Absolute best bet for clearing the couch rapidly and entirely of teenage boys and Italian husbands should you have a few lounging around at your place on a regular Sunday evening, is to schedule a night-in with Masterpiece Theater (or HBO's current, moody melodrama, Mildred Pierce - for that matter).
For some reason the fellas in my house are not big fans of the great British (or American) period drama. Unlike me, who watches little else on television these days. And if there isn't a Downton Abbey or Any Human Heart episode to slap on the calendar in red, I'm happily largely tv-free.
Flicking through the New York Times this weekend I did a double-take at a review of the upcoming airing of the BBC's new Upstairs Downstairs, a three-part extravaganza starting this Sunday, April 10th. Some 34-years ago, when I was just a youngster myself, the curtains closed at 165 Eaton Place, London home of the upper level Bellamy's of the most-loved, longest running Masterpiece Theater broadcast ever: "Upstairs, Downstairs".
Running some 55 episodes over 4 seasons in the U.S. the soap opera about the private lives and culture of the British upper-crust and the equally complex and colorful community living behind the scenes won seven Emmy Awards. Set during the First World War through the early 1930s, the series of 68 episodes, which ran in Britain from 1971 to 1975 was originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC.
The three-episode revival that takes viewers back to the same Edwardian townhouse - circa 1936 - some six fictional years after the first series ended.
Old house, new family. Lady Agnes and Sir Hallam Holland, a privileged and suitably posh young couple newly returned from diplomatic service in Washington. A sumptuous renovation of a "ghastly old mausoleum" makes for the sort of captivating, classic period drama sure to reel in a new generation of costume-piece watchers here in the States, as well as those who still fondly recall those Sunday nights in with the original cast.
The new three-part series raised the roof on viewing stats in the UK this past Christmas, with a reported sixth of the country's entire population tuning in.
Fortunately (and perhaps surprisingly) Yorkshire husband loves them, too. Eileen Atkins, who both directed (or wrote?) and starred in the original, returns as the Housekeeper in the new series, which was a nice touch.
Posted by: Lindsey | Tuesday, April 05, 2026 at 12:53 PM