Review: Upstairs Downstairs - Series 2 (2012)

Took me long enough to review this. I actually watched Upstairs, Downstairs: Series 2 when it aired on PBS last year, but I ended up pushing this review back further and further, adding to it little by little until now. As you may remember, I was not a fan of the first series of the reboot of Upstairs, Downstairs, but I watched Series 2 hoping that it would get better. Though I didn't think it would live up to the original series, I still watched and expected it to be a decent period drama. How did I find it? Well, read on!

Note: This review contains spoilers from Series 1 of Upstairs, Downstairs. If you do not want to run into spoilers, then do not read this review. If you want to read up on Series 1, you can find it here.

Box Art

Synopsis
The story starts just before England entered WWII. Lady Agnes Holland has given birth to her second child, but does not have any more hopes of having any more children. Hallam's aunt, Blanche Mottershead, has moved in with the Hollands after the death of Hallam's mother, Lady Maud. Lady Persie returns from Germany after a riot breaks out and resettles back in 165 Eaton Place seeming to renounce her Nazi views. There is also some additions to the staff: Beryl Ballard as the new nursery maid and Eunice McCabe as the new kitchen maid.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 1 (2010)

And now that I'm completely finished with the original Upstairs, Downstairs, it's time to start on the new Upstairs, Downstairs that came out a few years ago. I have heard some good things about the new series: there were even a couple of my readers that said that the new series was even better than the original series. When my mom and I heard that they were playing the entire first series one Sunday evening, we watched the entire first series! And since PBS was playing Series 1 before they aired Series 2, I was able to watch both series very close together (unlike some of the time where I have to wait a whole year for the next series *Cough*Downton Abbey*Cough*Lark Rise to Candleford*Cough*). But how did it compare to the original series? Well, let's find out!

Box Art

Synopsis
In 1936, Sir Hallam Holland and Lady Agnes Holland arrive at 165 Eaton Place six years after the Bellamy family left at the end of the original Upstairs, Downstairs. 165 Eaton Place is in disrepair and Lady Agnes renovates it and hires a new staff to work there with the assistance of Rose Buck, who was the original upper house parlor maid when the Bellamys lived at 165 Eaton Place and who eventually becomes the new housekeeper. When the Hollands move in, Sir Hallam's mother, Lady Maud Holland, arrives unexpectedly to stay and brings with her her secretary, Mr. Aminjit, and her pet monkey, Solomon.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 5 (1975)

Ah! The last series of the original Upstairs Downstairs! I'll admit that when I first started watching Upstairs, Downstairs, I wasn't all that impressed with it: I wasn't fond of the characters, the story, etc. But after watching it, I grew to really like it. I think that by Series 3, many of the problems from Series 1 and 2 were fixed and the show started getting good. And now that's all over. I feel a little sad, but I'm glad that the show improved so that I could like it.

Note: This review of Upstairs, Downstairs will contain spoilers from Series 1, 2, 3, and 4. If you have not seen any of the previous series and do not want to run into spoilers, you may want to wait before you read this review. I suggest that you read my Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4 reviews first before watching. 

Box Art

Synopsis
Changes have occurred at 165 Eaton Place in the years after the war. Richard Bellamy has since married to Virginia Hamilton, a widow with two small children, and has become a Viscount. Georgina Worsley, Richard's ward, after working as a nurse and seeing the horrors of the first world war, is determined to never become attached to anything and has taken to going to parties. James Bellamy is trying to adjust to his life as a widower after the death of his wife Hazel at the end of the war. Downstairs, Daisy and Edward Barnes return after leaving 165 Eaton Place to find better work (but cannot find any).

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 4 (1974)

Wow! It's been a long time since I reviewed Upstairs, Downstairs. There were a couple of reasons for this: in the middle of the series, I became very busy with school and couldn't watch it like I was. My mom actually continued on with Upstairs, Downstairs and finished it ahead of me. But lately in my free time, I found some time to sit down and slowly finish it. I finished it fairly recently, so I'll be posting the last series soon. Well, here we go!

Note: This review of Upstairs, Downstairs will contain spoilers from Series 1, 2, and 3. If you have not seen any of the previous series and do not want to run into spoilers, you may want to wait before you read this review. I suggest that you read my Series 1, Series 2, and Series 3 reviews first before watching. 

Note #2: Please excuse the lack of pictures. I had such a hard time finding good pictures.

Box Art

Synopsis
With WWI underway, everyone at 165 Eaton Place is affected by the war. Upstairs, Hazel Bellamy, the wife of Captain James Bellamy, is often left at 165 Eaton Place with her father-in-law, Richard, while James goes off to war. Downstairs, Mr. Hudson and Mrs. Bridges manage the house while trying to help the war effort. Edward Barnes, the footman, feels the pressure of enlisting in the war and eventually does and at the same time falls in love with parlor maid, Daisy.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 3 (1973)

So, continuing on my watching Upstairs Downstairs, here is my review for Series 3.


Note: This review of Upstairs, Downstairs will contain spoilers from Series 1 and Series 2. If you have not seen Series 1 or 2 and do not want to run into spoilers, you may want to wait before you read this review. I suggest that you read my Series 1 and Series 2 reviews first before watching.

DVD Box Art

Synopsis
With under house parlor maid Sarah and chauffeur Thomas Watkins married, the staff of 165 Eaton Place is understaffed. Lady Marjorie Bellamy plans to visit her daughter Elizabeth in America and Richard Bellamy hires a new secretary who catches the eye of Richard and Lady Marjorie's son, Captain James Bellamy.


Characters
Poor Lady Marjorie. Early in the series, she takes a trip on the Titanic to see her daughter Elizabeth in America (yes, Elizabeth was written out of the series) and (as you may guess) did not return. From what I heard, the actress who played Lady Marjorie, Rachel Gurney, hated her character and wanted to call it quits on Upstairs Downstairs. They wrote her out by using the Titanic. I liked her character (though she did have that secret she was keeping in Series 1), so I was sorry to see her go. Her character was essentially replaced by Hazel Forrest, Richard Bellamy's secretary Spoiler and later Captain James's wife End of Spoiler.

Hazel Forrest, the new secretary.

For the most part, I liked Hazel. Or in other words, I had no reason to dislike her. And I started to like Captain James a little bit more; I even thought that he became decent thanks to Hazel. But alas! such things never last, do they? Spoiler Soon after they are married and take a trip to visit James's friend, Bunny Newbury, and his wife/James's former love, Diana, things began to get rocky. Suddenly, James was controlling over Hazel and he looked like a jerk part of the time. James also had an eye for Georgina, his step-cousin. I felt sorry for Hazel and started to dislike James like I did before. End of Spoiler

Speaking of Georgina (which if you didn't read the spoiler section, then I'm bringing her up), she comes later in the series: she arrives at 165 Eaton Place because both her mother and step-father (who was Lady Marjorie's brother) died in the sinking of the Titanic, leaving her an orphan. The first episode she was in, I liked her: she wanted to help people, and seemed like an overall good person. But after that, I started to not like her anymore Spoiler since she seems to be getting involved with Captain James End of Spoiler.

Daisy the maid with the newly arrived Georgina.

Downstairs there are few changes to the staff. Since underhouse parlor maid Sarah from Series 1 and 2 had married chauffeur Thomas, there was a time where the staff of 165 Eaton Place was understaffed. Enter new maid Daisy. Daisy is a sweet character and likes footman Edward and they grow close. Alfred from Series 1 returns for one episode (WHY?! We were doing fine without him!), but his is permanently written out of the series. Spoiler Rose also gets briefly engaged, but it didn't work out in the end. End of Spoiler Other than those main events and some episodes sprinkled here and there about the staff, it's all business as usual downstairs.

Scenery
The scenery is pretty much the same as in Series 1 and 2. Most of the stories take place in 165 Eaton Place, the home of the Bellamys. The major difference there is that James becomes the master of the house after he inherits Lady Marjorie's money; Richard Bellamy still lives there, but now he's a dependent on James. We do get to see a little bit of Hazel's home, a nice, middle class house. And we also get a glimpse of James's friend, Bunny Newbury's, home (fancy!).

Costumes
The costuming is a little bit different in this series than Series 1 and 2. The Edwardian Era has ended, so there are some new fashions of the 1910s. Hazel mainly wears the more fashionable clothing since she is fairly young, however her clothes are pretty plain (but this fits her character). The servants uniforms are pretty much the sames as last series.

Overall: 3.5/5
The series is getting better. The story lines are more interesting now. There are still some suggestive themes, but again, this series is still probably PG in content. I am continuing to watch this series and will hopefully have reviews for the last two series soon. Keep an eye out for them!

Upstairs Downstairs: Series 3 is available on DVD on its own or as apart of the Complete Collection. It has 13 hour long episodes.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 2 (1972)

You may have seen a while ago that I started to watch Upstairs Downstairs. Continuing on that, I am reviewing Series 2. You may have remember that I was fairly lukewarm to Series 1, but what did I think of Series 2? Well, read and find out!

Note: This review of Upstairs, Downstairs will contain spoilers from Series 1. If you have not seen Series 1 and do not want to run into spoilers, you may want to wait before you read this review. I suggest that you read my Series 1 review first before watching.

Box Art of Series 2

Synopsis
The series Upstairs, Downstairs continues after the marriage of Elizabeth Bellamy and Lawrence Kirbridge, whose marriage has started rocky. Sarah and Captain James Bellamy see each other more seriously. And downstairs, new servants have arrived: Edward the new footman, and Ruby the new kitchen maid.

Characters
The cast from the previous series returns for another series of Upstairs, Downstairs. What I found interesting was that the actor that plays chauffeur Thomas Watkins (John Alderton) was also in Little Dorrit (2008) as Mr. Casby and that he is also married to the actress who plays occasional maid Sarah (Pauline Collins).

Elizabeth Kirbridge (nee Bellamy) is still fairly irritating. She isn't a very sympathetic character even though she does have troubles. She comes off as being too much of a baby at times: she'll sometimes yell at upperhouse parlor maid Rose even though Rose hasn't done anything. She also develops some more scandalous behavior as the series goes on. I felt sorry for Richard Bellamy and Lady Marjorie: they tried to control their daughter, but she just wouldn't be controlled.

Sarah, the under house parlor maid, returns in this series. I really didn't like her for the first series and for a good deal of the second series I didn't care for her much. She was very scandalous and wanted to start a fight whenever someone told her not to do something. She was still scandalous in this series and got herself involved with Captain James Bellamy, Richard and Lady Marjorie's son. She gets a little better as the series goes on, but I still wasn't very fond of her.

Mrs. Bridges cooking. Thomas and Rose look on.

Since the start of Series 1, there had been some changes to the staff of 165 Eaton Place. Emily, the kitchen maid, had been replaced by new kitchen maid, Ruby. Alfred, the creepy footman, had been replaced by Edward, a bit of a girl-crazy footman. Even though Edward is a little girl-crazy, he isn't a bad character. He likes to joke a lot, but overall he is likable. Ruby takes a little bit of getting used to, though. Mid-Series, we see the addition of Thomas Watkins, the new chauffeur who once worked for the Kirbridges. He was mostly likable for the first part of the series, but once he came to 165 Eaton Place and got involved with Sarah he got fairly dislikable.

Scenery

Mr. and Mrs. Kirbridge at a party.

Most of the scenes were still at 165 Eaton Place, the home of Richard and Lady Marjorie Bellamy. We do get a glimpse of the Kirbridge's new home after they are married, but it is not as nice as 165 Eaton Place. Scenes from the Kirbridge's new home do not last long, however. But we do see scenes from the Bellamy's garage where Thomas works.

Costuming
The costuming still had Edwardian fashions and hadn't changed very much since Series 1. The costumes were still nice, though.

Overall: 3/5
Well, Series 2 picks up a little quicker than Series 1 and is better than Series 1, but it still can't compare to Downton Abbey. The plot of Upstairs, Downstairs is still a little slow, but it's not entirely bad. There is some content in this series: again, nothing is horribly graphic, but there are still some mature scenes. The content almost borders on TV-14... almost. Like Series 1, you may want to view this series of Upstairs Downstairs first before showing it to a young audience (like preteen or young teenagers).

Upstairs Downstairs: Series 2 is available on DVD on its own or as apart of the Complete Collection. It has 13 hour long episodes.

Review: Upstairs, Downstairs - Series 1 (1971)

As many of you may know, I'm a fan of Downton Abbey. I have often heard it compared to Upstairs, Downstairs, and though I had never seen Upstairs, Downstairs before, I knew a little about what it was about and went with the analogy. I finally got to watch the original Upstairs, Downstairs recently (after finishing Downton Abbey: Series 2). Here is what I thought.

Synopsis

Complete Series Box

165 Eaton Place is home to not only the rich Bellamys who are involved in politics, but also to the servants who serve them. Upstairs, Richard Bellamy, a M.P., lives at 165 Eaton Place with his wife, Lady Marjorie, and when they are home, his son James and his daughter Elizabeth. Below stairs, there are many servants who keep the Bellamys' home running: the butler, Mr. Hudson, makes sure that the servants behave themselves, Mrs. Bridges cooks all the meals that are enjoyed both by the Bellamys and the servants, and Rose the head parlor maid that is also friend's with Elizabeth Bellamy.

Characters

There are a couple of the cast members that you may have seen in other period dramas. The maid Rose is played by Jean Marsh, who not only created this series and The House of Eliott with Eileen Atkins (who was also in Cranford), was also in the 2008 miniseries of Sense and Sensibility as Mrs. Ferrars. John Rapley, who played a tradesman in one episode, was in The Duchess of Duke Street as Mr. Leyton. Other than those two, I didn't recognize anyone else.

There are a mixed bag of characters in Upstairs, Downstairs. There is probably an even number of characters you like and characters you don't like: this applies to both the upstairs characters and the downstairs characters.

Lady Marjorie

Upstairs, there are characters that I personally liked. Richard Bellamy is a respectable, honorable character who I don't have much to say against. For the most part, I liked Lady Marjorie, though there was one episode she made a very bad mistake. As for James and Elizabeth Bellamy, I don't particularly care for either one of them. James is a scandalous character -- a scoundrel if you will. I find it hard to like scoundrels. Elizabeth is extremely political and radical to the point where it gets irritating. She wasn't nearly as bad towards the beginning of the series -- at that point in the beginning, she was young and didn't seem as extremely political--, but when she met some new friends, she changed for the worst. I don't foresee either James Bellamy or Elizabeth Bellamy going away or changing for the better for a long while.

Dowstairs, as it was for upstairs, there are characters that I liked and didn't like. The difference between upstairs and downstairs is that the staff downstairs changes a little throughout the series. The two characters that I found dislikable leave at some point in the series, though one comes back. Honestly, I was a little disappointed in the staff of 165 Eaton Place. Warning: I'm going to make a Downton Abbey comparison now. It seemed to me that a number of the things that went on with the staff would not have even been attempted at Downton Abbey, which seemed more orderly. In one episode, Mr. Hudson and the Bellamys leaves and the staff is running amok in the house and trying on their employers' clothes and indulging in their employers' wine! Could anyone even imagine that going on at Downton Abbey even if Mr. Carson (Downton Abbey butler) or Mrs. Hughes (Downton Abbey Housekeeper) were away? In short, it seems to me that Mr. Hudson, though he is a likable character and does maintain some control over the staff, could be maintaining more control over his staff.

Scenery

An example of the Black and White episodes

For most 70s shows, the scenery isn't much to really speak of since most series at the time were done on sets. I will say that the setting of Upstairs, Downstairs was still very nice, though it was most likely filmed on a set. However, a number of the episodes in the first series were in black and white due to labor strikes. I think by the 7th episode in the series, the episodes are all in color, but before then there were only two episodes that were filmed in color (the pilot was filmed in color and another episode was also filmed in color, but then it went back to black and white for one episode).

Uggh! I hate that hat!

Costuming
The costuming was also nice! Since the story takes place between 1903-1909, the ladies dresses were from the Edwardian era. A lot of the dresses and hats were very nice. The maids wear their usual uniforms with the exception of the scullery maids, who wore different uniforms than the other maids. I did take issue with Elizabeth's "new" wardrobe towards the end of the first series. There was one particular hat that I took a quick dislike to (it's pictured here). It was too masculine to be a lady's hat. I question if she just took one of her father's or brother's hats and decided to wear it for who knows why. But other than that, the costumes are very nice to look at.

Overall: 3/5

Upstairs, Downstairs is okay... I guess. Honestly, if you had to pick between seeing Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, definitely go for Downton Abbey. All of the characters in Downton Abbey seemed more dignified than the characters in Upstairs, Downstairs. Don't get me wrong, there are some likable characters in Upstairs, Downstairs, but there were times where there were some behaviors going on that no one would have gotten away at Downton (Really, could anyone see Anna trying on Lady Mary clothes?). I did like Upstairs, Downstairs enough to continue watching it. Who knows, I might grow to like it a little more.

Content-wise, there aren't any graphic scenes in Upstairs, Downstairs, but there are some scenes that contain some mature themes. There are also some implications and scandals that may be a little mature. Also, especially in later episodes, there are some discussions talked about that wouldn't have been mentioned in polite conversation. But again, there's nothing overtly graphic. I also saw that on Netflix, it has been rated TV-PG, which considering today's current TV shows, wouldn't be inaccurate. I would recommend watching it ahead of time if you plan on showing this to, let's say, a preteen audience, for the themes presented and decide for yourself if you want to show it.

Upstairs, Downstairs: Series 1 is available on DVD either by itself or apart of the complete collection. You can also watch it on Netflix Instant Streaming. There are 13 episodes in the first series which are about 50 minutes long.