The Story of Upstairs Downstairs (2005) - full transcript

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possible by Acorn Media

"Upstairs Downstairs"...

That brings back a few memories.

It was a few years ago

since I did this, looking
through "Punch" magazines

for illustrations to
put on the captions.

John Hawkesworth said,

"Sandy, we're doing
this Edwardian series

and wondering if you'd
like to submit a tune."

Got to get people out of the
loo and say, "Oh, that... My God.

Quick. I've got to get
to 'Upstairs Downstairs."'



I liked the word "submit"

because it means
that they don't mean

that they actually are
going to give you the job

until they hear
what you suggest.

Then take me a
photograph of the picture

or a negative of the picture

and masking out the areas
that we're not gonna use.

And then we'd have
produced a white print.

And I wrote one tune
overnight, and they said,

"Could it be a little
bit more like Elgar

and not so much
like Eric Coates?"

He would take the white
paper and dye it to the green

that we wanted to
maintain through the series.

Sitting at this piano,
on this very stool,



I quickly found that it sounded
rather nice in a waltz version.

So, Rosemary Guest
would come along

and put in the
lettering for the caption.

On the day of the recording,
when the music started...

It was the music that
the nerves started.

"Dee da-da dum da-dee"
would set our pulses going in.

It was like a first
night in a play.

And you'd hear
the station ident.

LWT would come
up from the screen.

"Hush, studio. Quiet.
We're going for a recording."

"Upstairs Downstairs," part
1, production number 1502,

recording date
20/6/72, take one.

I was absolutely thrilled

to be asked to write the
first script of the new series,

which, of course,
followed on to the last one.

There's rather an odd
anomaly that happened

with the dating of some
of those early episodes.

They used to put the date...
Like 1908, 1909, whatever...

Down at the bottom of the screen
in the beginning of the episode.

Lawrence and Elizabeth
got married in 1909.

I've got a feeling

that the second series
actually started a year...

Yes, the first series
ended in 1909.

And the second
series started in 1908.

And it was to do
with the king's visit.

But they also realized

that Edward VII was gonna
be dead six months later.

So, at the beginning
of the second series,

they got rid of the dates
on the bottom of the screen

and decided arbitrarily

that they'd push
everything back a year.

We found ourselves
trapped by history.

We couldn't get out of it.

So, the second
series started in 1908.

Yes.

And Nicola Pagett and Ian Ogilvy

came back from their
honeymoon a year early.

Before they got married.

And it was all
locked in history...

The whole series was...

And therefore, we
couldn't really move

out of the historical limits
of what was happening.

Do you think you're
gonna miss us, Rose,

when you go down
to Greenwich, eh?

- Whee!
- Ow!

You made me spill it!

I tell you, Edward, if I miss
you, it'll be a good miss.

I bet you have some
laughs out there.

I hope Rose will
have no such thing.

Elizabeth was
married to Lawrence.

And I felt... Rose felt...

I felt and Rose felt that
we were being demoted

because we weren't going
to be in 165 Eaton Place.

And I thought, "I know they
can't actually write me out

because it's in my..."
Ideas, you know. Contract.

But I got a bit worried.

It was a bit like...

In this series, if you
ever went to Southwold,

where Lady
Marjorie's mother lived,

you thought, "Am I being written
out, and when am I coming back?"

You see, we went into this big
shop in the... something-strasse.

- The Something-Strasse.
- Yes.

Well, they were selling
hand-carved boxes and things

at enormous prices.

And I went to the
back of the shop,

and there was this little man,

working away in a dreadfully
bad light, carving them.

So I told Lawrence to
hold the owner of the shop

- in conversation...
- Yes. That wasn't easy.

He wasn't
interested in politics,

and the only poet he'd
ever heard of was Byron.

Well, anyway, Lawrence
managed to keep him out of the way

while I asked the old man

if he hadn't something
of his own to sell.

And he brought out this.

So I was able to
buy it from him direct

without any horrid
middleman taking the profit.

That's cheating the
unfortunate shopkeeper

who was paying
the rent and taxes

and making sure the
old man didn't starve.

Never mind. It was a
blow against sweated labor.

And I know
Henrietta will approve.

Darling, you haven't
changed a bit.

Haven't I, Mother?

The whole story line
was very interesting

because there were
thoughts about their marriage.

It was clearly not consummated.

And then the
second series started

and I went in and I said,

"So," you know,
"what's the story line?"

They went, "Oh, you're going.

That's it. We don't
want you anymore."

I went, "Oh, really?"

And then they explained to me
what happened to this character.

And I went, "Oh,
well, all right.

Okay. Seems a pity,
really, but never mind."

It's very interesting about
Lawrence because it was so...

Because I had started it
so much in Rupert Brooke,

nobody ever knew whether
Rupert Brooke was a homosexual.

Nobody ever knew, really,

just that he did have a
lot of trouble with love.

But the way it was
explained to me

at the beginning
of the second series

did sound to me a little bit
like it was an afterthought.

And of course, it was
quite a clever one,

that idea that
Lawrence could not...

Or was unwilling to
consummate his marriage,

that the whole thing
was in his head,

that he was just
an over-romantic,

sentimental idiot, really.

He builds around himself
an alternative to that reality,

which is the idea
of a romantic poet

whose mind is not of this world,

and Rupert Brooke is a
perfect sort of echo of it.

What about you
and Evelyn Larkin?

That was not as you imagine,

and I prefer not to
compare you with Evelyn.

Why not?

Because a pure woman

is not supposed to
care about such... such...

So, neither of our
mothers is a pure woman.

Oh, now, please,
don't try to be clever.

We've no way of knowing

what our mothers may
or may not have felt,

and I, for one, prefer not to
contemplate anything so bizarre.

He was just this
curious, poetic,

not really wanting
to get involved,

just loving the idea of love.

I think it's more interesting,
in a way, that he wasn't gay.

He was merely completely
and absolutely disgusted

by the whole concept of
sex of any kind, with anybody.

There are people like that.

They are rare, but
there are people like that,

and I think that makes him
a more interesting character.

I mean, not
everyone's passionate.

Not everyone's that
interested in sex.

I mean, look at Boy George...
"I'd rather have a cup of tea."

And I didn't think

that any of the men quite
understood this poetic...

This loving love, but
not really wanting sex.

And I always felt I understood
it and nobody else did.

I think in those days,
somebody like Lawrence

could really
genuinely fool himself,

and he had somewhere to go.

I think, primarily,
he's homosexual.

And I always
said, no, he wasn't.

He was, in fact, just asexual.

He had not a trace of
sexuality about him at all.

And I think, even
when you see him

in the earlier episodes
or earlier scenes,

when he's apparently
having an affair

with the character that
Georgia Brown played,

I don't think
that's true at all.

I think they were just
sort of being Bohemian

in sharing a bed.

I think that was
about it, really.

Could it possibly be that
any man who was straight

would not be interested
in Miss Elizabeth,

in Nicola Pagett?

I once told the story

of my involvement in
"Upstairs Downstairs"

to an American actor,

who said, "If that had
been an American series,

that story line would
have lasted four years."

He said, "You'd have got
four years out of that situation."

I said, "Well, we get on
with it a bit in England."

Anyway, I believe it
not absolutely essential

to have babies at first if we...

If one is careful.

Oh, God, Elizabeth!
Not at breakfast.

You won't talk about it in bed.

I wish you'd see a doctor.

- Whatever for?
- You seem to be out of sorts.

What a stunning observation.

Elizabeth, I do detest sarcasm.

And I detest being relegated

to the position of
a decorative doll.

Nicola was absolutely
enchanting as Elizabeth.

And I think she... It's a
very difficult part to play.

I think the rebellious
daughter of the house

could become a great cliché.

I had a lovely part

'cause I just had to fight
my parents all the time.

So, you didn't think,
"Oh, what a tiresome girl,"

because she was
funny and touching.

Beautiful performance.

Nicola played it on
a very high level of...

As she got more and
more frustrated and angry,

she took it out on Rose.

And she was always
snarling at me.

Don't cry, Miss
Lizzie. Please don't cry.

It's not as bad as you think.

You've got it all
out of proportion.

- Don't you tell me, Rose!
- Miss Lizzie.

And don't call me Miss Lizzie.

I'm a married woman.

Married, which is
more than you'll ever be!

- What?
- At least I've tried.

I've offered myself,

but you, you've never
offered yourself to anyone,

- so how can you give me advice?
- I wasn't trying to.

You and Thomas... You think
I didn't hear you late at night?

Teasing him and then stopping.

Let me tell you, Rose,
that unless you're prepared

to give yourself utterly and
risk making a fool of yourself,

you'll never get
anything in life!

You'll end up
withered here inside.

I mean, look at you already!

At least I'll never
end up like you.

But I loved all
that rebellion stuff.

I mean, it's a classic...

It's almost like a sort
of jewel of an example

'cause it's in-built...
Writing's about conflict.

And you had so many
ways of doing the conflict...

Up against up...

You still haven't told
me who the Anstees are.

They're the most
important people

in the literary world today.

Good. Then I should
like to meet them.

I don't think they'd amuse you.

I don't always
need to be amused!

Down against down...

You'll be waiting outside
for the dirty dishes.

Oh, no, I won't.
I'll be serving.

Up and down...

How dare you... Dare
you behave like that!

I won't have it in
my kitchen! I won't!

You can take a week's notice!

Both of you!

John Alderton played my valet,

and he was just
brilliant in the part,

so much so that he
completely eclipsed me.

I remember one reviewer
saying, "Poor old Ian Ogilvy.

He's just being acted off
the wall by John Alderton."

In my defense, I would say that,

actually, John Alderton's
part was a bit better than mine.

Mine was just a vapid,
squeaky little idiot, really,

and John was this
wonderfully strong character.

And John was always
a very strong actor

and a terrific
character actor, as well.

I cannot...

I cannot see her in that light.

I love and respect
her far too much.

You have befriended me.

Um... could you...

Befriend her?

It was a very bizarre,
strange scene,

and of course Charles Gray is
a very bizarre, interesting man,

with that gravelly
voice and things.

And I always thought
it was a slightly creepy,

rather... Rather
unsettling scene, really,

where a man proposes

that another man should
seduce his own wife.

It was kind of interesting
for its time, I think, that scene.

Elizabeth, don't you sometimes
think, in the half light...

How could you guess?

Ah.

What an exquisite dream
for an exquisite dreamer.

And then I got seduced
by Charles Gray,

which was divine,
'cause I was drunk.

I like doing drunk acting.

You said the marriage
had not been consummated.

That's true. It hadn't.

Are you saying that Lawrence

is not the father of the
child you're carrying?

Yes.

Lucy Elizabeth. The full name?

I think just Lucy.

Read it out again.

"Kirbridge, on the 17th inst.
At the Hallam nursing home,

to Elizabeth, the wife of
Lawrence Arthur Kirbridge,

a daughter, Lucy."

John come up and said,

"We're going to
do another series.

Would you like to write for it?"

And we said,
"Well, we'd love to,

but we've got a
rather full plate."

And he, very sweetly, said,

"Well, look... whenever and
whatever you want to write,

just pick up the phone
and let me know."

So we rang him one day and said,

"We've got an idea
and we think we've...

We've finished writing
the first series, you know,

honestly, and this is the
play we'd like to write."

He said, "Done,"
which was lovely.

And we did. And we wrote
"Out of the Everywhere."

I enjoyed every minute of it.

It was a super episode.

And it sort of was my
christening, as it were,

of "Upstairs Downstairs."

Uh, Nanny Webster
will be arriving on Friday.

That doesn't give you
much notice, I'm afraid,

but we thought
she ought to settle in

before Mrs. Kirbridge
comes home with the baby.

You all know each other.

It won't be like a
new nanny coming.

She met Sarah, too,
down at Southwold, so...

Something troubling you, Hudson?

Oh, no, my lady, it's, uh...

It's just that I thought perhaps
Nanny Webster had retired.

- You mean you hoped she had.
- I beg your pardon, sir?

We'd had our first baby,

and we'd had a monthly
nurse who came to work for us

to help with the baby
and so on and so on.

And to our horror one night,

we went into the bedroom
where the cot was,

and the child was in bed
with this enormous nanny,

who was a very large
woman about to roll over,

and we thought
this was terrifying.

I think that the
Bradys picked that up.

We told them...

I think I mentioned to them
this awful experience we'd had

with this monthly nurse.

And one of them said,

"Oh, yes, I think that would
make a very good story.

Can we use it?"

But in this particular episode,

you know, it was about
something which is very touching,

about a nanny who
comes back to sort of

take charge of this family
baby in the normal way

and then it's
discovered that she...

Going blind.

That she's going blind.

You hussy.

I expressly told you

you were to have nothing
to do with that child.

- It's all right, Nanny.
- It is not all right.

I'll have you dismissed.

- But, Nanny, it's all right.
- Give me that baby.

- Honestly, Nanny.
- Give me that ba...

Aah!

Ohh.

I remember when Freddy
Shaughnessy read it.

He got such a fright, he
said, when the baby's dropped.

And he said to Terence and I,

"That's a stunning moment,
when the doll crashes to the floor."

It was good.

- It was good because...
- It was dramatic.

All the implication is there.

Sarah, the very reason for
Nanny Webster being here

is so that I do not have to keep
going to have a word with her.

It is your baby!

My bag.

You haven't hardly seen
her since you come home.

Pass me my bag.

Not proper.

Sarah!

I loved playing a woman

who didn't really care
much about her baby

'cause the obvious thing to do
is "Aww, here's my little baby."

It's so boring.
Everybody does that.

It's wonderful to
play a character...

"Oh, yeah, take it away.

Take it away. I'm bored.

Stop its screaming,
for God's sake."

And here was this poor old soul

coming back to look
after the family children.

Yeah.

And she was a tough
old bird, too, wasn't she?

Yes. It was a good portrait
of an old nanny 'cause she...

Yes, 'cause she wasn't
a sentimental old thing.

- No, she wasn't at all.
- Tough old biddy.

Yes, tough old disciplinarian,

but I think, as an episode,

it works terribly well
from that point of view

because I don't
think it's sentimental.

But it is touching.

Give me that child.

- It's all right, Nanny.
- Give me that child.

I've been waiting, my
girl, waiting for you.

I-I was just talking
to Miss Elizabeth.

It's not your place,
a girl the likes of you.

Mind little Lucy. You're
holding her ever so tight.

And don't be familiar with baby.

She is "baby" to
you at all times.

You're in no place to
be familiar with baby.

You're to have nothing
to do with her at all.

Do you understand?
Nothing at all.

And she is such a monster.

And yet, you know, she
obviously once was a good nanny...

Not a brilliant
nanny, obviously not.

She was a bit of an old Tartar.

So, that's why I loved her
and the way Daphne played it

'cause she didn't play
it at all sentimental.

Not at all.

Daphne Heard, I think,

was one of the sort of
dyed-in-the-wool actresses

who perhaps didn't take
too kindly to television

and us young whippersnappers

who were trying to
tell her what to do.

But I think we got
there in the end.

I mean, she was
brilliant... Daphne Heard...

Did you not think?

Terrifying,
absolutely terrifying.

Have a bottle of
champagne downstairs.

- Oh, thank you very much, sir.
- To welcome the baby.

- Sir.
- And Nanny Webster.

Yes, sir.

I can feel the house
beginning to shake already.

It was jolly interesting,
as well, isn't it,

about the hierarchy of when
the nanny is in the house

when she comes back.

It's "Who rules the roost?"

So, when that thing about "Here
comes Nanny Webster back again."

Mm-hmm.

It's "Ohh, she's going to
take over the running of this."

Yes.

Which they do because
the nanny finally

was the person who
was in charge, wasn't she?

Oh, yeah.

And Marjorie, then,
has to be the one

that says to her old
nanny, "You can't see."

So, thank you, Nanny.

Yes.

And, of course, I'll make all
the necessary arrangements.

Yes.

Yes.

Of course, it is the
stairs more than anything.

But the baby needs me.

Oh, I'll bring Lucy to see you.
We'll all come and see you.

You were never clumsy.

No.

We'll come and see you.

You've got your
corsets off again.

Oh, Nanny.

And I think it was
very well done.

I mean, I think you'd find...
As a writer, you'd find it...

You wouldn't want to try
and fault anything about it.

It was very well done.

It looked really good, and
it was beautifully acted.

There you are, Sarah.
There's your charge.

I'm dying for a glass of sherry.

Will you take her
up to Nanny for me?

Now, then.

Ain't you a little
lambykins, eh?

Isn't she a little
lambykins, Mr. Hudson?

Oh, very nice.

Hello, baby.

"Hello, baby." "Hello, baby."

I can't remember
quite. "Hello, baby."

Oh, God, he was funny.

D-Do you remember the first
time I come here, Mr. Hudson?

I remember the
occasion very clearly.

Your face when I tried to
come in through the front door.

You said I wasn't to
question my betters

and that you was my better

because you was
older and wiser than me

and I was to learn
humility... Do you remember?

It's a pity you didn't learn it.

Don't you ever have a laugh?

On suitable occasions.

Come along, Sarah.
They're waiting for you.

I remember "A Pair of
Exiles" very well indeed

because I was
very pleased with it.

I thought it worked very well.

Oh, I think it was a
romance, all right, with Sarah.

I'm not sure that the Edwardians
knew how to love very well.

They didn't know...

The men didn't know
how to cherish women.

Oh!

You're drunk.

♪ Oh, isn't it a pity
that the likes of her... ♪

Shut up, you old cow!

♪ Should put upon
the likes of him ♪ ♪

- Hey!
- Hey!

I say, I say, I say...
My dog's got no nose.

- How does he smell?
- Terrible!

♪ As I walk along the
Bois de Boulogne ♪

♪ With an independent air ♪

♪ You can hear
the girls declare ♪

♪ "He must be a millionaire" ♪

♪ You can hear them
sigh and wish to die ♪

♪ You can see them
wink with the other eye ♪

♪ At the man who
broke the bank ♪

♪ At Monte Carlo ♪

Pauline Collins,
who plays Sarah...

As far as I'm concerned,

she is a brilliant, marvelous,
absolutely masterly actress

that I've always
loved from the word...

The first day she first
came to the first read-through

and started to read the part,

I felt this was magic
stuff and she really had it.

And I thought myself, "I
wonder who cast this girl.

She's so terribly talented."

I think James is just
such a miserable man.

I think deep down in
his... Bottom of his soul,

he was just an unhappy creature.

I fainted.

I come over all dizzy, and
all the room went black.

It's the heat in that gin, eh?

Jimmy?

Yeah?

If I tell you something, will
you promise not to be cross?

Yeah, yeah, I promise.

We're up the creek,
Jim... 'cause, well...

there's a little
captain on the way.

What?

A little James Bellamy.

Inside me.

Growing all the time, and...

Well, I won't be able to
work much longer, Jim.

So what are we
gonna do for money?

"There's gonna
be a little captain."

And that line happened to
charm one of our directors,

Cyril Coke, who
never got over it,

and he loved that line so much.

And he always used to
quote it, every time I saw him,

and he used to say,

"There's gonna be
another little captain."

And he just loved that line.

And it just seemed to click
with him and I was very pleased

because that was the
intention and it was the moment

when she really
is, for the first time,

definitely obviously
pregnant by James.

Why don't you say
something, Jimmy?

I mean, I don't expect
you to marry me, but...

why don't you say something?

Say you'll... you'll come down
and visit me in Southwold,

me and the baby.

Tell me that what they're
asking me to do is right.

But say something, won't you?!

I think quite often
what unhappy people do

is they fall in love with
someone else's happiness.

You know, losers fall
in love with winners,

and he was a loser.

And there was this
triumphant little sparrow,

little Cockney sparrow in
Sarah, in Pauline's Sarah.

And I think that's what
attracted him to her,

and very nearly... very
nearly, in certain episodes,

you get a feeling that she
almost took over his life

and could have
made something of him

and maybe they would have
gone away and lived in France

and he could have become
a writer and loosened up a bit.

I'm damned if I'll let
her leave this house

- without saying goodbye.
- James!

Sarah.

Sarah.

I'll write to you.

You rang, my lady.

Oh, yes, Hudson.
Close the door, will you?

My lady.

I've just had confirmation
from Buckingham Palace

that His Majesty the king

will be dining here
on Thursday evening.

- I understand, my lady.
- We shall be 10.

Perhaps you'd see
about getting in a waiter

- to help in the dining room.
- Very good, my lady.

I remember the episode
when the king came to dinner

very well

and not because
particularly of what happened

on the day of filming
or the rehearsals,

but for two or three reasons.

I think it's the world's
most popular episode.

So whenever I've been
anywhere in the world

and people have
wanted to interview me,

they always show
a bit of that episode.

I think the king coming to
dinner was so popular because...

I always think because
Freddy Shaughnessy

remembers his parents
entertaining the king,

so that, you know, it has that
sort of authenticity about it,

- doesn't it?
- Yeah.

Any moment now, Hudson.

Yes, sir.

- Is my tie straight?
- Perfect.

Listen.

Here he is now.

Open the door, Hudson.

Very good, sir.

I remember when the
king used to come to dinner

at our house quite
often in London.

And he would come
sometimes to dinner,

and I remembered the
situation of tension in the house,

all the servants
sort of being allowed

to come and look
down into the hall

from the balcony and all that.

And then I remember
feeling like Rose...

Absolutely outraged

that I wasn't allowed
to serve at table,

that the king... the king

was screwing women
all over the place,

but he wouldn't allow a
woman to serve at table.

I thought that was startling,
and I remember thinking,

"Well, you can use that
resentment with Rose."

I still don't understand
why I can't wait at table,

same as I always do.

His Majesty objects to female
servants waiting at the table.

You will have ample opportunity
of witnessing the dinner

from behind the screen, where
you will remain out of sight,

collecting the empty plates

and placing them
quietly in the servitor.

Yes, Mr. Hudson.

I think the king's mean.

Then you'd better
tell him that yourself.

Huh, that's right, Rose.
You tell him. I dare you.

All right, I will.

Hey?

Your Majesty, I am Rose,
head house parlormaid,

and I think it's
very mean of you

not to let us female
servants wait at table.

I always thought you rather
liked having women around you.

Rose!

Here, would you like
me to sit on your knee?

- Get out of that chair at once!
- I'll ask Mrs. Keppel.

She's a nice lady.
She'll put in a word for us.

"Hey, Alice, have
a word with..."

Come along, Rose. That'll
do. Come on, off you go now.

Both of you, quick.
I want to lock up.

Chop-chop.

It was an experience

which I had been through
and knew quite intimately,

what it was like to have
the king coming to dinner

and the excitement
and all the business,

the build-up to it

and the cook getting excited

about what to give
him to eat and all that.

Well, I still feel I ought to
give him the quail, my lady.

Yes, I know you
do, Mrs. Bridges,

but I do assure you he has quail

at every other
house he dines at.

Very good, my lady.

Well, what do you suggest?

Well, I suggest we play
safe with guinea fowl.

And for a main dish, you do
the thing you really excel at...

Your baron of lamb.

Now, there's nobody to touch
you for lamb, and you know it.

Ruby would have
been... And Mrs. Bridges...

We would have
been in the kitchen

from the early
hours of the morning.

Ruby would have
been down there...

Heaven knows what time...

4:00 in the
morning, 5:00, and...

You know, getting the
oven ready, cleaning it out,

warming it up,
scrubbing the floors,

getting all the potatoes ready,

all the vegetables ready to...

For her and Mrs.
Bridges to prepare.

Oh, oh.

Right.

Is that done,
then, Mrs. Bridges?

Oh, stop asking
silly questions, girl,

and give me the vinegar, quick.

We haven't got a lot of time.

I remember Angela
saying, "We're too tidy."

And we were, you know?

Ruby was in, then, a
very neat little clean apron

and hair just not
a bit out of place.

And we said that to
the makeup people.

They said, "Oh, no,
no, it's absolutely fine.

No, you're all right."

And Angela said,
"No, we're not all right."

And I said, "No,
we're not all right."

So we waited until we
were about to do the take

and we threw eggs
over each other and flour

and we really
messed ourselves up

as the makeup
girls... Bless them...

Came running towards
us and then we were rolling

and we carried on,

looking exactly as the
characters would have looked.

If you don't stop
ringing that bell,

I'll get Mr. Hudson to
get the police to you.

Why can't king's detective
go and shoo them away?

Well, isn't that
what he's here for?

Good heavens, Ruby.
What are you thinking of?

The royal detective would
never demean himself

to go out and speak to
common people in the street.

I remember also having
to lay this enormous table

and having to get it right

because they were
filming me doing it.

Entrée knife, main-course
knife, savory knife,

spoon for meringue,
dessert spoon.

Small fork, entrée
fork, main-course fork,

fork for meringue, dessert fork.

So I had soup
spoon, butter knife,

cake knife, savory spoon,

entrée spoon, entrée
fork, pudding, and thing,

and I did it at each stage.

And Gordon said,
"What are you muttering?"

And I said, "Well, I'm
trying to get it right."

In fact, when I
first had the idea

of bringing the king to
dinner at the Bellamys' house,

I remember thinking at first

that I would just
see a sort of fat finger

with the cigar smoke
coming up from it, you know,

and drumming on
the table impatiently.

Why they cast
Harry Lockwood West

instead of a proper
cushioned actor

who could have been built out,
you know, with a proper tummy...

And they didn't do it.

And I never asked,
but I was so...

Sort of didn't
like to interfere.

I thought it was not my
job to say to Martin Case,

"Why in God's name did
you cast Harry Lockwood West

as King Edward?

He doesn't look... He's
nothing like the same figure."

A most delightful
evening, Lady Marjorie.

Good night, sir.

Bellamy, thank you.

I enjoyed my bridge.

We're very honored, sir.

Hudson, the door.

The scene that
sticks out in my mind

is the king leaving and...

being addressed by the
doctor at the front door,

which I thought was
really very funny.

Oh, of course... this was
when Pauline had arrived,

expecting the baby.

She's expecting the baby.

Yeah, that's right.

You'd better take me straight
to the young woman's room

and ask someone to
fetch hot water, clean tow...

I'm so sorry about that, sir.

One of my servants
was taken ill,

and the doctor had to
be sent for in a hurry.

We do apologize, sir.

The fellow asked
me to accompany him

to some young woman's bedroom.

Who do you suppose
he thought I was?

Then they played against it
with Pauline coming in, Sarah,

and having...

And that, I thought,
was quite stunning,

quite very well directed
and very well done.

Would you rather not stay, Rose?

- I must stay, my lady.
- It may distress you.

I've got to learn.

She's all right.

And the baby?

It was a little boy.

Oh.

That's that.

I didn't think it was a
good idea necessarily

to have it going on when
the king came to dinner

'cause I thought that
was egging the pudding.

I think that was
one of those times

when it got melodramatic and
sentimental at the same time.

But I think I must be wrong

because that was a
very, very popular episode.

I got your note.

I couldn't get away
before. I'm sorry.

What is it, my love?

Tell me, what has happened?

Charles...

I can't go on with it.

Can't go on with it?

What do you mean? Why?

There's an
individual, Irish I think,

trying to wheedle
some money out of you.

What do you mean, Watkins?

A tradesman of some kind?

Uh, no, my lady,
um, an old soldier.

That... That's what he says.

He saw service in
India, so he says.

I'm sure you had a most
interesting conversation,

but I don't want
to hear about it.

Now, will you please take me
to the jewelers as I asked you?

My lady, this man has in
his possession some letters.

Letters?

Written by your good
self, I understand.

T-They are signed, so the
man claims, by your ladyship

and... and coming
from Eaton Place.

And to whom does he say
they are written, these letters?

To someone by the name of
Captain Hammond, my lady.

"Property of a
Lady" was, I thought,

a very interesting episode

because it was written
originally by Peter Wildeblood,

who was involved with
the Edward Montagu case

and all that business, which
most people remember.

And in fact, it was the first
attempt by Thomas Watkins

to blackmail Lady
Marjorie and Lord Bellamy.

How much is this man
asking for the letters?

£200.

Ah.

That's a great
deal of money, sir.

Well, if it's a question
of keeping her ladyship

in ignorance of such
a distasteful affair,

I'd gladly pay 10 times as much.

Peter Wildeblood was upset

because we made an enormous
number of changes to the plot,

which is quite complicated.

And he decided to
take his name off it,

was one of the people who
took his name off a script

and didn't want to have
his name connected with it.

I don't know why, oddly enough,

because it was an extremely
good script, and it worked very well.

November 23, 1972,

at half past 9:00
in the morning.

"The Wages of Sin"... yes, that
was a horrendous experience.

I remember we were all in
the studio on the recording day,

waiting to start.

And we were being held up.

And nobody knew why.

And we were just
kind of hanging around.

And then John Hawkesworth
called us all to the center around him.

There was a telephone there,

and I'd never really
looked at it before.

I think it was red.

And it was like that sort of
one on the prime minister's desk

and the White
House and all that.

I looked it.

Suddenly, it rang,
and we all did like this.

So, the P.A. or the director
or somebody said to me,

"Pick it up."

So I picked it up.

We got a phone call
in the control room

from somebody talking
on behalf of Chris Beeny,

who played Edward.

It happened to be an episode

which is a very
busy one for him.

And he'd had a terrible
accident on his motorbike

on the way to work,

and he was in hospital.

It was the day
of the rail strike.

And everyone decided to
take cars and everything.

I thought, "Well, there's...
I've got a motorbike.

I'll go to the stu..."
It was a Friday.

And I thought, "I'll go to the
studios on my motorbike."

And someone decided
I shouldn't be on it

and consequently took me off.

And I said, "How serious is it?"

And they said,

"Well, we aren't sure if
he'll live till lunchtime."

I can remember sort of coming
to, after having the impact,

lying on the ground with my
head rolled over on the right.

And I was wearing
my motorcycle outfit,

you know, with
boots and whatever.

And I can remember seeing
the underside of my shoe there,

and my foot was still in it.

And I thought, "This is gonna be

a bit more than a
couple of aspirins."

We decided that we would
rehearse all the scenes

that didn't involve Edward.

I was trying to tell him who I
was and where I was going.

And they thought I had
delusions of grandeur.

"Oh, yeah, yeah,
yeah. Calm down.

You're Fred from down the road."

"No, no, no, I'm
actually on my way to..."

And eventually, they
got things together

because my script was in
my pannier bag on the bike.

And they suddenly thought,
"Oh, yes, he actually is."

Of course, in the
meantime, in the studio,

they were walking
around, saying,

"Where the hell's he got to?"

So, immediate crisis conference,

and Freddy and Martin Case

and Stella Ashley
and the director

and myself got together.

And we decided...

It wasn't a terribly big part
for the footman in that episode.

We decided to make it a girl.

And John Hawkesworth went off,

got in touch with Martin Case,
who was the casting director,

and said, "You've
got to find someone

to take over from Chris Beeny.

We're going to write a new
character who's taken over

because he's gone on holiday.

This is all gonna have
to be put in the script,

and we're gonna do it now."

And they transferred my
part to a girl called Jane Carr.

But I was just
looking for Sarah.

Ah, there you are.

You're wanted over at the house.

- Who wants me?
- Well, Nanny wants you.

It's time for the baby's bath.

Sod Nanny.

And sod the baby.

Right you are.

I'll tell them.

She got to the studios
at about 11:00, 12:00.

They found a wig for her.

They found a costume for her.

Meanwhile, Freddy and
John were rewriting the script.

By 2:00, she was sitting
in the makeup chair

with the costume and the wig on.

They were doing her makeup.

And by about half
past 3:00 or 4:00,

we'd rehearsed all the
scenes without Edward,

she came into the studio,

and we winged
all the new scenes,

which John Hawkesworth
and Freddy had actually written

that morning.

She was absolutely wonderful.

I mean, the crew applauded her.

She was so professional

and just doing it like
that, off the, you know...

It was brilliant.

And they did it line
by line, shot by shot.

It was quite horrific.

I'm still suffering
here 30 years later,

but I'm alive and I'm
working, you know?

I've still got steel
plates in my legs.

We went home at 7:00, having
rehearsed them as best we could.

We had to make up the
shots as we went along

because it was
totally new material.

She learnt it overnight.

We did a dress run on
the Thursday morning.

Friday morning, she
was word-perfect,

and we did our
recording in the afternoon,

as though nothing had happened.

It was an extraordinary
feat of organization,

not only wonderful for the
actress to do that overnight,

to learn... It was
quite an extensive part.

She learned that overnight.

But the whole team... I
mean, bits had to be re-lit.

Bits had to be re-staged.

No one batted an eyelid.

We had to make the
shots up as we went along.

The cameraman wrote
them all down in longhand,

the vision mixer made notes,

we ran each scene
perhaps a couple of times,

and it went like clockwork.

I wouldn't have thought it would
have been possible, but it was.

I do owe my continuance in
the series to John Alderton,

who was fabulous.

I mean, they were
all for writing me out.

I mean, the way
they got rid of me

was Gordon Jackson going
in to Mr. Bellamy and saying...

Edward, as you know,
is away with his bad leg.

And that was it.

I was out of the series.

And they wanted to
write me out of the series.

And John Alderton said, "Hey,
just a minute, just a minute."

He was going to shoot number 12,

and there's only
number 13 to go.

Then we're shutting
down for six months

before we go on
to the next series,

and by that time,

we knew we were going
to do the next series.

And he said, "Just a minute.
You know, it's a long way off.

He can recoup
himself before then.

Don't, you know..."

And they didn't. And
I continued to do it.

Rose, take these
before I drop them all.

Very good, madam.

Any news of Edward?

Hospital said he broke
his leg in three places.

Oh, those kitchen
stairs are a deathtrap.

"A Family Gathering,"
and the idea was

that it was going to be
Lady Marjorie's birthday

and she decided to have a
few people to drinks and to talk.

And...

And they all
assembled in her house.

And it was during that gathering

that Thomas and Sarah suddenly
made this unexpected appearance.

He's exaggerating.

Hope you don't mind
us barging in, my lady,

but I just wanted to
wish you happy birthday.

I wonder what sort of
king the new one will be.

Worthy.

Not the same.

Jack Alexander said

the queen sent for Mrs.
Keppel this afternoon

to come over and sit with him.

1901 to 1910.

The children will have
a new date to learn

for their history examinations.

- I - rather liked the idea of

"The children will
have a new date to learn

for their lessons."

And also, I was very
keen to have a sort of thing

about "The children will
be all right. They're young,"

as though the young people,

which is the one generation

which is gonna get slaughtered
in the next World War,

were gonna be okay, as it were,

which was optimistic thinking,
you know, 'cause they weren't...

Far from safe, you know?

They were all
butchered at the front.

Are you coming in?
You'll catch cold out there.

It's all right, Father.

It's quite warm.

Leave the children.

They'll come to no harm.

They're young.

There was often talk about
an "Upstairs Downstairs" film.

I think the first
time it was mooted

was after the second series.

I did know of it and I did
actually write the script,

but I never heard
anyone talk about it

and it just sank without trace.

I thought there was
going to be a movie.

There was word there
was going to be a movie.

It was going to be
financed by America.

I think that's where they were
going to get the money from.

Therefore, they needed
a young girl, thing,

but she had to be American.

John put his list on his
lectern that he always had.

"Everybody, now,
please sit down.

Now, the following
will not be in the film."

It was cricket-11, you know?

For the household, it was.

So, instead of me being
part of the household,

they were going to get
somebody in from America

to be part of the household.

And I thought, "Well, if
you don't want me, I'm off."

Great shame because Nicola
was ravishing and just wonderful.

- She really was.
- Very, very good, too.

Yes. So beautiful.

Yes, I think a lot of
people were quite upset

they weren't going
to be in the film.

You can't imagine not
wanting to film her, can you?

Nothing really happened to it

because to have the core
of "Upstairs Downstairs"

would have been,
really, very difficult.

There would have
been too much in it.

It was the perfect idea
for a television series,

not for a film.

It wasn't set in
Eaton Place, no.

It was set in a country house.

And I think nobody
really took up on it

because it would have been
very difficult to squash it all,

to have all its
elements in 1 3/4 hours.

John and Pauline
wanted to leave.

And I thought, "Well,
they are pretty successful,

and they seem to
know what they're doing,

so maybe it's a good move."

I knew the Aldertons were
going to go 'cause they said,

"We want to go at the
end of the second series."

And I knew Nicola
Pagett was going to go,

but I was very shaken
when her agent said,

"I have to advise Nicola to go

'cause she's
gonna get typecast."

The most dramatic
thing that happened to it

was, um, that Rachel
Gurney as Lady Bellamy left,

because she was incredibly
important and very popular.

And I thought, you
know, one day she'll say...

And she did say, "Look, I think

about the end of
the second series

if that's all right"... Gave
me lots and lots of time.

And I said, "Well..." We'd
sort of worked out the stories...

"would you appear
in one, perhaps,

or two of a third series

so that we can dispose
of you gracefully?"

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