Yes, me too. I notice that his son Simon, directed Smiley's People! And of course 'James' was also a Simon. David is in many things and I even saw a young Lady Margery in Tom Brown's School Days, with Hermione Baddely, the twin sister of Mrs. Bridges, 20 years before UP/Down!:]
I’m Italian, when I saw the London Weekend logo on tv I knew I was in for a treat. I was a young girl and, even without knowing the cultural differences between USA and UK, British programmes were always my favourites. This one, together with Poldark, and Brideshead Revisited are among my favourites and some of the fondest memories of my childhood.
I had the pleasure of working with Russell on all his television programmes from the BBC in Manchester, as well as several outside broadcast locations, and have to say that he was one of the most kind and friendly people I've ever worked with during my career in UK broadcast television. RIP Russell x
Jean Marsh is always an absolute delight and she totally deserved all the success she enjoyed with Upstairs Downstairs and her wonderful career afterwards in film and on American TV. Re. Upstairs Downstairs, it was a terrible shame Rachel Gurney (Lady Marjorie) and Nicola Pagett (Elizabeth) chose to leave the show early on. They were both brilliant actresses and their characters were irreplaceable, as was Pauline Collins as Sarah.
Upstairs Downstairs was a great series. I miss it. Mr. Hudson and Mrs. Bridges always loved each other - you could see that in several episodes. For example, when Mr. Hudson had a heart attack. You could see how much Mr. Hudson meant to Mrs. Bridges.
What an extraordinary trip down memory lane. I was only a small child living in Mexico City when I first saw Upstairs Downstairs series. The show made a last In impression and changed me forever. Little did I know that I would have had the opportunity of living in the city where this program is based on. What a privilege!. Thank you LWT for creating this program and thus, preserving important details of this period in the history of this Great Nation
I adored the series, it was the very best and to my mind has never been surpassed. Jean Marsh was an early crush of mine i don't mind admitting. If only we made such great TV today. Alas.
Angela Baddeley was herself from a wealthy background. I'm sure I've read that she based her characterisation of Mrs Bridges on one of her own family's cooks.
This made my day! Christmas 1975! Shivers on my backbone. Amazing clip beyond words. I remember Edward been offscreen for a while and Rose explaining to Elizabeth he broke his leg by fallling from the servant stairs. Now we know what really happened to Christopher Beeny. Thank you for sharing. This is my Christmas present for 2021 😍
I have recently finished watching all 5 Series and this was a lovely bonus find. The programme is as old as me now and I just find it fascinating. Hate to speak ill of the dead but I didn't realise what an utter tool Russell Harty was. I also watched the interview Angela Baddeley mentions and in that too he is so passive aggressive and snide for no good reason. He also if you notice asks a question then cuts people off half way through the answer. The classic example of not listening, just waiting to speak. In his case, he doesn't even wait. Just an arrogant, rude idiot. I remember he himself died quite young, my parents going on about it at the time. Anyway, a lovely show and a lovely cast. Couldn't deal with all the smoking though. What a beautiful and beautifully spoken girl the actress who played Daisy was. Thanks for posting.
While back I took a job for a wealthy family and this show helped me knowing how to conduct myself. Painful servitude only lasted for 4 months. Job just was not for me.
This would have been absolutely stellar with anyone other than Harty doing the interviewing. Everybody has already covered what's not to like about him. I still enjoyed it, though... the actors are real class!
That's a fine overcoat he picks up from the hanger, must buy one this winter - elegant cut design, exquisite lapels and fine lining. Russell Harty. The 1st time i saw him here on the Tube was with the now famous Bowie satellite interview. Hope it's being studied at Journo facs (along with Grundy's Incident).
I remember reading comments about this when I was younger (I got into UpDown when I was a kid in the late 90s) and I saw people putting how this was awfully done…I find it very clever! Interviewing in character is fantastic! Plus as a northerner how clever this was!
If only, we have taken a path i fear we can never return from, very sad. The generations to come will never know what its like to actually not queue going into towns and cities, and to walk down the street in a town without constantly moving out of the way. Happy days.
Russell Harty was cringe worthy and totally the wrong interviewer. What a wonderful opportunity missed. He always had a sweaty upper lip as I recall. The series is being shown again on ITV3. I never get tired of watching it. Thank you Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins for your brilliant creation.
Love Upstairs Downstairs which first saw in the 1990's but never got Russell Harty, he always comes across as a bit snide, like when he draws attention to David Langton's slight pot belly or tells Raymond Huntley he has the look of a seedy headmaster. He's insulting the individuals not the characters they play.
yes Russell Harry could be a bit gossipy in his style and appear somewhat snobbish .....he was though pretty good at getting artists to be less guarded and intimate in conversation.
You’re quite right about Harty, he was so much about celebrating himself at the expense of his guests. No wonder Grace Jones battered him with her handbag!
@@malcolmjawohowelll2892 I did like the interview he did with Dirk Bogarde, mainly for Dirk Bogarde, fascinating look into his acting but also harrowing when Bogarde described entering a concentration camp when serving in WWII. A fascinating man, many say his film Victim was part of the movement that helped decriminalise homosexuality in UK. Now he's mostly forgotten, it seems?
I worked on all of Russell's weekday programmes from the BBC in Manchester, and he was one of THE most kind and genuine people I've ever had the pleasure and privilege of working with. R.I.P. Russell 💖 🥰 X X X
Rather confused by this! I sometimes found myself wondering if the questions were meant for the actors or the characters they were playing. It was a good idea to interview the whole cast (or most of them) but I think it would have been better to interview them all as their real selves. Just about all of them are sadly gone now so this is a good memento to a cast that was simply the best at playing these fascinating characters. I loved this series but missed an awful lot due to going out boozing with my mates, but all was not lost as I recently watched the whole series on youtube. One question would have loved to have asked is the one I would have asked Gordon Jackson. '' What is your absolute honest opinion of Hudson?'' I bet he hated him!
Totally agree. I’d love to have had the actors being themselves rather than their characters - which did come across as rather confused. Great nostalgia, though.
Watch Tom Brown's Schooldays 1951, and see a 30 year old un-aristocratic Rachel Gurney as at the mother of a dying boy, Wow, she had me in tears in less than two minutes!:]
Upstairs Downstairs started airing on PBS from January 1974. In regards to spin off, in 1975 just as the original version was ending, Jean was in discussion with American television producers to do a spin off with Hudson immigrating to the United States where he reunites with Rose. Other spin off ideas where also talked about, non of them came to anything. Instead the series was repeated a lot during the rest of the seventies in the UK, and later in the 80s on Channel 4.
I didn't like Russell Harty's top shelf remark which felt very snidey and creepy. The actors in this marvellous show were so magnificent and classy, all of them!
No, because it was great then and has stood the test of time today, all the tv companies seem to produce today is the like of Love Island and Britains got talent (which is clearly has not), the re-runs of the series are making money even today....... i doubt todays rubbish will be doing the same.
Russel hearty such an odious character, had no idea how to be civil and interview people, you can tell from the actors involved that the entire process for them was unpleasant and even the infamous interview with grace jones he ignored her like she was trash he was not a pleasant individual rather stuck on himself and yet he. Had nothing to justify the opinion he had of himself. His interviews are truly cringeworthy
2:00 a most unpleasant woman. In real life she bore well deserved ignominy when acting on stage she fell off straight into the orchestra pit. Very like intoxicated at the time.
Awful cringy and dreadful just go to the offical upstairs and downstairs web pages its really slated on there by the webmaster apparently Simon Williams hated doing it and so did Jean Marsh !
