Upstairs, Downstairs - Season Five
Upstairs, Downstairs
5.16 (68) Whither Shall I Wander?
Like Season Four, the fifth and final set of Upstairs, Downstairs episodes is very strong with few  negative points. It also marks the return to episodes that are more self-complete – Georgina's romance and marriage to Robert Stockbridge  being one of the few plots that bridges more than one episode.
Both Meg Wynn Owen and the show's creators had decided that Hazel had no place in the swinging 1920s and she  had been written out at the end of the last season. Replacing her as mistress of the house was Richard's new wife, Virginia, played  by Hannah Gordon.
The series spans the 12 years 1919-30 and was originally planned as a run of 13 episodes. London Weekend Television  pleaded with John Hawkesworth, the producer, to give them a further season (the sixth – taking the Bellamys into the 1930s) but he  declined. Households like 165 Eaton Place were fast dying out by the end of the 1920s and the apparent ages of most of the series'  characters were becoming extremely anachronistic by this point (for example, if Rose was supposed to be around 25 in the first episode  she would be over 50 in the last!) As a compromise, Hawkesworth agreed to add three more episodes to the original plans, making a  season of 16 episodes.
Although this season has its detractors, it is my personal favourite and there are some highly enjoyable episodes  here, such as: Wanted – a Good Home (a strict governess is employed at 165 to teach Alice); Disillusion (Mr Hudson  becomes romantically involved with one of the housemaids); and The Understudy (Hudson falls ill leading to rivalry between  Edward and Frederick). The "upstairs" episodes that concern Georgina and her friends are often slightly uncomfortable to watch as  the antics of immature members of the upper classes with too much time and too much money on their hands are as distasteful now as  then.
The episode Such A Lovely Man is probably the weakest of the 16 segments. The narrative shifts about  in time too much, and the usually reliable Robert Hardy plays his role of Sir Guy Paynter too quirkily. Noblesse Oblige is  also one of the less successful episodes – a largely throwaway affair with a tedious "upstairs" plot and a "downstairs" plot about  a troublesome maid that had been done several times before (e.g. A Cry for Help, Desirous of Change and various  segments featuring Sarah). There is a saving grace, though, in the form of Joan Sanderson, who turns in one of her usual excellent  performances as the harridan Mrs Waddilove, who gives Ruby an even harder time than Mrs Bridges!
The best set piece of the season is the emotional dinner-table argument between Edward and Hudson in A  Place in the World as Edward and Daisy return to Eaton Place after a disastrous attempt to fend for themselves in the outside  world. The sequence features some superb acting from Christopher Beeny and is a candidate for the best ever single scene in the entire  run of 68 episodes.
Also worthy of mention is the underrated Laugh a Little Louder Please – a dark little play about  an obsessive lover of Georgina who gives her a somewhat grisly ultimatum during a fancy-dress party.
The series ends its run with number 165 sold to pay off James' creditors. The final scenes of the last episode  have Rose wandering pensively around the empty building as she recalls some of the many events that have occurred in the house over  the years.
This final season once again won the programme an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. Additionally, Jacqueline  Tong was nominated for Outstanding Continuing Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
For a legend/key to the episode guide click here .
Factfiles have been added for each episode. These detail character backgrounds, continuity points, and bloopers.   Click on the
icon on the left of each episode's   entry. These include the original TV Times listing in each case (with thanks to Michael Baxter and Chris Herbert for helping to fill some gaps).
Grateful thanks are due to John Iodice – all of the synopses have been supplied by him and are used with   permission.
In addition to the listed writer/s, it should be assumed that the script editor, Alfred Shaughnessy, also   had story input into each episode to a greater or lesser extent. Shaughnessy's own scripts were edited by John Hawkesworth, the   producer. All episodes (except A Suitable Marriage) were storylined by Shaughnessy.
Episodes marked with a † are those omitted from the German run of episodes.
Names in square brackets are uncredited on the episode's on-screen titles. Extras and walk-ons are credited   where the information is available, but these details should not be considered exhaustive. Spellings of names in these cases is   sometimes uncertain!
All timings are from the UK DVDs of the show as released by Network – these will vary slightly on other releases   of the show (e.g. US DVDs). Timings are given as mm'ss". All the Factfiile notes are drawn from what was actually shown on the   screen – additional or contradictory material from the novelisations (etc.) is not included. To print a Factfile, press CTRL-P.
Any comments/additions, please email me (address in pink on the front page). Thanks to all those who have   contributed goofs and observations to the Factfiles.
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Three short stories for Woman magazine
For the three issues of Woman magazine starting February 15th 1975, script-editor Alfred Shaughnessy penned   a three-part story covering the period between the fourth and fifth seasons. This featured events not seen on screen, such as   Hazel's funeral, Edward and Daisy leaving Eaton Place, and Richard and Virginia's wedding. The story appears to have been untitled,   other than a generic Upstairs, Downstairs heading. (All three parts can be found on my Odds and ends page.)
Regular cast: Jacqueline Tong (Daisy), Angela Baddeley (Mrs Bridges), Christopher Beeny (Edward),  Gordon Jackson (Hudson), David Langton (Richard Bellamy), Jenny Tomasin (Ruby), Lesley-Anne Down (Georgina Worsley), Jean Marsh (Rose),  Simon Williams (James Bellamy), Gareth Hunt (Frederick), Hannah Gordon (Virginia Bellamy), Karen Dotrice (Lily), Joan Benham (Lady  Prudence Fairfax), Anne Yarker (Alice Hamilton), Anthony Andrews (Lord Robert/Marquis of Stockbridge), Madeleine Cannon (Lady Dolly  Hale), Raymond Huntley (Sir Geoffrey Dillon), Jonathan Seely (William Hamilton), Celia Bannerman (Diana Newbury), Shirley Cain (Miss  Treadwell), Ursula Howells (Duchess of Buckminster), John Quayle (Bunny Newbury)
On With the Dance