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Upstairs Downstairs - The Complete Fourth Series


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Upstairs Downstairs -The Complete Fourth Series
Review date: 2007-05-30 Rating: 10 out of 10

The fourth series of "Upstairs Downstairs" is considered the best series of all,in this classic period drama of life at 165 Eaton Place where the Bellamy family and their servants life.
The whole fourth series is set between World War One,1914-1918 and in the opening episode "A Patriotic Offering",the Bellamy family taken in a Belgian family,expecting a well off family to arrive,they are appalled when a group of Belgian peasents arrive complete with lice,maid Daisy(Jacqueling Tong") getting hysterical at this,as she thought she'd escaped such horrors when she left her family's slum.
The writing and acting is first rate,Simon Williams as James Bellamy,goes through so many changes,from disullisioned officer in "News from The Front" which ends with him being posted to a boring work office job and its his wife Hazel(Meg Wynn Owen)in "Tug Of War",who manages to get James sent back to his old regiment,her love for him so great,she knows he'd rather die fighting than seeing the war out safely.
Rose(Jean Marsh)is reunited with old love Gregory Wilmot(Keith Barron)in "Home Fires" after a lot of misunderstandings,they agree to marry after the war,only for Rose to get a letter,that Gregory has been killed in "The Glorious Dead" Jean Marsh's grief as Rose is heartbreaking.
Christopher Beeny excels in "Another Year" when Edward returns from the trenches,in deep trauma,he tells Richard Bellamy(David Langton)about the horrific death of his best friend Charlie,truely haunting and moving.
Georgina(Lesley-Anne Down)really grows up in this series when she sees a group of wounded soliders in "Women Shall Not Weep" and becomes a nurse,eventually ending in France,seeing the horrors of the injured young men,British and German and indeed,the missing James turns up in her ward in "Missing Presumed Dead".
Gordon Jackson is always excellent,his prejudice showing in "The Beastly Hun" when a totally inoccent German shopkeeper and his family are attacked by an angry mob,Hudson being so patriotic that he believes all the press write.
Angela Baddley's Mrs Bridges gives a moving account of losing her first love in "The Glorious Dead"as she tries to comfort a distraught Rose.
Hannah Gordon joins the cast in "Another Year" as Virginia Hamilton,as an attractive widow,who befriends Hazel,she later gets help from Richard when her young naval son is charged with being a coward in "Facing Fearful Odds",he is found guilty but just rebukked,he goes back to the navy and is killed.
Hazel catched Spanish flu and dies in "Peace Out Of Pain",a great performance by Meg Wynn Own but there was no where for the character left to go,as the war ends Richard is set to marry Virgnia,Hazel's death is just the start of things to go very wrong for James Bellamy,which all happens in season five.

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Reviews


evocative
Review date: 2007-02-10 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is an astonishingly evocative portrayal of life during World War I. The writers and directors interviewed WWI survivors in order to make the episodes as realistic and convincing as possible, and based on accounts I heard from elderly relatives when I was a child it seems that the period has been captured very well indeed. The episode whereby Georgina observes the hospital trains returning from France bearing wounded soldiers is very powerful, as are the scenes in which Christopher Beeny portrays a shell-shocked young soldier so very movingly. Daisy and Hazel suffer stoically at home as their husbands risk their lives abroad, an ageing and patriotic Hudson is desperate to do his bit, as is the simple Ruby, who courageously applies for a role in a munitions factory, despite the danger of being targeted by enemy bombs.

Series Four made me feel rather humble and in me it brought about a new respect for the people who lived through that challenging time. It also taught me a great deal about the history and politics of the period without being tedious or preachy - there are still funny interludes and interesting stories about the personal lives of the characters.

Worth it despite the blemishes
Review date: 2006-10-06 Rating: 6 out of 10

We should be grateful that these new versions of this wonderful classic series have come into being in the last 12 months, Stephen La Riviere has worked long and hard to create commentaries and an ongoing documentary(the fourth part of which is seen here)....It is a shame these new special editions of 'Updown" are marred by a couple of easily remedied mistakes. Firstly the doco, interesting as it is, is converted to 16:9 widescreen, fine for the interviews, hienously inappropriate for the older episodes which adapt very badly to the widescreen, looking blurred and often with heads removed from the actors.Secondly the video tapes themselves are no better and in some cases worse than the last issue of Updown on DVD, marred by grain in many instances (this is particularly evident in the episode "Peace out of Pain"),thirdly and probably the least forgiveable of the faults is the commentaries which are generally vacuous at best. They are reined in whenever a director or writer is on the commentary team, but once the actors have it all to themselves you would be amazed at the amount of woffle that comes forth. They clearly dont remember the episodes ,most of them have never seen them (a major mistake as all the actors should have been made to watch the episode prior to commenting)and they constantly get the plot lines wrong. Add to this the irritation of Jean Marsh featuring so strongly, who really doesnt take the whole exercise seriously and rabbits on with the most innane comments usually at important moments in the plot(we get the know all her political opinions and in fact her opinions on everything including the colour of the pot plants)This aside it is still better to have this series than not and the extras including wonderful archival interview with the late great Angela Baddeley makes the whole exercise worthwhile. (Though Jean Marsh in her 1974 interview is just as irritating as in the commentaries, revealing among other things she doesnt wear panties ----too much information!!!!)Bring on series five and lets hope it includes the interview specials filmed around the end of the series and the recent "After Upstairs Downstairs"special as one of the extras. Also lets hope someone has gagged Ms Marsh and we hear something from Lesley Ann Down, Hannah Gordon and Gareth Hunt
PS: What has Lesley Ann Down done to herself---her new glamorous under 30 look has completely transformed her facial features losing the charm and warmth she always had in her eyes???)

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Angela Baddeley
David Langton
Gordon Jackson
Lesley-Anne Down
Jean Marsh

Creators:
Gordon Jackson (Primary Contributor)
Angela Baddeley (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Network
Manufacturer: Network
EAN: 5027626249540
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 4
Format: Box set, PAL,
Release date: 2006-08-28
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 650 minutes
Language: English (Original Language)

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