Keep it up Downstairs comes to DVD

With the success of Downton Abbey for ITV it isn’t surprising the spoof of 1970s period drama Upstairs Downstairs is coming to DVD. Keep it up Downstairs is described as a saucy comedy, starring Diana Dors (pictured).

Keep it up Downstairs is a bawdy British period romp in the classic seventies “sex comedy” mould,however unlike most of the others it cashes-in on LWT’s hugely successful period drama Upstairs Downstairs, which revolved around the staff and owners of a London townhouse.

Unlike the television series this lampooning of Up-Down sees a host of stars shedding their Edwardian costumes to save the family silver – including Diana Dors, sex superstar Mary Millington, Willie Rushton, Françoise Pascal, Aimi Macdonald and erstwhile Artful Dodger, Jack Wild.

Keep It Up Downstairs is being released by the archive specialists NetworkDVD in a brand-new transfer from original film elements in its as-exhibited theatrical aspect ratio.

“The year is 1904; the setting is Cockshute Towers, one of England’s stateliest homes. When the household is threatened with bankruptcy, both the masters and the servants are prepared to co-operate in trying to find some cash – after all, most of them are enjoying liaisons of one kind or another among themselves, and none have any desire to give up their rewarding way of life…” – Network.

Special features include a photo gallery, press booklet and the original theatrical trailer.

Keep it up Downstairs is written by Hazel Adair who is best known for her work on British soap operas. She began her career as an actress in a couple of movies before becoming a scriptwriter. A couple of programmes provded successful, including working alongside fellow writer Peter Ling on the BBC’s radio saga Mrs Dales Diary.

Adair and Ling went on to create twice weekly soap Compact for BBC TV and the UK’s first half-hour daily saga Crossroads for ATV. Also for ATV she was one of the original writers on ITV’s first medical drama, Emergency Ward 10, where she wrote the first black and white kiss on world television, the first main black actor and first unmarried mother in a soap in Compact, and the first black family to be included in the regular cast of a British soap in Crossroads.

Keep it up Downstairs‘ release date is yet to be announced.

[Reported by Mike Watkins]