That woman has Problems. A three-month vacation in a country house gives her the vapors? Please. If I didn’t care to needlepoint or make hair jewelry, I’d be perfectly happy horseback riding, gardening, or chasing the naughty stableboy around.
I wonder why M’lady thought her younger son was going to inherit the house? Is she already planning for her elder son to be killed at Ypres?
—Lady Prudence Fairfax
It’s official. I hate the Lord and Lady of the house and I want the servants to murder them in their sleep.
I hope the show follows them all home in the last episode. I know all the servants will be like "Yay! It’s the 21st century again and I have value as a human being!’ and the Lord and Lady of the house will be like “Umm, I need to have my bum wipped! Hello?”.
I wonder if the tutor is a mute?
Miss Anson’s bio on the PBS site says that IRL she’s a self-employed marketing consultant and used to be a lecturer in microbiology, so it’s understandable that she would be less than delighted to have to spend her days riding her bicycle and reading.
Let me give one more plug to the PBS site and say that if you go to the main page (link) and click on the first link in the pop-up window that appears, you’ll get to read an interesting interview with Lady Anna and Mr. Edgar regarding their experiences.
Someone here had asked why Mr. Edgar wears two pairs of glasses at once – he says in the interview,
Maybe period bifocals weren’t provided for him by the production?
One more thing – did you catch the narrator saying that the gentry disliked the term “weekend” because it implied that they worked during the week? The 33% of me that’s not snob was aghast at the arrogance.
On preview: Zebra, according to the post-production interview with Lady Anna, it took her 18 months to adjust to modern life after her return!
Hello again.
The Charity bazzar was a winner. The servants getting to see family, the booths of goodies, the Socialists,seeing Sir Uppity-Crust squrim. What fun. It was pretty smart of the Master to allow the Servants thier families and thier chance to shine. In my mind that went from an event ment to make the master look good to the chance for the Servants to show thier stuff.
Were I Miss A. I sure would have been pestering the shit out of the producers for something right and proper for a single Lady to do. Where’s the Opera and the Burlesque house? Where’s the swimming facilities? Are there no more Nickelodians in London? Granted, these things may not be properly Edwardian, but everyone knows there’s always been ‘cracked’ relitives. To hell with proper Edwardian, let’s go for possible.
I want an I Love Mr.Edgar T-Shirt. The guy is fantastic. I don’t believe that any single person there is working harder then our poor Edgar. This is getting to him a bit, and he’s getting a bit compainy, but still much less whinney than everyone else there.If the pig head was appurpose, it was a right and proper slam on Sir Uppity-Crust. Frikkin’ beautiful.
There ain’t something right about that Chef. He looks as if he’s Harry Potter given into the Dark Arts. No doubt, by his temprament he is Classicly French trained. Evrey image of what could be wrong with a Chef seems to fit right on that guy. Though I have to give him a “Huzzah” for not giving into Sir Uppity-Crusts’ request for a more modern diet.Let them think about thier choices/experience whilst they sit there.
Chef gets sick next episode. I hope Antonias skills are up to it.
Let’s see some more of that Horseman…That Tutor is a hottie too.
The little romance has got to go. It’s a damn shame too, as one of the Servants said (I believe it was Antonia) that the Girl is good in the kitchen and actually didn’t mind the demeaning work. The fellow, as expected, didn’t use his brains, but his head instead when Mr. Edgar told him the trouble that could result from thier affair. If they were discreet however… Who wants to bet one or both of them gets sacked before this is over?
Watching this show has given me the opportunity to hear everyday usage of The Queen’s English. IMO, We here in the States are utter clutzes with our words. Sometimes even the brash speech of the Servants seemed as street level poetry. ringringring
Unfortunately, they are out in the Middle of Nowhere, not anywhere near London or any other large town. Those country weekends were notoriously dull—bring a book or a bed partner with you!
Anyone else suspect the part of the chef is being played by Rowan Atkinson?
Good thought: If Sir Smug doesn’t show some sympathy, he won’t get help from any self-respecting clerk after this show is over.
With Miss Anson, in social events & terms of precedence, she’s bringing up the rear. She may also have to defer to her sister & brother in law in polite conversation as well.
Not much to do about that except to decide not to let it get to you. But there were definite social mores in place that contributed to her feelings of suppression.
Anyone else find it odd that the Lord was all squeamy about eating the pig “whilst the beast stared him down,” but then went out and shot a bunch of birds? The difference here is what?
I was in and out last night due to mom responsibilities to the cherubs so I missed the garden party. What I saw was Sir whoever telling the lower servants they couldn’t visit with their family because they misbehaved in town or something. Did he relent and let them see their family? I must say I thought he was a major prick about their supposed misbehavior.
KinSaba, after complaining, the lower staff got a half day off. M’Lady was given a tour of the kitchen by Chef and realized how overworked everyone was. Edgar was chided by M’Lord for not bringing this to his attention, and Edgar (rightly so, I thought) said he couldn’t bring every moan to M’Lord’s attention.
M’Lady authorized the hiring of a scullery maid and one more maid. The lower staff went out to dinner and apparently had a grand old public time, a big no-no in Edwardian times. M’Lady’s maid heard about it and told M’Lady, hence the dressing down by M’Lord and the punishment of not bringing in their families, although the upper servants would be able to see their families. Antonia tried to speak to M’Lord after it was over, and M’Lord told her to address her concerns with Edgar, that it was inappropriate for her to speak to him directly.
The younger staff later told Edgar that they weren’t all out carousing until the wee hours, that they left the restaurant by 9 or so and were in bed by eleven. I’m not sure how this got back to M’Lord, but he did relent and let everyone’s family come.
I have a question…when M’Lady and Miss Anson were leaving the kitchen, she seemed to comment on a long cloth hanging on the wall. I think Chef said something about it getting cleaned every day. What was that about? I find it a bit hard to follow the accents, especially when they speak quickly.
The siren call of 24 beckoned, and since PBS re-airs it at 10p, I recorded the last hour. I’ll have to do that again tonight, after West Wing and Law and Order.
And I thought they needed more staff! Nice to see M’Lady agreed.
The elder son isn’t Sir John’s child. I think they mentioned that on the show at the begning, or it could be that I read it on the website.
Twiddle
OK, right off the bat I have an objection–M’lady’s “hobble skirt.”
I’ve worked in costume history museums and have studied the subject for years, and the hobble skirt (1911-12) was a very outre style, worn by almost no one. Saying “it’s the latest style from Paris” is like saying “women in the early 21st century dressed like Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City.”
I. Think. Not.
OK, who else was crying at the end? C,mon Mr. Edger didn’t have anyone else crying? I’m the only one? Fine.
Nope. You aren’t the only one crying, DarbyV. I was fine right up until the end when Edgar was talking about how proud his grandparents would have been of him and his voice cracked. sniff
I was SO relieved to hear that he was going to visit his brand-new grandchild. I was worried that he was living alone without any family–he just seemed so lonely on the show.
It was a bit of a shock to see them all back in their 21st clothing and climbing into cars and such. Especially Edgar.
I had to laugh at the Lady of the Manor when she remarked about how easy it was to plan for a huge party. All she had to do was do a little seating chart. Of course it was easy for her! The servants were the ones working 20 hours a day preparing the food and cleaning the entire house from top to bottom. The “Family” really had no clue at all. But I guess that was the whole point, wasn’t it? They really played their parts well.
One of the best moments in the whole series was when the visiting writer/talk show host asked Sir John if he was pompous in real life. Haha!
My new favorite expression: Tickity Boo!
I watch a fair amount of English stuff and I’ve never heard it before. Of course, in context the meaning was clear (a-ok, up to snuff), but where did it come from and is it in common 2003 usage?
I’m wondering about that long white hanging cloth too. What was it?
I caught this completely by accident, and I’m sorry I missed the first night of this series. Did someone say they’re not repeated? I got into last night’s episode pretty quickly, and I’ll be watching tonight’s. It’s fascinating! It’s hard to believe the servants were volunteers. How could they not get paid to give up their entire lives for 3 months to be treated like crap?
I love how they often talk to the camera and tell how they feel and some of what happens that we’re not seeing. I don’t know these people at all, yet I cried! when Rebecca told the story about her mother giving her her grandmother’s ring and how much it meant to her.
I found it so interesting the perspective of the tutor and that dashing black man during the “Hail Britannia” sequence. They looked less than pleased at the celebration of Britian’s takeover of the world.
I felt sorry for the tutor. The Family treated him wrongly, I thought, by making him a de facto member of the family. He ended up being neither fish nor fowl. If they’d treated him as he was, an upper servant, I think he would have fit in better and not taken it so badly when Edgar told him he would have to watch Master Guy because it was L&L’s anniversary and everyone else would be at Rob’s birthday party. Then to scamper off and leave Master Guy to his own devices (I giggled when Edgar escorted him firmly out of the birthday party) and to delay the anniversary dinner…very poor form.
I have to tell you, I had quite a time last night between this and WW and L&O. I watched the first hour, then had to record L&O, then because my Dish receiver is not talking to my VCR, get up out of bed and change the channel so I could record the final episode at 2am! Whew!
I caught Tickety Boo too…what does that mean again.
What was that red car the sister was driving at the end? I thought it might be an MGF, but since we don’t have MGFs here I’m not familiar with them.
I think Rebecca Smith was the cutest of the cast.
Shoot, everybody was crying at the end. Whatever happened to the stiff upper lip, and all that?
I thought Mr. Raj-Singh was so unbelievably creepy when he was apologizing to Charley in the dining room that I had to change the channel for a few moments and compose myself – my skin was threatening to crawl right off my bones.
And as much of a silly ass as Sir John was becoming, I thought it was very unkind of the servants to make the straw effigy for burning in his image. I sincerely hope he didn’t notice.
Hooray for Mr. Edgar and the birth of his grandson! He will get to become the sweet, affectionate grandfather he never had himself.
Equipoise, I’m unfamiliar with “tickity boo,” but it reminds me of one of my favorite lines from Wodehouse: “Tinkity tot,” I said, and I meant it to sting!
Everytime Sir John or Lady Anna said something to the effect that the system “works” I wanted to scream at them - “for who?” Certainly for them, but not for the servants below.
gallows fodder, I’m with you about the tutor saying thank you to Charlie. It was unbelievably smarmy, and, IMO, directed solely at the camera. It also bothered me that he equated his neither fish nor fowl status to his race. Hogwash. A white women governess or tutor would be treated the same way, anyone in that position is accorded certain privileges that elevate them above the servants - eating with the family, sleeping upstairs, but they are not family - they are accepted by neither camp. This has nothing to do with the color of one’s skin.
My favorite was the writer/talk show guy from the carribean. I think he had Sir John’s number.
Goodness, but the tutor turned into a hissy little queen, didn’t he? I was also appalled how he called the other servants racist while they were *standing right behind him. *
Most people looked quite dim and dowdy in their modern clothes—but the lady’s maid look fab! Twenty years younger, and suddenly pretty!
By the way, I hear Kenny and Ellen “amicably” have since broken up.
Random thoughts:
A-ha! So gallows fodder, I wasn’t the only one muttering “Stanford Prison Experiment” during the show. Especially Sir John. He reminded me of someone who would slip far too easily into the role of prison guard.
Tickety-boo? I didn’t know that wasn’t a common phrase in other English-speaking places. I’ve always known/used that phrase.
I didn’t get to see much of episode 5, but caught most of episode 6 (thank god I have the whole thing on tape).
I can’t remember exactly how Edgar put it, but I loved his speech that played during the fireworks, about how the old system was swept away.
Sir John certainly was clueless when the Chef tried to chastise him. Not that he struck me as the most astute person at the best of times, but c’mon. He must have caught a couple of words. I agree with the Chef - Sir John wanted all the perks of Edwardian life, but while the scullery maid is putting in a solid 18 hour day in pursuit of a true Edwardian existence, Sir John couldn’t even suck it up enough to eat pork.
The website said that Avril went to the servants quarters in her modern clothes so that she could meet the servants as equals, but the rest of the family was careful to leave in such a way that the servants would never see them as ordinary people. I thought that was very telling.