Upstairs, Downstairs: Seasons 1-5/Thomas & Sarah: Season 1 (both complete)
Upstairs, Downstairs is one of the grandmamas* of TV period dramas. It ran in the early 70s and covers the years between 1903 and 1930 (early in there, they role back the clock a year, so I suppose it’s technically 1902 to 1930) with almost half those years covered in the last season. It tells the story of the residents of 165 Eaton Place, both the upper class Bellamys and their servants, focusing on the relationship between the classes, and how the bonds of family play out with both “families.” I was initially interested mostly because the creators, Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, also created by beloved House of Eliott, and also because for years I would see it mentioned as a predecessor to something else I liked, or mentioned as an influence by the creators of something I liked.
I found the first season decent enough and enjoyable to have on, but not particularly involving, and so I was really only halfheartedly into it. I got more into it in season 2, though, which had some excellent highs, and also a couple of horrific lows, and then watched the last three seasons as quickly as Netflix would send them to me. Despite some rather jarring changes to the cast early in the season, season 3 is actually my favorite season of the series, though I admit that that may be because it also (slowly) introduces my three favorite characters (Hazel, Daisy and Georgina). There isn’t a single important character in the series who I don’t like, though some took longer than others to grow on me. Perhaps more importantly, in a series with numerous cast changes and a canon that spans almost thirty years, with a focus of classism wherein people often have attitudes distasteful to us, but true to the time, and where many horrific decisions are made, I never stopped liking any of the characters.
Both the servants and the Bellamys are drenched in their own forms of classism, and their different statuses in life free and limit both in different ways, and both classes have prejudices against each other and within their own ranks. The show is especially good at portraying the Bellamys as very caring and considerate of their servants, and then brutally reminding you that, yes, they do care, and quite a bit, but no matter how kind and even protective the Bellamys may be as people and no matter how considerate they attempt to be in certain ways, they do, ultimately, still see the servants as very useful, convenient objects. Objects that sometimes have feelings and that can, at times, have valuable opinions, but objects. This is possibly most brutally pointed out in a scene where the butler, Hudson, takes over the domestic running of a hunting party where he is serving as the valet of James Bellamy and prevents a disaster. The reaction is for one of James’s companions, realizing that only Hudson’s quick thinking prevented domestic chaos, to comment that James must appreciate having such an efficient and quick thinking possession as Hudson is serving the man his plate. Even characters who are initially uncomfortable with the idea of servants eventually fall into this behavior pattern.
Beyond class, the series also focuses heavily on the idea of family, and on the roles and perspectives of women. Long before Hazel and Richard discuss it in season four, it’s very clear that there are two families in the household. There’s the Bellamys upstairs, who begin a traditional family of parents and two children, but whose family is changed by marriage, death, friendship and legal guardianship. Then there’s the “downstairs” family, with Hudson and the cook, Mrs. Bridges, serving as the parents, and the central younger servants filling the roles of their children. Despite the absence of biological and (mostly) legal bonds, this is actually the stabler and stronger of the families, and most joys and tragedies (including the deaths of two of the Bellamys) are shown primarily through their eyes. Being created in the 70s by two women and set in a time where there were many social changes for women, it probably isn’t surprising that the show seems to have a female POV more often than not, even in plotlines that would typically cast judgment on women. Actually, the series very rarely seems to cast judgment on anyone, or to expect the viewer to choose one side or perspective over another. And while the women are not the type that get labeled as “awesome” in today’s shows, they are each fabulous in their own way, and several of their plotlines and narrative portrayals are fairly revolutionary.
Thomas and Sarah is a spinoff that came out after the series ended, but that actually takes place roughly in the timeframe of season 3. Because of this, it’s also the only part of the franchise where there aren’t actors noticeably playing characters whose ages are far different from their own, a danger of a show that spans decades, not matter how gifted the actors are. Thomas and Sarah are former servants of the Bellamys who left to get married (though they never got around to that part) and seek their fortune late in season 2. Of the various Upstairs, Downstairs characters, they’re the two who were the most frustrated by their positions in life, and who did the most to try to change that, though the results were sometimes disastrous. Thomas and Sarah is very different from Upstairs, Downstairs in both tone and focus, with most episodes being various “get rich” schemes the couple came up with, often complicated by the couple’s tempestuous (to put it politely) relationship. Pauline Collins and John Alderton were, I believe, already married by the time they made the series, making them one of the few real life couple who also work as a screen couple. Sarah is one of the characters who I didn’t care for much initially, but I absolutely loved her by the time she left the series. Thomas is a more difficult character, as his scheming and ambition are far less harmless than Sarah’s, and his jaded worldview and the often dangerous ways it manifests itself can make him hard to like. I still like him though, but I suspect part of that is just for Sarah. That said, if you watch the series, I strongly recommend skipping the episode where they open a shop instead of going to America. Very, very strongly.
Wikipedia has a whole section of proposed spinoffs of Upstairs, Downstairs, any of which I would have watched, but this is the only one that was made.
I understand that there are both books that resulted in the creation of the series, and books based on the series. Thoughts regarding and/or directions to either are appreciated.
*As it was created by two women and the narrative often has a decided slant towards the roles and viewpoints of the various women in the series, I refuse to go with the typical “granddaddy.”
I found the first season decent enough and enjoyable to have on, but not particularly involving, and so I was really only halfheartedly into it. I got more into it in season 2, though, which had some excellent highs, and also a couple of horrific lows, and then watched the last three seasons as quickly as Netflix would send them to me. Despite some rather jarring changes to the cast early in the season, season 3 is actually my favorite season of the series, though I admit that that may be because it also (slowly) introduces my three favorite characters (Hazel, Daisy and Georgina). There isn’t a single important character in the series who I don’t like, though some took longer than others to grow on me. Perhaps more importantly, in a series with numerous cast changes and a canon that spans almost thirty years, with a focus of classism wherein people often have attitudes distasteful to us, but true to the time, and where many horrific decisions are made, I never stopped liking any of the characters.
Both the servants and the Bellamys are drenched in their own forms of classism, and their different statuses in life free and limit both in different ways, and both classes have prejudices against each other and within their own ranks. The show is especially good at portraying the Bellamys as very caring and considerate of their servants, and then brutally reminding you that, yes, they do care, and quite a bit, but no matter how kind and even protective the Bellamys may be as people and no matter how considerate they attempt to be in certain ways, they do, ultimately, still see the servants as very useful, convenient objects. Objects that sometimes have feelings and that can, at times, have valuable opinions, but objects. This is possibly most brutally pointed out in a scene where the butler, Hudson, takes over the domestic running of a hunting party where he is serving as the valet of James Bellamy and prevents a disaster. The reaction is for one of James’s companions, realizing that only Hudson’s quick thinking prevented domestic chaos, to comment that James must appreciate having such an efficient and quick thinking possession as Hudson is serving the man his plate. Even characters who are initially uncomfortable with the idea of servants eventually fall into this behavior pattern.
Beyond class, the series also focuses heavily on the idea of family, and on the roles and perspectives of women. Long before Hazel and Richard discuss it in season four, it’s very clear that there are two families in the household. There’s the Bellamys upstairs, who begin a traditional family of parents and two children, but whose family is changed by marriage, death, friendship and legal guardianship. Then there’s the “downstairs” family, with Hudson and the cook, Mrs. Bridges, serving as the parents, and the central younger servants filling the roles of their children. Despite the absence of biological and (mostly) legal bonds, this is actually the stabler and stronger of the families, and most joys and tragedies (including the deaths of two of the Bellamys) are shown primarily through their eyes. Being created in the 70s by two women and set in a time where there were many social changes for women, it probably isn’t surprising that the show seems to have a female POV more often than not, even in plotlines that would typically cast judgment on women. Actually, the series very rarely seems to cast judgment on anyone, or to expect the viewer to choose one side or perspective over another. And while the women are not the type that get labeled as “awesome” in today’s shows, they are each fabulous in their own way, and several of their plotlines and narrative portrayals are fairly revolutionary.
Thomas and Sarah is a spinoff that came out after the series ended, but that actually takes place roughly in the timeframe of season 3. Because of this, it’s also the only part of the franchise where there aren’t actors noticeably playing characters whose ages are far different from their own, a danger of a show that spans decades, not matter how gifted the actors are. Thomas and Sarah are former servants of the Bellamys who left to get married (though they never got around to that part) and seek their fortune late in season 2. Of the various Upstairs, Downstairs characters, they’re the two who were the most frustrated by their positions in life, and who did the most to try to change that, though the results were sometimes disastrous. Thomas and Sarah is very different from Upstairs, Downstairs in both tone and focus, with most episodes being various “get rich” schemes the couple came up with, often complicated by the couple’s tempestuous (to put it politely) relationship. Pauline Collins and John Alderton were, I believe, already married by the time they made the series, making them one of the few real life couple who also work as a screen couple. Sarah is one of the characters who I didn’t care for much initially, but I absolutely loved her by the time she left the series. Thomas is a more difficult character, as his scheming and ambition are far less harmless than Sarah’s, and his jaded worldview and the often dangerous ways it manifests itself can make him hard to like. I still like him though, but I suspect part of that is just for Sarah. That said, if you watch the series, I strongly recommend skipping the episode where they open a shop instead of going to America. Very, very strongly.
Wikipedia has a whole section of proposed spinoffs of Upstairs, Downstairs, any of which I would have watched, but this is the only one that was made.
I understand that there are both books that resulted in the creation of the series, and books based on the series. Thoughts regarding and/or directions to either are appreciated.
*As it was created by two women and the narrative often has a decided slant towards the roles and viewpoints of the various women in the series, I refuse to go with the typical “granddaddy.”