Blog: Upstairs Downstairs Series II Continues On PBS This Week

My bad....I was a little late in getting the word out for this one, but don't fret because if you missed the first episode it's likely to be repeated on another PBS station. Or check the pbs.org website for info on how to watch an episode online. Or.... there's always an informative re-cap with each week's episode. And if you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, it's the PBS' Upstairs Downstairs Series 2. 

If you were a fan of the highly successful first season, then you'll be delighted to know that you were not left in the lurch. Series 2 provides a compelling follow-up to the goings on at Eaton Place. The series runs six weeks (Sunday evenings)  and will put you in the right frame of mind for another British period-piece series, the highly anticipated Downton Abbey Season 3, which premieres in January 2013.   Here's where we left off in Upstairs Downstairs....

In the year before WWII, 165 Eaton Place reopens its doors and welcomes viewers back into the lives of its inhabitants, upstairs and down. Lady Agnes and Sir Hallam’s family is now complete with the addition of two small children, but Sir Hallam is drawn into dangerous waters by his preoccupation with the threat of Nazi Germany and the return of troubled Lady Persie. Lady Agnes catches the eye of charismatic American multi-millionaire Casper Landry, and Sir Hallam’s aunt, Dr. Blanche Mottershead, has made herself comfortable in the house after Lady Maud’s death. Meanwhile, life downstairs adjusts to the absence of Rose and the addition of the spirited new nursery maid, Beryl.

With upstairs and downstairs harboring life-changing secrets, and the menace of war creeping ever closer, the smooth running of Eaton Place threatens to come to a halt.

Keeley Hawes (Wives and Daughters), Ed Stoppard (Zen), and Claire Foy (Little Dorrit) return for Season 2, with guest stars Alex Kingston (ER) and Emilia Fox (David Copperfield).

Sandi Berg is also a freelance journalist and writes about television for several magazines including Written By (Writer's Guild of America), Life After 50 and Whole Life Times Magazine.