A series full of ups and downs
Decades before Downton Abbey, Upstairs, Downstairs was highlighting the class divide, recalls
YOUNG acting friends Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins created Upstairs, Downstairs after becoming frustrated at the lack of parts for women like them.
They decided to write their own drama and Upstairs, Downstairs went on to become a hit in 50 countries.
Jean also played parlour maid Rose in the 1970s drama, once explained: “Eileen and I were watching The Forsyte Saga in her kitchen. It was beautiful, of course – the clothes, the houses... but we thought ‘Why aren’t we watching the woman who is cooking the food and ironing the clothes?’
“We knew it was boiling hot in the kitchen, yet freezing in the attic. We wanted the gritty reality. At that time, apart from Dickens, there was nothing written about the working classes and I was determined to be the maid and not the lady.”
Upstairs, Downstairs launched on ITV 50 years ago this month and followed the fortunes of the wealthy Bellamy family and their servants at 165 Eaton Place.
Upstairs there was David Langton as Conservative MP Richard Bellamy, with
Rachel Gurney as Lady Margaret, who met her end by booking a trip on the ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic.
Nicola Pagett played their beautiful, but spoilt daughter Elizabeth and once said: “There weren’t any stars really – that was the beauty of it. Everyone had an equal importance in the thing.
“The product was more important than the people in it in those days. So, if it was a success, it was a success because everyone in it was good rather than because the actor in it was well known.”
Below stairs the staff
included Gordon Jackson as butler Hudson, Angela Baddeley as cook Mrs Bridges and Christopher Beeny as footman Edward.
The drama ran for 68 episodes and proved especially popular in America winning several prime time Emmy awards.
The saga ended in 1975 with the sale of the Eaton Place house, but it was briefly revived by the BBC in 2010 with a new cast including Keeley Hawes, Claire Foy and Art Malik. Dame Eileen Aitkins also appeared as Lady Holland, with Jean Marsh returning as Rose who was now the new housekeeper.