Anyone familiar with science knows that lightning does indeed strike twice in the same place, and that in fact it’s more likely the second the time. With BBC’s original Upstairs Downstairs back in 1971, they had a dramatic hit and a resilient classic on their hands. The series examined an aristocratic household from the perspectives of the owners living in luxury and their support staff tidying up the place. Recreating the series almost 40 years later, it seems like they captured lightning in a bottle all those years ago, because when they unleashed the remake of Upstairs Downstairs it buzzed with the same amount of energy that made the first an enduring exhibit of great television. Anyone who appreciates good television or was a fan of the original series should pick up this updated version which, though remaining anchored some 75 years in the past, manages to infuse its subject matter with a new level of relevance.
Continuing the legacy of the Bellamy house from the original series, Sir Hallam Holland (Ed Stoppard) and his wife Agnes (Keeley Hawes) open the storied home’s doors for the first time in six years since the departure of the Bellamys. The series follows their renovations of the house and the hiring of their staff with the help of Rose Buck (Jean Marsh reprises her role), and the lives of the inhabitants during tumultuous political times. This time around, the household deals with differing political opinions on Edward VIII’s Abdication, Wallis Simpson, the Battle of Cable Street, the British Union of Fascists and the rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany. The show’s greatest strength was always its ability to tackle conflicting opinions on larger issues by looking at them from the angles of the haves and the have nots. Meanwhile, the relationships that blossom between those hired to serve the Hollands and the family itself help to lighten the proceedings with a fair amount of dry humor.
There’s no question that Upstairs Downstairs benefits from a hugely talented cast of veterans and newcomers alike, both as main player and with those waiting in the wings. Hawes and Stoppard prove their merit as the main leads and everyone else who fills the screen show that the casting director did a near, if not, perfect job of choosing the people to populate the old former Bellamy house. Eileen Atkins, Anne Reid, Art Malik, Claire Foy, Adrian Scarborough, Neil Jackson, Elle Kendrick, Anthony Calf, and Nico Mirallegro fill out the cast and play the themes of cultural and socioeconomic differences in a way that never feels forced or heavy-handed.
The one place viewers might take issue with the reincarnation of Upstairs Downstairs is its brevity and thus its highly compressed storytelling. Points that could have stretched onward to fill out the BBC’s typical 6-episode series feel lacking, if not entirely abridged, in order to appease an inexplicable 3-episode run that gives a fantastic series deserving of 6 hours of runtime (at least) only 3 hours in which to play out. If ever there was a series of BBC television capable of being expanded to fill out a much larger timeframe, the 2010 version of Upstairs Downstairs is it. The writers took the time to flesh out some truly distinct characters but they have such a small time to play with them and thus it feels like we’re deprived of quite a few pay-offs.
Here’s hoping that BBC deems the series fit for further continuation with its new cast, because as it currently sits, Upstairs Downstairs could stand to run just as long if not longer than the original. Such good and timely television is a rare thing these days, and when it’s as well-thought out as this, you’d think whichever studio put it together would be hankering to see it go on indefinitely. The issues of pacing and brevity would be solved and we’d end up with another installment in the show’s legacy that would be as timeless as the first.
DVD Bonus Features
A singular featurette chronicles the making and development of the new Upstairs Downstairs by venturing “Behind Closed Doors”; considering the talent involved it’s worth watching.
"Upstairs Downstairs (2010)" is on sale April 26, 2011 and is not rated. Drama. Directed by Euros Lyn. Written by Eileen Atkins, John Hawkesworth, Jean Marsh, Heidi Thomas, John Whitney. Starring Art Malik, Eileen Atkins, Jean Marsh, Keeley Hawes, Ed Stoppard, Anne Reid, Adrian Scarborough, Claire Foy, Neil Jackson, Anthony Calf, Nico Mirallegro.
