Upstairs Downstairs BBC1 Sunday 9pm

ncmc

Can’t seem to find a thread about this, so thought I’d start a fresh one. Is anyone watching the new series of Upstairs Downstairs on BBC on Sunday nights? I enjoyed the three episodes shown over Christmas 2010, but I have to say that I think the new series is quite poor. It seems to be shot really strangely, the scenes change really quickly and it feels like there is an awful lot going on. None of the characters are at all likeable and they seem to be just parodies of themselves. Of course, it looks sumptuous and the set and costumes are stunning, but it just seems all style and no substance. I will continue to watch it and hope it improves as the war starts, but after two episodes I have to say it doesn’t have a patch on Downton Abbey.

iguana

I think it could have been better than it is as it seems to have been destroyed in post-production. Some scenes were really badly edited, one that sticks in my mind is the one in the first episode where Keeley Hawes' character fainted. One instant she's standing talking, the next she is in the footman's arms. Without there being any moment of actually fainting.

The thing that annoys me the most though is the music. It's all 'plinky, plinky, oh what whimsey, plinkety, plinky, plink. So many scenes are completely ruined by it. All the ordinary scenes of people doing ordinary things that should really be musicless are overpowered by it. Even some scenes that should have a little gravity to them have this music, rendering them emotionless.

I loved the 70s series of UD, it's smarter and warmer and much more real than either this series or Downton Abbey. But this current series borders on drivel.

Biggins

Watched the lot so far.

The first three out of interest and the new series in the last few weeks to see where it might go after that.

Verdict?

Short version. Its bad.

To repost what I stated for example in another thread (here):

I watched with interest "Upstairs Downstairs" from the BBC last night.
I had high hopes it would be of the high quality drama we oft times find on the BBC - sadly I was let down greatly.
The acting was standard fare, nothing exceptional, sometimes even stuffy to be honest.
The storylines while trying to stick to real history events, came across as slow and too drawn out. Frankly it was hard work sticking with the show. It was grey, dull and the characters held little interest. I ended up not caring what happened to most of them or interested in the hints of a possible back story.

The BBC can be better than this. The preceding show "Call The Midwife" had viewing figures of 8 Million - possibly near 10 million for its final part.
I cannot see in all honesty "Upstairs Downstairs" reaping such viewing numbers based on the quality and boring, numbness of last night first returning episode.

...And thats a shame. The BBC can do better when it really wants to!

I'm sticking with Downton Abbey!

After the first returning episode, nothing much has changed!

Biggins

Just a follow-up:

Is Upstairs Downstairs the daftest drama on TV? Jan Moir loved Downton, and adored Call the Midwife, but is left cold by BBC's big budget drama.

...No wonder that Sunday night’s show, only the second in the new series, lost almost a million viewers at the weekend.

...Yes, a handsome 5.8 million viewers did still tune in to see this latest episode of the highly anticipated remake of the classic Seventies drama series.
However, these numbers are a pretty poor result in the hallowed, traditional and hugely popular Sunday night period drama slot.

The Upstairs Downstairs team must have been hoping for the same upward trajectory that saw ITV’s Downton Abbey end its second series with an average audience of more than 9 million viewers per episode. And the last episode of the recent BBC One ratings hit Call The Midwife ended with 9.2 million viewers.
A series average of 8.7 million made it the most popular new drama series on the channel for over a decade, which is incredible.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2108502/Is-Upstairs-Downstairs-daftest-drama-TV-Jan-Moir-loved-Downton-adored-Call-Midwife-left-cold-BBCs-big-budget-drama.html#ixzz1nrxGKeXD[

ncmc

Biggins wrote: »

Just a follow-up:

Is Upstairs Downstairs the daftest drama on TV? Jan Moir loved Downton, and adored Call the Midwife, but is left cold by BBC's big budget drama.





Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2108502/Is-Upstairs-Downstairs-daftest-drama-TV-Jan-Moir-loved-Downton-adored-Call-Midwife-left-cold-BBCs-big-budget-drama.html#ixzz1nrxGKeXD[

I am not a fan of Jan Muir normally, but I think she has hit the nail on the head here. Especially this bit

Yet here she has come unstuck, sucked into a quagmire of dissociated scenes.
The new adaptation buckles under the weight of too many bolted-on historical set-pieces and the strain of attempting to be politically correct and a bit edgy in a less enlightened and more formal age. It lacks both warmth and heart, with characters and events included just to prove a point, not to move the drama on.