) is an American actor of television and film. Personal life Michael Christopher Landes was born to Patricia and Bernard Landes on September 18, 1972 in The Bronx, New York (state), New York. ...
as American multimillionaire Caspar Landry,
Emilia Fox Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' (2 ...
as Blanche's lover Lady Portia Alresford, and
Sarah Lancashire Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire (born 10 October 1964) is an English actress from Oldham, England. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1986 and began her career in local theatre, whilst teaching drama classes at the ...
as Violet Whisset, a love interest for the butler Mr Pritchard.


Characters


Upstairs


Downstairs


Plot

Sir Hallam Holland, a young diplomat, moves into the townhouse along with his wife, Lady Agnes, in January 1936 shortly before the death of
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
. They engage former parlourmaid Rose Buck, now running her own agency for domestic servants, to find them staff as they renovate the house to its former glory after its years of being mothballed. As they settle into London life, they are joined by Lady Agnes' fiery young debutante sister Lady Persephone; Sir Hallam's overbearing widowed mother Maud, who moves herself into the house along with secretary and pet monkey, and a young, barely-trained house staff serving under a reluctant housekeeper. Added to these stresses are the still-painful memory of Lady Agnes's past miscarriage, a mystery surrounding Sir Hallam's sister, who died as a child, and a surprise foster-child whom they feel obliged to maintain. The new downstairs staff slowly begin to pull together as a unit, overcoming obstacles of age, class and race as they come to know one another's stories.


Episodes


Series overview


Series 1 (2010)

The first series aired in the UK in December 2010. These episodes were featured in the U.S. on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
's
Masterpiece Classic ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH-TV, WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaim ...
in April 2011.
VisionTV VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic. VisionTV is currently owned by ZoomerMedia, a compan ...
in Canada premiered the episodes in October 2011.
ABC1 ABC TV, formerly known as ABC1, is an Australian national public television network. It is owned and operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and is the flagship ABC Television network. The headquarters of the ABC TV channel an ...
in Australia began airing the series on 4 December 2011. This series was set in 1936.


Series 2 (2012)

This series was set from 1938 to 1939.


Reception

Series 1 was aired in the UK over three consecutive nights commencing 26 December 2010. It was a substantial ratings success, garnering viewing figures of 8.85, 8.13 and 8.18 million respectively and winning in its slot against all seasonal competition. The programme was nominated for six
Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
awards in 2011. The second series of six episodes began on 19 February 2012, with an audience of 7.78 million, but by the time it ended on 25 March, the viewing figures had dropped to 5.22 million. It was confirmed on 21 April 2012 that ''Upstairs Downstairs'' would not be returning for a third series.


Soundtrack

Composer
Carl Davis Carl Davis, (born October 28, 1936) is an American-born conductor and composer who has lived in the United Kingdom since 1961. He has written music for more than 100 television programmes, but is best known for creating music to accompany si ...
was brought in for the second series, composing new incidental music, occasionally using elements from
Alexander Faris Samuel Alexander "Sandy" Faris (11 June 1921 – 28 September 2015) was a Northern Irish composer, conductor and writer, known for his television theme tunes, including the theme music for the 1970s TV series '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. He compos ...
's original theme for the original 1971 series – which was popularised as a single release by
Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980) was an Anglo-Italian conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book ''British Hit Singles & Albums'' sta ...
. Davis's music was released as a soundtrack album"Carl Davis composes the music for Upstairs Downstairs"
. 21 February 2012. and was nominated for the
Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
in 2013, but did not win.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Upstairs, Downstairs (2010 TV series) Fiction set in 1936 Fiction set in 1938 Fiction set in 1939 2010 British television series debuts 2010s British drama television series 2012 British television series endings BBC Cymru Wales television shows BBC television dramas English-language television shows Fictional servants Television shows set in London Television series by BBC Studios Television series set in the 1930s Works about social class British historical television series