Product reviewsUpstairs Downstairs - The Complete First Series (Box Set) (DVD, 2005)

Dvd upstairs and downstairs 1st series

Excellent service and great value would buy again terific tv series one of the best tv series ever a must for any bodys old school collection charles and mercy inverness Scotland

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: worldofbooks08

Stepping back into Britain's past ... and into mine as well ! Superb!

I live in France (I am French - aged 62).
I lived & worked in Croydon in the early 70s and used to watch the Upstairs Downstairs series (in black & white then).
I am delighted to be able to watch the first episodes of the series - which I had not seen back then.
I also realise that at my age I am much more aware of all the references to the social/cultural/historical/political development of Britain.
A good reminder too of the impressive improvement in the visual quality of images (we tend to take HD for granted).
A lot of viewing time (4 DVDs) for a very reasonable price.Read full review...

Upstairs and downstairs review

The dvds are for the most part in black and white only when I got to the third was it in colour which has ruined my watching experience

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: worldofbooks08

An Absolute Classic Drama Series!

This is a wonderful series,great stories and acting.An insight into bygone
Days.. I must confess I am a fan of classic 70s drama and during lockdown
I became ill and this series was a great comfort to me.Read full review...

Verified purchase:  Yes | Condition: pre-owned | Sold by: purer-9

Upstairs Downstairs DVD First series.

A classic that will be remembered forever.
The initial run seemed to lack direction and content, concentrating far too much on 'Downstairs', however the die was cast and with greatly improved picture quality from the old VHS tapes, gradually the first series takes shape.
The direction becomes snappier, the manners and niceities always remain.

A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining production that improves with age and becomes more involved in both the 'Upstairs and the Downstairs' world.

Tremendous production, well done.Read full review...

Upsatairs Down stairs

I decided to buy the Upstais Down stairs dvd.Because I so love it the fist time I watched it in the seventies I didnt miss one episode .I loved the history of times passed .The charectors .each one had its own story to tell from mrs Bridges and her wonderful cooking I always wanted to be invited to dinner her well intentioned interfearing ways.I loved her Mr Hudson what was there not to love about this very proud very honest man dedicated to the family he served .Lets not to forget upstairs to me this was the magic of this drama .One minuet we would be watching Rose (didnt she think she was a cut above )!!! bless her then Ruby poor Ruby not the brightest button in the box nor the prettiest. One. of the saddist yet sometimes her face was so earnest i wanted to cry .Then back upstairs with all the shinaikins of the Belamies what shocks we had there .James was a cad a real cad but he was their son and was looked after accordingly .I loved the scenes with Sarah and James Sarha,s interpretation of Marie Loyde were wonderful James was besotted I liked him a lot when he stood by Sarah and had his parents not sent him away they could have made it as a couple I loved the way Hudson and Mrs Bridges also Rose tried to protect Mrs Bellamy s Indescretion again I felt sorry for all parties the young man so in love Mrs Bellamy likewise every week every episode had me gripped to my chair I never missed one episode and in the seventies one couldnt watch a rerun nor could we tape an episode so I didnt go out on a Sunday evening nor did I welcome visitors .every episode told a complete story with something upstairs and downstairs just stirring to keep you on your toes for the next episode Every thing about this series had me gripped I could not say one week was better than the other .The costumes were superb the acting second to none The sets were just as one would imagine Victorian Englands gentry would live The kitchen was huge with its large table range for cooking that had to have its black leading .Hudsons butlers pantry it was all spot on well done the scene builders .I would have loved the Belamies sitting room oh her ladyships dresses beautiful .such a contrast to below stairs .As the story unfolds .we have the Bellamies haveing to give way to Edwardian England Emily Pankhursts influence on their daughter changing their way of thinking completly Their first grandson dying their second grandchild a bastard in fact both were bastards. Not an easy time for the Bellamys after all they had just entertain the King for dinner with mrs Kepple of course .The sharabang outing that ended in tragidy with poor Alice hanging herself .spurned by the servent of a very stuck up lady friend of her ladyship.The way they tried to buy off the parents of the child Mrs Bridges stole the way they stood by her was very moving Hudson offering to marry her .The Bellamies dissapionted they may have been but they wouldnt let her down after all mrs Bellamy had an important dinner to prepair It Upstairs and downstairs both had there strengths loves and loyalties .They all knew thiere places until Mistress Sarah had other ideas .Poor Mrs Bellamy going down with the Titanic that was a shock.Poor Sarah downstairs looses her child whilst up stairs the very priveliged Miss SarahRead full review...

glorious nostalgia trip

I was about eleven when Ustairs Downstairs first came round, and since there's so little I want to watch on the TV these days and we were yearning for a good Sunday night series, we decided we had to travel back to the Golden Age of television. It's no less powerful 35 years on. I hadn't remembered how strong the "issues" were -- women's rights, class barriers coming down, infidelity, baby-snatching, suicide, confidence tricks, German spies -- and that's just the first series. Even though it has a slightly dated flavour -- which is only entertaining, not troublesome -- this is still programme making at its best. It's beautifully acted, staged, written. You can't fault it. We were planning to spin the DVD out after Christmas until about March, watching one a week (there are 13 episodes), but we were so mesmerised we'd swallowed the lot by January 10th and are now gagging for the second series. And our children (10 and 12) were transfixed, too (though one of the episodes is a bit too heavy -- luckily they missed it -- the suicide of the lovelorn kitchen maid.) It's just as watchable today as it was in the 1970s, perhaps because the characters are all so powerful -- you really believe in it as a living, breathing household, and discuss their motivations and actions over dinner as if they're real people. And the bliss of it is that there are about 20 more episodes to go.Read full review...

Classic Series

Upstairs, Downstairs was the 1970s answer to the 1960s serialisation of The Forsyte Saga. Once again, we viewers were sent spinning back through time, arriving at 165 Eaton Place, home of the Bellamy family, in the early 20th Century. Lady Marjorie Bellamy was the daughter of an old, aristocratic English family. Her husband, Richard, a Member of Parliament, was of humbler origins.

Son James was a restless young man, who dallied with Sarah, the maid.

The Bellamys' daughter, Elizabeth, found herself embroiled in the seamier side of privileged early 20th Century life in England - getting caught up with the bohemian set and the suffragette movement.

Downstairs, the Bellamys' servants' hall was ruled by the Scots butler, Mr Hudson, and his friend and confidante, Mrs Bridges the cook.

With Sarah the new maid shocking folks above and below stairs, the tragedy of poor servant girl Emily, and Lady Marjorie's affair, life at 165 Eaton Place was never dull.

Viewers flocked to their screens and further series of Upstairs, Downstairs followed.

The writing, acting and attention to detail make this series a delight to see again. And again. And again.Read full review...

Upstairs Downstairs - The Complete First Series (DVD)

The series, first shown on television has been set to DVD with great viewing standards. The series itself was an all time great and I will be buying all the series now that I have viewed this edition.

Worth watching 10/10Read full review...

Classic British Drama

Upstairs Downstairs is a great british drama series, it hits all the right notes, when you sit down after a long busy day and want something to watch that doesn't have drug dealers killing each other, and endless speeding cars with screeching tyres.
So sit back with glass of something nice, and spend a couple of hours watching this great classic drama.Read full review...