I was thus pleasantly surprised when a 359-page, large-format, hardbound review copy came thumping through my letterbox one morning. A few days solid reading later and, even though I run a web-site about the show and regard myself as reasonably clued up about Upstairs, Downstairs, I found my knowledge of the programme had (at least) increased three-fold since starting to read this work!

The book has seventeen chapters in all. The first two deal with the conception of the programme and the subsequent pre-production, and then each of the subsequent five televised seasons has a chapter to itself concerning the initial ideas and storylines for the season, followed by a chapter which looks at each season's episodes in detail. Given in the these chapters are all the details you'd expect to find, such as full cast lists, transmission dates (UK & US) and filming and recording dates. The text for each episode is very thorough and the sites of all the locations used for the programme's occasional excursions outside the studio are noted and there are extensive quotes from newspaper reviews of the time. Interspersed between these chapters, are chapters devoted to the involvements of key players: Jean Marsh (co-creator and Rose), Simon Williams (James), David Langton (Richard); John Hawkesworth and Freddy Shaughnessy (Producer and Script-editor, respectively); and the design team (sets, make-up and costumes). All these contain extensive biographical details.

A final chapter wraps up the book and looks at the proposed (and, occasionally, even realised!) spin-offs and documentaries about the series. This includes a quick look at the ill-fated US attempt at copying the show, Beacon Hill (and why it didn't quite work), and even details of a proposed Upstairs, Downstairs stage musical!

Finally, a set of appendices cover: a) the Thomas & Sarah sequel, b) the books and videos that have been released to tie-in with the series, and c) a 'curtain call' of all the stars of the show and key members of the crew. The latter will be of great interest to the many people who email me desiring to know what that stars of the original show are doing nowadays!

The book contains comments and interviews with just about everybody who has ever been involved with the show (including some who have sadly died during the writing of the book, such as David "Richard" Langton), and there is a great amount of insight into how the actors approached and tackled their roles. (I could quote endless "Did you knows...?" here, but why not get the book instead! All profits from this work go to the RNLI lifeboat charity, incidentally.)

This book has taken nine years of research by its author (Richard Marson, currently a producer on the long-running children's magazine programme Blue Peter) and, I can honestly say that, without exception, this is the most detailed single book ever published on the making of a TV show. Whilst it is, of course, absorbing for the Upstairs, Downstairs fan - especially on the programme's 30th anniversary! - it would also make an excellent reader for anybody interested in the world of TV production.

Steve Phillips (November 2000)

Click here to see the Foreword to the book
Click here to see the Contents of the book
Click here to see the title page of the book
Click here to see the people interviewed for the book

Click here for errata found since the hard-cover publication - all hopefully corrected in the soft-cover version now available