Upstairs Downstairs S1: Amazon.ca: Gordon Jackson, Angela Baddeley, Jean Marsh, Margaretta Scott, Rachel Gurney, Nicola Pagett, David Langton, George Innes, Evin Crowley, John Quayle, Simon Williams, Brian Osborne, Bill Bain, Brian Parker, Christopher Hodson, Derek Bennett, Herbert Wise, Joan Kemp-Welch, Raymond Menmuir, Alfred Shaughnessy: DVD

Product Description

Amazon.com Essential Video

Anglophiles rejoice: the Bellamys are back in their upscale London home, and the servants are again ensconced below stairs. The characters are endearing and the writing bittersweet as the story follows the lives of this aristocratic family and its helpers from 1904 into the 1930s. Nine new-to-video episodes of this seminal British series have been included in a seven-video boxed set. (It aired in the States under the auspices of Masterpiece Theatre.) Of the 13 episodes, 5 are rare black-and-white shows never broadcast in the U.S. All are clean and clear and as enjoyable as when they first aired in the early 1970s. --Rochelle O'Gorman

Video Details

Follow the "upstairs" dwellers, the Bellamys, and their "downstairs" servants through one of television's most loved and lauded series of all time. This collector's set includes the entire first season, all 13 episodes, of the multi-award winning series. Catch a first glimpse of 165 Eaton Place and be enchanted with the saga that captures the essence of life and love in Edwardian England.

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Customer Reviews

31 Reviews

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (31 customer reviews)

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The best ever made, Nov 1 2004

By

Peggy (Montreal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Upstairs Downstairs S1 (DVD)

Upstairs, Downstairs is the saga of the Bellamy family and their household staff in the early 20th century. Throughout the series their lives, loves, tragedies and triumphs are portrayed. This set of 13 episodes includes the COMPLETE first season as seen in Britain, including some black and white episodes never seen on tv in the US. In the first episode we are introduced to the colorful Sarah (Pauline Collins), in the second (B&W episode) Lady Marjorie has her portrait painted only to discover at the Royal Academy Show that the artist has also painted two half-naked maids in an attic room (possibly Bellamy maids?). In episodes 3 and 4 (B&W) we are introduced to the children, James and Elizabeth Bellamy. Episodes 5 and 6 show us the romance between Elizabeth Bellamy and a German Baron (and it's dark underside), and the pregnancy of the new maid, Mary. More familiar episodes to the US audience come in #7 and #8, Lady Marjorie is spellbound with a young army captain who is friends with her son James, and Emily (the annoying kitchen maid) falls for a neighboring family's footman, with disastrous results. Episodes 9 and 10 have Mrs. Bridges, the cook, behaving in a most improper way and stealing a baby, and the erstwhile Sarah returns with a new plan to improve her social standing. The two penultimate episodes in this set include the further adventures of Sarah the housemaid with a Swedish valet, and the further adventures of the Bellamy's daughter, Elizabeth, with a group of young Socialists. Finally we are left with the now estranged Elizabeth Bellamy and her relationship with a leftist poet, Lawrence Kirbridge--and a great eagerness to own the next 13 episodes, now also available.

Upstairs, Downstairs is the classic "Masterpiece Theater" series, with costumes, drama, comedy, and riveting characters that we take to our hearts. If you are a fan of more recent costume dramas on A&E and PBS, you will very much enjoy this early series which holds up remarkably well, after nearly two decades.
We completed the First Season last night and I'm hooked. The writing is terrific and all the performances are enchanting. My particular favorites are Mr. Hudson, the butler, and Rose, played by the gifted and gorgeous Jean Marsh.

The print quality of the videos is excellent overall, but I know that I shall be buying the series again when it comes out on DVD, as I'm sure some jerking of the picture (mostly in the credits, never in the performance itself) and other flaws will be removed as far as possible.

The social structures of both the wealthy class and the servant class are jarring, especially to an early 21st-century viewer. We have come quite a long way from that time when a servant must "know his place". Yet, it wasn't just they who had to know who they were and what place they occupied in the world: in many ways, the wealthy were just as trapped in their positions - if not moreso - than the servants who ran their lives. And make no mistake - the servants DID run things if this series is to be believed.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Master Piece Theather in true form indeed...., Jun 10 2004

By

Manuel Nu�ez "Freck" (Panama City, Panama) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Upstairs Downstairs: The Premiere Season [7 VHS Set] (VHS Tape)

I was just a toddler when the series first aired in the 70's, but from earing about the masterpiece theather references on PBS always wandered what all the fuzz was about.

This is a definite work of art, it should be considered a gem of the british television history. The acting is superb and the dialogues between the characters are fascinating in the emotional highs and lows that are transmitted in each episode.

My advise for the potential viewer is to view the series from episode 1 in order to fully appreciate how the characters develop and mature. There are some that grow and others that decay over time, but very interesting to see the dynamics of it.

Hudson, the buttler, for me is the best, with it's total devotion to the old order and his place in the social structure prevalent at the time, he seems to signify the DOWNSTAIRS. I imagine that is how the real buttlers acted at the beginning of the past century.

Finally, Lady Marjorie's character is exquisite in her representantion of the quintesential high class lady (UPSTAIRS) she is serene, classy and totally controlled in her behavior and emotions (altought sometimes she lets go letting us know that she is human after all).

Definite classic....

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5.0 out of 5 stars Still holding up well, Feb 17 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Upstairs Downstairs: The Premiere Season [7 VHS Set] (VHS Tape)

This series holds up well after all these years. Sure, there are some minor problems with creaky dollys, hearing the camera tape rolling--hey, this was 1971 and it was a low budget make! But even with that it's a wonderful look at Edwardian England. Some of the best writing on either side of the "Big Pond." By far, this is one of the best series out there.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars rose.christie@latis.net.au
I now own the entire series - absolutely fabulous portrayal of an intriguing era of history. The snobbishness of the 'lower'classes is brilliantly portrayed by the servants of... Read more

Published on Nov 5 2003 by R. M. Christie

3.0 out of 5 stars High Class - Low Tech
Through the years I have watched PBS Masterpiece Theatre for its remakes of Classic Novels, but British TV didn't interest me because I normally don't watch "Typical TV" until I... Read more

Published on Jun 19 2003 by John D. Dooley