Upstairs Downstairs

- Season 2

(2012)

1938: Lady Maude has died and Pamela has come to live at Eaton Place, as has Blanche Mottershead, Maude's half-sister, an archaeologist, who came for the funeral and seems likely to stay indefinitely. Nursemaid Beryl is employed to help Lady Agnes with her new baby. The household prepares for another war in the wake of Chamberlain's seemingly futile talks with Hitler. Pritchard is in his element as an air raid warden, but falls foul of Great War widow Mrs Thackeray and Mr Amanjit when they learn from police sergeant Ashworth that the butler was a conscientious ...

After being told it is dangerous for her to have more children, Lady Agnes joins her husband in entertaining American ambassador Kennedy and his family, along with charming Jewish self-made millionaire, Caspar Landry. Pritchard's pomposity forces Mrs Thackeray to resign and move in with relations, though they are unappreciative of her excessive cuisine, and she returns to Eaton Place. Mr Amanjit and Blanche combine to help in the organization of rescuing Jewish children from Germany, whilst Lady Persie, having seen its brutality first hand, ends her flirtation with ...

Blanche is discomforted when married authoress Portia Alresford publishes a spicy best seller, 'The Golden Blaze', a thinly disguised account of their lesbian affair. Their true identities are exposed in the press, angering Sir Hallam and dividing staff opinion. And, whilst Portia wants the affair to resume, Blanche knows that this can never be. Lady Agnes, keen to assume more child care duties, annoys Beryl by switching her job to housemaid, giving both her and kitchen maid Eunice more work to do. Beryl goes to a staff agency, the Girls' Friendly Society, whose Miss ...

After Caspar Landry turns up to her charity lunch Lady Agnes visits his factory, and, when the hired mannequin fails to show, ends up modelling his stockings for an advertising campaign, to the annoyance of Sir Hallam. To impress Beryl, Harry enters the Belgravia servants boxing competition. However, the organizer is more taken by young Johnny's fighting skills, and the boy progresses to the amateur welterweight finals, but walks out after the promoter makes a pass at him. Harry takes his place and wins the title and the admiration of Beryl. Hallam brawls with Landry,...

With war inevitable and her marriage in ruins, Lady Agnes takes her children to the countryside, leaving her husband to carry on with her sister, in an affair which soon becomes noticed downstairs. Harry and Beryl get engaged and plan to emigrate to America, though Beryl almost backs out when she learns of her boyfriend's fling with Persie. Harry blackmails Sir Hallam into giving him the money for the passage in return for keeping quiet about his affair with Persie. Pritchard forms a romance with lady's-maid Violet Whisset when they are chosen to organize the annual ...

Suspecting Persie of passing on information to the Germans, Sir Hallam ends their affair and joins his wife in trying to sober up Pritchard, who soon afterwards goes missing. Rose tells Johnnie that the butler is a reformed alcoholic who is clearly ashamed of his lapse. Casper visits Lady Agnes to tell her he is returning to the States, by which time Sir Hallam is aware of Persie's treachery, just as Lady Agnes is of the affair. With nobody to support her, Persie kills herself before she can be arrested. Beryl and Harry get married, planning to emigrate to America, ...