Intriguing.

Blueghost

The post Victorian era in London and countryside are abound with adventure and intrigue. This series shows us the social dichotomy of those who owned homes and wealth, and those who served them. A variety of circumstances course through this show depicting an era without television, limited radio, biased newspapers, phones whose service shut off at regular hours, and other than trains and limited automobile use, horses were still the predominant mode of transportation.

Upstairs live the masters. Downstairs work (and live) the servants. The family are a traditional "posh" set with some money--more than average, though not ravishingly wealthy. Their servants are well behaved, reserved, obedient, loyal, and love the family they serve. The family themselves are respectable in nearly every way. Their code clashes with the loose morays of those outside the home, and social combatants engage in venomous and confrontational dialogue.

Apparently the DVD sets are going for $60  American. Well, "Upstairs Downstairs" isn't Star Trek nor Aliens, but seeing the trappings, hearing the dialogue, watching the mannerisms in old PAL video (a finer definition than American NTSC), and streaming it from an authorized website like Amazon or Acorn TV is well worth the low cost. The images are crisp. Much clearer than they could be seen when first broadcast, unless you were living next to a transmission tower.

Another perk of this show is that the actors aren't all pretty. They are real character actors. The performances they deliver past muster with flying colors, as they deliver lines that could only have been written by someone in an authority of the period.

Great Britain had a closed market system empire-wide, known as the Commonwealth, and this allowed for a circulatory fiduciary economy that was insular and protected. Even so fortunes are made and crushed with the stroke of a pen. And the idle rich have their own cruel games to keep them occupied. Another theme and challenge that confront the family Belamy.

I watched the first episode just to see what the series was all about. I actually had seen small portions of it back when it first aired many decades ago. With a better understanding of the world I found the series very engaging for what it was. We're not just seeing a successful family, but one with principal. One founded on the values of right and wrong, and how they deal with the challenges that batter their 19th century castle door (to coin a phrase).

To be honest, I got a little tired of it because it's not normally the kind of TV show that I'm used to liking and watching. But, if you like your entertainment refined, then this should prove worth while.

Enjoy.

score /10

Blueghost 29 December 2012

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2727440/