A 23 minute film in which Simon Williams, who played James Bellamy, and Alfred Shaughnessy, a key writer on the series, discuss the background and key episodes of 'Upstairs, Downstairs'.
Shaughnessy shares his memories about writing the series, and Williams is an interested observer as well as participants. This was Shaughnessy's final appearance before his death in 2005, and it is a joy to watch the two of them poring over still photographs from the series, talk about where characters and episode guides came from, and reflect on the popularity of the series.
It's also interesting to hear Williams talk about his experiences of playing the character and story lines as written in the scripts of Shaughnessy and others - you rarely get to hear an actor's perspective in such depth, or, indeed, to see the focus so squarely on the writing of a series, rather than its direction.
Required viewing for Updown fans.
Shaughnessy shares his memories about writing the series, and Williams is an interested observer as well as participants. This was Shaughnessy's final appearance before his death in 2005, and it is a joy to watch the two of them poring over still photographs from the series, talk about where characters and episode guides came from, and reflect on the popularity of the series.
It's also interesting to hear Williams talk about his experiences of playing the character and story lines as written in the scripts of Shaughnessy and others - you rarely get to hear an actor's perspective in such depth, or, indeed, to see the focus so squarely on the writing of a series, rather than its direction.
Required viewing for Updown fans.