Upstairs, Downstairs

The second season of the hit British series continues the story of the Bellamy family and their servants in Edwardian London. The focus is on social upheaval and personal drama at 165 Eaton Place. While daughter Elizabeth's marriage to Lawrence Kirbridge threatens to fall apart, son James's turn to alcohol, gambling, and the housemaid Sarah causes problems. Lady Bellamy is also blackmailed with love letters to a fallen officer, while the visit of King Edward VII causes excitement throughout the house. In general, the second season also highlights the tensions between “upstairs” and “downstairs,” i.e., between the aristocratic family and their servants, against the backdrop of social changes around 1908. --- Elizabeth and her husband Lawrence Kirbridges return from their honeymoon in Austria and move into their first home in Greenwich. Rose accompanies the young couple to their new home, where Lawrence insists on hiring his own valet. The choice falls on Thomas Watkins. While he and Rose slowly settle into the household, the first cracks appear in the Kirbridges' new marriage...