50 Fun Facts About Upstairs, Downstairs

Lady Marjorie Bellamy leaves Upstairs, Downstairs when she and her brother die in which real disaster?

The Titanic sinking kills Lady Marjorie in 1912, yet her maid Miss Roberts survives and turns up at Eaton Place after being listed as missing. Actress Rachel Gurney left the cast after the second series.

In a Sesame Street spoof of Upstairs, Downstairs, which Muppet simply runs up and down a flight of stairs?

Grover does all the running in the 1978 sketch, which has Cookie Monster as its host.

Upstairs, Downstairs began as an idea called Behind the Green Baize Door, which was planned as what kind of show?

A comedy about two housemaids in a Victorian country house was the original pitch from two actress friends. The producers dropped the jokes and moved the story to a London townhouse.

How did the makers of Upstairs, Downstairs turn a real Eaton Place house into number 165 for exterior shots?

Painted an extra 1: that was the whole trick, since the exteriors were filmed at the real 65 Eaton Place. The interiors were recorded in television studios at Wembley and later on London's South Bank.

Which later ITV hit about an aristocratic household did its executive producer say was inspired by Upstairs, Downstairs?

Downton Abbey producer Gareth Neame acknowledged the debt in 2019. Both dramas follow a noble family and its servants through some of the same historical events.

Which former child star, Jane Banks in Mary Poppins, played housemaid Lily in the last series of Upstairs, Downstairs?

Karen Dotrice appeared in six episodes as Lily, the young maid the butler Hudson hopes to marry. She retired from show business in 1984 and was later named a Disney Legend.

Which toys are the two families in a 2000s stop-motion children's series that borrowed the Upstairs, Downstairs name?

Teddy bears make up both families in The Upstairs Downstairs Bears, a preschool series about sharing. Its creator, a collector, was reportedly inspired by a toy dressed as a maid.

Why were the first six episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs shot in black and white, though planned for colour?

A technicians' strike over payments for using the new equipment kept the colour cameras idle. When it ended the opening episode was remade in colour, and the original version is believed wiped.

Which actress, later Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, played Lady Persie in the 2010 revival of Upstairs Downstairs?

Claire Foy played Lady Persephone Towyn, the fiery debutante sister of the new mistress of 165 Eaton Place. The Crown later brought her a Golden Globe and two Emmys.

What happened to the first series of Upstairs, Downstairs before ITV aired it late on Sunday nights?

Shelved for nearly a year, the tapes sat in storage because the sales department saw no appeal in a period drama. Shown at 10:15 on Sunday nights with no promotion, the series still became a hit.

In which fashionable London district does 165 Eaton Place, the Bellamy family home in Upstairs, Downstairs, stand?

Belgravia is home to the real Eaton Place, and the fictional house is one of several properties owned by Lady Marjorie's father. The story follows the address from 1903 to 1930.

Which actor from The Great Escape played Mr Hudson, the stern butler of 165 Eaton Place in Upstairs, Downstairs?

Gordon Jackson won an Emmy as Hudson and appeared in 60 episodes. He went on to play CI5 chief George Cowley in the action series The Professionals.

Which co-creator of Upstairs, Downstairs played head parlourmaid Rose Buck and returned as Rose in the 2010 revival?

Jean Marsh won the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress as Rose. She was the only member of the original cast to come back for the revival.

On which PBS anthology series, hosted by Alistair Cooke, did American viewers watch Upstairs, Downstairs?

Masterpiece Theatre carried the Bellamys across the Atlantic, where the drama won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series three times. The showcase had launched on PBS in January 1971.

Hazel Bellamy, wife of James in Upstairs, Downstairs, dies of what just as the First World War ends?

Spanish flu takes Hazel in 1918, days before the war is over. Actress Meg Wynn Owen left the show at the end of that fourth series.

James Bellamy loses his fortune and Rose's savings in which real financial disaster late in Upstairs, Downstairs?

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 wipes out James, who had grown rich speculating in America. He had also invested the legacy that Rose's late fiancé left her.

Mr Hudson, the butler in Upstairs, Downstairs, comes from which country, a detail that ruled out Londoner George Cole?

Scotland is Hudson's homeland, and his family there includes a brother named Donald and a sister named Fiona. George Cole had been shortlisted before the producers decided a Londoner would not suit.

Which actress played cheeky maid Sarah in Upstairs, Downstairs years before her Oscar nomination for Shirley Valentine?

Pauline Collins got the part only because the actress first lined up for it was busy on stage. She also recorded Sarah's music hall song as a single in 1973.

Which British king comes to dinner at 165 Eaton Place in the Upstairs, Downstairs episode Guest of Honour?

Edward VII dines upstairs on the very evening the pregnant maid Sarah turns up below stairs. Script editor Alfred Shaughnessy drew on a real dinner at his childhood home, when the Prince of Wales was the guest.

The opening credits of each Upstairs, Downstairs episode featured a cartoon taken from which British magazine?

Punch cartoons opened every episode, with the title lettering drawn by graphic designer Terry Griffiths.

Which co-creator of Upstairs, Downstairs missed playing a maid in it because she was on stage as Elizabeth I?

Eileen Atkins was appearing in the play Vivat! Vivat Regina!, so the role of Sarah went elsewhere. She finally joined the story in the 2010 revival, playing Maud, Lady Holland.

Which actress found fame as Richard Bellamy's ward Georgina Worsley before starring in the miniseries North and South?

Lesley-Anne Down joined in the third series as the orphaned Georgina, who becomes a wartime nurse and ends the story as a marchioness.

Which actor played chauffeur Thomas Watkins opposite his real-life wife, then returned for the spin-off Thomas & Sarah?

John Alderton had married his co-star in 1969, and the pair also made the sitcom No, Honestly together. He later narrated and voiced every character in the original Fireman Sam.

When Sarah first applies for a job in Upstairs, Downstairs, which nationality does she falsely claim for her family?

French parentage is Sarah's invention: she calls herself Clémence Dumas and claims descent from Alexandre Dumas. She is soon exposed as English and unable to read.

Elizabeth Bellamy is arrested in Upstairs, Downstairs after joining which movement's attack on a politician's home?

The suffragettes land Elizabeth in a police cell until wealthy Armenian Julius Karekin bails her out. The two then become romantically involved.

In Upstairs, Downstairs, to which country is army officer James Bellamy posted while maid Sarah is expecting his child?

India keeps James out of the way of the scandal, and he comes home in 1910 with a fiancée named Phyllis. He soon breaks off the engagement.

What kind of business does wealthy Julius Karekin buy for Elizabeth Bellamy to manage in Upstairs, Downstairs?

A hat shop in Mayfair's Brook Street is Karekin's gift, though he is using Elizabeth to reach her father's political circle. He also buys the lease of 165 Eaton Place.

In Upstairs, Downstairs, what business do chauffeur Thomas and maid Sarah leave service to set up together?

A garage is the plan when Richard Bellamy hands Thomas £500 to start his own business, and the couple leave Eaton Place. The spin-off Thomas & Sarah picks up their story.

In Upstairs, Downstairs, where does kitchen maid Ruby go to work when she leaves service during the First World War?

A munitions factory at Silvertown employs Ruby until it is destroyed in the real Silvertown explosion. She then returns to the kitchen at Eaton Place.

In the last episode of Upstairs, Downstairs, newlyweds Hudson and Mrs Bridges go to run a boarding house in which town?

Hastings is where the butler and the cook settle, taking kitchen maid Ruby with them. Ruby hopes to inherit the business one day.

Which Kent seaside town do the Upstairs, Downstairs servants visit on a day out as war breaks out in 1914?

Herne Bay hosts the staff outing in The Sudden Storm, the last episode of the third series. The fun stops when news of the coming war is announced from the stage.

In Upstairs, Downstairs, which patriotic song does Hudson sing on stage when war news interrupts the servants' holiday?

Rule, Britannia replaces the turn Hudson had been persuaded to give on a vaudeville stage. Back in London, the staff gather to mark the hour Britain goes to war.

Rose meets sheep-farmer fiancé Gregory Wilmot in Upstairs, Downstairs when he sits on what she is carrying on a tram?

A plum cake gets squashed, and within a week Rose agrees to follow Gregory to Australia. She changes her mind at the last minute and stays at Eaton Place.

Georgina Worsley accidentally kills a man with Richard's car in Upstairs, Downstairs while taking part in what?

A scavenger hunt with her Bright Young Things set ends in tragedy, and most of her friends desert her at the inquest. Lord Robert Stockbridge stands by her, and the two fall in love.

In Upstairs, Downstairs, what is German baron Klaus von Rimmer really after when he courts Elizabeth Bellamy?

Naval secrets from her father, a junior minister at the Admiralty, are the baron's true aim. He flees Eaton Place before the police arrive.

In Upstairs, Downstairs, what crime does a grief-stricken Mrs Bridges commit after the death of kitchen maid Emily?

Stealing a baby from its pram is how her remorse shows itself, and she hides the infant in her room. She escapes jail only after Hudson promises to marry her one day.

Hazel Forrest first arrives at 165 Eaton Place in Upstairs, Downstairs to do what job for Richard Bellamy?

Secretary to Richard is Hazel's post: she is hired to type his biography of his late father-in-law. She goes on to marry his son James and become mistress of the house.

Richard Bellamy of Upstairs, Downstairs sits in Parliament for which party, the party of his aristocratic father-in-law?

The Conservatives count Richard among their MPs, though his own ethics often clash with the party line. Early on he becomes a junior minister, Civil Lord of the Admiralty.

Richard Bellamy marries an earl's daughter in Upstairs, Downstairs, but what was his own father's profession?

A parson in the Norfolk village of Burnham Trenton raised Richard, who won a scholarship to Oxford before marrying into wealth.

Lady Marjorie Bellamy of Upstairs, Downstairs is the daughter of which earl, whose family owns 165 Eaton Place?

Southwold is the earldom of Lady Marjorie's father, and her brother Hugo later inherits the title. When the old earl dies in 1909, the Bellamys are forced to sell the lease on their home.

Which future Brideshead Revisited star played Lord Stockbridge, who weds Georgina in Upstairs, Downstairs?

Anthony Andrews played the young marquess some years before his celebrated turn as Lord Sebastian Flyte. His character's parents send him round the world to test his feelings for Georgina.

Which actress played cook Mrs Bridges in Upstairs, Downstairs, basing her on a cook her own wealthy family had employed?

Angela Baddeley had made her stage debut at the age of eight, back in 1912. She died in 1976, shortly after the series ended, which halted a planned spin-off about the Hudsons' boarding house.

Which actor played troubled heir James Bellamy in Upstairs, Downstairs and later Sir Charles Merrick in Holby City?

Simon Williams appeared in 37 episodes as James, making his debut in the episode Board Wages. He later played Charles Cartwright in the sitcom Don't Wait Up.

Which Goldfinger actress was shortlisted for Lady Marjorie in Upstairs, Downstairs before Rachel Gurney got the part?

Honor Blackman, who had been Cathy Gale in The Avengers, made the shortlist. The role went to Rachel Gurney, who stayed for the first two series.

Which novelist, author of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, wrote the very first episode of Upstairs, Downstairs?

Fay Weldon won a Writers' Guild prize for that opening script, On Trial, in which Sarah is taken on at 165 Eaton Place.

Which channel revived Upstairs Downstairs in 2010, although the original series had been made for its rival ITV?

BBC One showed the three-part revival on consecutive nights at Christmas 2010. Written by Heidi Thomas, it picks up the story of the house in 1936.

Which hotel drama about a celebrated cook was created by Upstairs, Downstairs producer John Hawkesworth?

The Duchess of Duke Street follows Louisa Trotter, loosely based on real hotelier Rosa Lewis. Its theme music came from Alexander Faris, who also wrote the Bellamys' theme.

Which short-lived 1975 CBS drama was an Americanized Upstairs, Downstairs about a rich family and its Irish servants?

Beacon Hill opened to an impressive audience but was cancelled after eleven weeks. Its executive producer, Beryl Vertue, had helped sell the British original to London Weekend Television.

Jack Webb proposed an Upstairs, Downstairs spin-off with Rose and Hudson running what kind of business in Los Angeles?

An employment agency in Los Angeles was Webb's pitch for the two stars, but it was never made. The only spin-off to reach the screen was Thomas & Sarah in 1979.

Which 1990s drama about two dressmaking sisters came from the same two actresses who devised Upstairs, Downstairs?

The House of Eliott follows Beatrice and Evangeline Eliott from near destitution to their own couture business in 1920s London.