Upstairs, Downstairs
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50 free Upstairs, Downstairs trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Upstairs, Downstairs ran on ITV from 1971 to 1975 and became one of the most admired British dramas ever made. Across five series it follows one London household through nearly three decades of change, giving the servants in the basement as much attention as the wealthy family they work for. It won prizes on both sides of the Atlantic and left its mark on the costume dramas that came after it. This quiz is built around fun facts as much as plot. Some questions cover the Bellamys and their staff: the marriages, scandals, departures and losses that fans still remember. Others go behind the scenes, to the unlikely way the idea was first pitched, the casting near-misses, the production troubles of the early episodes, and the spin-offs, spoofs and revival that followed. It is written for viewers who grew up with the series, newer fans who found it through later period dramas, and anyone putting together a classic television quiz night. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so a wrong guess still teaches something.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Lady Marjorie Bellamy leaves Upstairs, Downstairs when she and her brother die in which real disaster?
The Titanic sinking
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.
Q 02In a Sesame Street spoof of Upstairs, Downstairs, which Muppet simply runs up and down a flight of stairs?
Grover
Grover does all the running in the 1978 sketch, which has Cookie Monster as its host.
Q 03Upstairs, Downstairs began as an idea called Behind the Green Baize Door, which was planned as what kind of show?
A comedy
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.
Q 04How did the makers of Upstairs, Downstairs turn a real Eaton Place house into number 165 for exterior shots?
Painted an extra 1
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.
Q 05Which later ITV hit about an aristocratic household did its executive producer say was inspired by Upstairs, Downstairs?
Downton Abbey
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.
Q 06Which former child star, Jane Banks in Mary Poppins, played housemaid Lily in the last series of Upstairs, Downstairs?
Karen Dotrice
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.
Q 07Which toys are the two families in a 2000s stop-motion children's series that borrowed the Upstairs, Downstairs name?
Teddy bears
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.
Q 08Why were the first six episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs shot in black and white, though planned for colour?
A technicians' strike
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.
Q 09Which actress, later Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, played Lady Persie in the 2010 revival of Upstairs Downstairs?
Claire Foy
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.
Q 10What happened to the first series of Upstairs, Downstairs before ITV aired it late on Sunday nights?
Shelved for nearly a year
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.
Q 11In which fashionable London district does 165 Eaton Place, the Bellamy family home in Upstairs, Downstairs, stand?
Belgravia
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.
Q 12Which actor from The Great Escape played Mr Hudson, the stern butler of 165 Eaton Place in Upstairs, Downstairs?
Gordon Jackson
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.
Q 13Which co-creator of Upstairs, Downstairs played head parlourmaid Rose Buck and returned as Rose in the 2010 revival?
Jean Marsh
Q 21Which co-creator of Upstairs, Downstairs missed playing a maid in it because she was on stage as Elizabeth I?
Eileen Atkins
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.
Q 22Which actress found fame as Richard Bellamy's ward Georgina Worsley before starring in the miniseries North and South?
Lesley-Anne Down
Lesley-Anne Down joined in the third series as the orphaned Georgina, who becomes a wartime nurse and ends the story as a marchioness.
Q 23Which actor played chauffeur Thomas Watkins opposite his real-life wife, then returned for the spin-off Thomas & Sarah?
John Alderton
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.
Q 14On which PBS anthology series, hosted by Alistair Cooke, did American viewers watch Upstairs, Downstairs?
Masterpiece Theatre
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.
Q 15Hazel Bellamy, wife of James in Upstairs, Downstairs, dies of what just as the First World War ends?
Spanish flu
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.
Q 16James Bellamy loses his fortune and Rose's savings in which real financial disaster late in Upstairs, Downstairs?
The Wall Street Crash
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.
Q 17Mr Hudson, the butler in Upstairs, Downstairs, comes from which country, a detail that ruled out Londoner George Cole?
Scotland
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.
Q 18Which actress played cheeky maid Sarah in Upstairs, Downstairs years before her Oscar nomination for Shirley Valentine?
Pauline Collins
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.
Q 19Which British king comes to dinner at 165 Eaton Place in the Upstairs, Downstairs episode Guest of Honour?
Edward VII
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.
Q 20The opening credits of each Upstairs, Downstairs episode featured a cartoon taken from which British magazine?
Punch
Punch cartoons opened every episode, with the title lettering drawn by graphic designer Terry Griffiths.
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.
Q 24When Sarah first applies for a job in Upstairs, Downstairs, which nationality does she falsely claim for her family?
French
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.
Q 25Elizabeth Bellamy is arrested in Upstairs, Downstairs after joining which movement's attack on a politician's home?
The suffragettes
The suffragettes land Elizabeth in a police cell until wealthy Armenian Julius Karekin bails her out. The two then become romantically involved.
Q 26In Upstairs, Downstairs, to which country is army officer James Bellamy posted while maid Sarah is expecting his child?
India
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.
Q 27What kind of business does wealthy Julius Karekin buy for Elizabeth Bellamy to manage in Upstairs, Downstairs?
A hat shop
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.
Q 28In Upstairs, Downstairs, what business do chauffeur Thomas and maid Sarah leave service to set up together?
A garage
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.
Q 29In Upstairs, Downstairs, where does kitchen maid Ruby go to work when she leaves service during the First World War?
A munitions factory
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.
Q 30In the last episode of Upstairs, Downstairs, newlyweds Hudson and Mrs Bridges go to run a boarding house in which town?
Hastings
Hastings is where the butler and the cook settle, taking kitchen maid Ruby with them. Ruby hopes to inherit the business one day.