Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)

Upstairs, Downstairs

Genre	Drama
Created by	Jean Marsh Eileen Atkins John Hawkesworth John Whitney
Developed by	Alfred Shaughnessy
Written by	Alfred Shaughnessy John Hawkesworth Fay Weldon
Starring	Gordon Jackson David Langton Rachel Gurney Angela Baddeley Jean Marsh Patsy Smart Christopher Beeny Jacqueline Tong Jenny Tomasin Simon Williams Joan Benham Pauline Collins Lesley-Anne Down Raymond Huntley John Alderton Nicola Pagett Ian Ogilvy Hannah Gordon Meg Wynn Owen Karen Dotrice Gareth Hunt
Theme music composer	Alexander Faris
Opening theme	"The Edwardians"
Ending theme	"What Are We Going To Do With Uncle Arthur?"
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	68 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	John Hawkesworth
Running time	50 minutes
Production company(s)	LWT
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	PAL (576i) 4:3 aspect ratio
Audio format	Mono
Original release	10 October 1971 (1971-10-10) – 21 December 1975 (1975-12-21)
Chronology
Followed by	Upstairs Downstairs (2010 TV series)
Website

Upstairs, Downstairs is a British television drama series originally produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975.

Set in a large townhouse in Edwardian, First World War and interwar Belgravia in London, the series depicts the lives of the servants "downstairs" and their masters—the family "upstairs". Great events feature prominently in the episodes but minor or gradual changes are also noted. The series stands as a document of the social and technological changes that occurred between 1903 and 1930.

Upstairs, Downstairs was originally an idea by two actress friends, Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, for a comedy called Behind the Green Baize Door. It would focus on two housemaids, played by Marsh and Atkins, in a large country house in the Victorian era. They soon added a family upstairs, as Marsh recognised "Servants have to serve somebody". In summer 1969, they took this idea to Sagitta Productions, which was run by John Hawkesworth and John Whitney. They soon removed the comedy element, changed the setting to a large townhouse in Edwardian London and the title became Below Stairs. It was first offered to Granada Television in Manchester, but they declined as they already had a period drama, called A Family at War, about to start. However, Stella Richman, the Controller of Programmes at London Weekend Television, saw potential, and in April 1970, the first series was commissioned.

...
Wikipedia