Upstairs, Downstairs
On Trial
TV Flash files “On Trial” as a desk essential hour — Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975) on ITV / PBS, season 1, episode 1, aired 1971-10-10, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E01: listed hour 1 of 68 in the Upstairs, Downstairs guide, first listed hour of season 1. It aired 1971-10-10 (60 min). No earlier hour is listed in this guide. Next is “The Mistress and the Maids” (S01E02).
Essential hour: “On Trial”. On Trial opens the split frame. Edwardian masters above, servants with plot power below: Masterpiece Theatre's great ambassador, class as dual protagonist from the first hearing.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
On a crisp autumn morning in 1903, a young woman seeks employment in a fashionable London townhouse.
Viewer FAQ
Where does On Trial sit in the Upstairs, Downstairs guide?
S01E01 is listed hour 1 of 68 — first listed hour of season 1, season 1 episode 1.
When did Upstairs, Downstairs S01E01 air?
On Trial aired 1971-10-10 and is listed at 60 minutes.
ITV original or the PBS Masterpiece run?
Same British series; the U.S. life is PBS Masterpiece Theatre. Either label, the Bellamy townhouse is the show.
In the series
Why this series still plays
The Bellamy townhouse splits the frame: Edwardian masters above, servants with plot power below. Masterpiece Theatre's great ambassador, long before country-house soaps became a streaming habit. Class as dual protagonist, and the below-stairs breakouts that wrecked viewers more than drawing-room manners ever could.
Picture a London townhouse that had to be converted for American living rooms. 1903 to 1930, the Bellamy family and their servants navigating wars, scandals, and the slow collapse of the old order — Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975), created by Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins for ITV, then a massive U.S. hit via PBS Masterpiece Theatre. Gordon Jackson's Hudson, Marsh's Rose Buck, David Langton's Richard Bellamy, Angela Baddeley's Mrs. Bridges, Pauline Collins's Sarah. Edwardian masters above, servants with plot power…
Filed against
- Gordon Jackson as Angus Hudson
Gordon Jackson's Angus Hudson ran the downstairs of Upstairs, Downstairs — Edwardian masters above, servants with plot power below, Masterpiece Theatre's great ambassador. Class as dual protagonist. TV Flash files him as 1970s townhouse…
- Jean Marsh as Rose Buck
Jean Marsh’s Rose Buck gave Upstairs, Downstairs its below-stairs pulse — Bellamy townhouse, Edwardian masters above, servants with plot power below. Masterpiece Theatre’s great ambassador, class as dual protagonist. TV Flash files her as…
- David Langton as Richard Bellamy
David Langton’s Richard Bellamy held Upstairs, Downstairs from the Edwardian landing — masters above, servants with plot power below, Masterpiece Theatre’s great ambassador long before country-house soaps became a streaming habit. Class…
- Angela Baddeley as Mrs. Bridges
Angela Baddeley’s Mrs. Bridges ran Upstairs, Downstairs from the kitchen — Edwardian masters above, servants with plot power below, Masterpiece Theatre’s great ambassador long before country-house soaps became a streaming habit. Class as…
- Pauline Collins as Sarah Moffat
Pauline Collins played Sarah Moffat on Upstairs, Downstairs, the 1970s Bellamy townhouse that split the frame — Edwardian masters above, servants with plot power below. Masterpiece Theatre’s great ambassador, long before country-house…