When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The best of the best but I can only give it a 9. I'd rate Upstairs Downstairs a 10 if not for the awful acting abilities of Meg Wynn Owen. I haven't seen any of her other work but her portrayal of Hazel is bewildering. I wonder if the character is supposed to be so odd in her halting speech and mannerisms.

I grew up watching 'Upstairs, Downstairs'. Even as a kid I always thought the show was entertaining and involving. I always really liked the character of 'Rose' the maid played by the extremely wonderful Jean Marsh. Some children growing up during the 70's watched 'Brady Bunch' or 'Starsky and Hutch', I saw those shows too, but the one that my brother and I really respected when we were kids was 'Upstairs, Downstairs'.Our father was educated in England so we have a lot of the English in us which is why I think two kids got so interested in it. My brother was always well read and liked the erudition. I think I always liked it because it always sort of made me think of 'Mary Poppins' which was my favorite film back then.My brother and I both had the chance to revisit 165 Eaton Place the other night for the first time in 30 years and were delighted to find that it was just as much fun as we remembered it. We even discovered a new character for us in 'Sarah' since we were too young when the show first started and never saw the first season.This was always one of my favorite shows growing up and is still one of my favorite shows today. Some might find it too English or dull, but I think it's a involving show with involving characters you grow to love. As far as I'm concerned 165 Eaton Place rocks the house!

My wife and I are just starting the fifth and last season. Last fall we started going through all the episodes on DVD in order. We do around 3 per week. I never saw the series in the 1970s, though I heard of it. Some time in the mid 80s the local PBS station in New York showed most of them in order, a couple per week. I was absolutely enthralled. It's been about 20 years so we decided to have another look.They absolutely stand up well. Better than well. I will emphatically repeat the judgment I made twenty years ago: this series is the finest thing that has ever been on television.Yes, I know, you can't compare "apples and oranges" like that. I suppose the single ONE best thing that's ever been on television (in the sense of a one day or briefer event) in my experience was the moon landing in July 1969. Still, in spite of that, all in all, if I had to pick, Upstairs-Downstairs is the best PROGRAM that has ever been on television. Far and away. If you are new to it, I envy you. I am already mourning the last episode, which I will see again in a few weeks at most. My only consolation is that in twenty years, I can watch it all again.

Probably the best TV series ever! For someone Anglophile like me it is the perfect time machine to enter a typical household of the Victorian/Edwardian era. Although it shows an "upper class" household, the focus is on the "downstairs" personnel. The problems and stories of the kitchen maidens, footmen etc are much more colorful and sympathetic than the actions of "her ladyship" and Lord Bellamy upstairs. Nevertheless absolutely all characters are designed thoroughly, sympathetic and authentic. Furthermore this series shows a sort of real "theater" which has left TV long time ago and will never appear again! Long close-ups which show the affection of every actor, long dialogs with full sentences and - long pauses between them to enable the actors and the viewer to reflect everything. In addition the fine set design, the costumes, the "funny stuff" around, for example an early - hand-crafted! - vacuum-cleaner! Another extraordinary fact is the combination of fictional characters with real history: Everything finds its way into the story, the death of Queen Victoria, the Titanic Disaster, WW I, the Spanish Influenza, Wall Street and so on. A period of nearly 30 years is described, and with the last episode you are crying, just because you wish to know how everything will continue... But, that was a lack of this absolutely brilliant series: The main characters hardly age during the decades! Butler Hudson and cook Mrs. Bridges for example are already "old people" in the first episode, playing 1901. In the last episode - 1929 - they have not changed in any way, they even plan to "start a new life", running a small guest-house. After having seen it in German TV, where several episodes are not shown, I bought the complete DVD edition and can only recommend this to everyone!