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Upstairs Downstairs: Should the BBC have axed it?

Upstairs Downstairs: Should the BBC have axed it?

On Saturday it was reported that the BBC had decided to axe its period drama Upstairs Downstairs but did the corporation make the right decision?The BBC decided to revive Upstairs Downstairs – which originally ran on LWT/ITV in the 1970s – in 2010 with a three-part special over Christmas that introduced viewers to the new residents of 165 Eaton Place: the Holland family. Obviously the press were quick, and all too predictable, when they compared the series to ITV’s Downton Abbey and were quick to build up the impression the two shows were in competition with each other.

It is perhaps that notion of a rivalry and sense of competition between the two shows that damaged Upstairs Downstairs. Some viewers may have been put off by the mere fact they saw it, thanks to the press, as the BBC’s attempt at cashing in on Downton Abbey’s success. The two shows though are entirely different with the only similarity between them being the fact they cover the upstairs and downstairs lives of the characters – something Upstairs Downstairs did first in the 1970s.

The new Upstairs Downstairs was set in the late 1930s with the 2010 revival dealing with the abdication crisis of 1936 and the rise of fascism in the UK. The second series, which aired earlier this year, opened with the crisis in the Sudetenland in 1938 and closed with the declaration of war in 1939. The whole second series was about a household on the edge of war; the prospect of another war in Europe looming large over 165 Eaton Place.

There is no denying that ratings for the second series dropped across its six-part run. It also had a somewhat troubled production with Dame Eileen Atkins declining to return as the matriarch Lady Maud Holland while Jean Marsh suffered a stroke just before production began meaning she only appeared in two episodes. These two facts undeniably had a huge impact on the series with some older fans – of the original – perhaps put off by the absence of Jean Marsh. The addition to the cast of Alex Kingston, as the lesbian Dr. Blanche Mottershead, was a masterstroke and certainly shook up 165 Eaton Place.

As for the ratings while they may well have dropped across its run the BARB figures for each episode reveal they were significantly higher than the widely quoted overnight ratings. The final figures also reveal that the series rated higher than other drams on BBC One such as Casualty and Waterloo Road neither of which look likely to be cancelled any time soon.

So should the BBC have axed it, No. Upstairs Downstairs was a series with a rich heritage and the Second World War offered a wealth of dramatic opportunities for the drama to explore. The BBC should have had the courage and confidence to stick by Upstairs Downstairs and given it a third season.

Do you agree? Are you sad to see Upstairs Downstairs axed or do you believe the BBC made the right choice? Use the comments form, at the bottom of this page, to state your opinion.

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