The BBC has just aired the most recent version of Upstairs Downstairs, the wildly popular 1970's series about the Bellamy family and their servants who lived and worked in an Edwardian London townhouse. The new series is a complete makeover, with only one original cast member returning (Jean Marsh) and the action occurring before World War II. The reviews I have read have so far have been tepid, although the first episode drew 7 million viewers, the same number that Dowton Abbey attracted in its first week (the audience grew to an astonishing 9 million, prompting ITV to order up a second season.)
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| 2010 Upstairs Downstairs. The only original cast member is Jean March, whose Rose (on stairs) has graduated to housekeeper |
These numbers bode well for costume dramas in general. The series will be shown in Great Britain over six weeks, and in the United States on PBS starting in April. PBS Masterpiece Classic will air the first episode of Dowton Abbey on January 9th, and each Sunday in January afterward.
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| The original cast in the 1970s series included Angela Baddley as Mrs Bridges, the cook, Christopher Beeny as Edward, and Gordon Jackson as Hudson the Butler. |
The reviews are in:
