.gif)
Tug of War (Upstairs, Downstairs)
Encyclopedia
Tug of War is the fifth episode of the fourth series of the television period drama
Upstairs, Downstairs
. It first aired on 12 October 1974 on ITV
.
nurse, while writing this episode. Polly Williams, who played Lady Viola Courtney, was the sister of Simon Williams, who played James Bellamy.
in a newspaper
for omnibus
conductor. However, before Daisy can apply Rose secretly applies and makes Daisy furious when she gets the job. Rose soon starts to work as a bus conductor during the day, and does her duties in the evening.
Georgina finds that being a nurse is more difficult and less glamorous than she thought it would be, and finds that she is only nursing sick, old women. She also has to look after two new nurses, her good friend Angela Barclay and the fearless Lady Viola Courtney. One night, they go to a party, but return too late and the hospital gates are locked. The following day, Georgina is told that her patient, Mrs Carbury, died overnight and was asking for her. She feels very guilty, but the Matron does not dismiss her as she has the makings of a good nurse.
Meanwhile, James is home on leave. Richard refuses to help him get back onto the front line from his current staff
job. However, Hazel secretly goes to see his company colonel, Colonel Buchanan, and asks for James to moved back to the front line. The Colonel agrees and James is moved to the Guards Division
of the newly formed Machine Gun Corps
.
, who wrote in The Stage and Television Today, who said that this was "the best episode for some time". Holt said that Rosemary Anne Sisson wrote so "we knew exactly how it felt to be politician, a VAD or the wife of a serving officer in 1916". However, she said that Sisson did not "breathe life into the downstairs menage", and said the servants were becoming "set and predictable".
Period piece
-Setting:In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. This informal term covers all countries, all periods and all genres...
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
. It first aired on 12 October 1974 on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
.
Background
Tug of War was filmed on 30 and 31 May 1974. The writer, Rosemary Anne Sisson, had used the diaries of Lady Cynthia Asquith, who like Georgina was a society VADVoluntary Aid Detachment
The Voluntary Aid Detachment was a voluntary organisation providing field nursing services, mainly in hospitals, in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The organisation's most important periods of operation were during World War I and World War II.The...
nurse, while writing this episode. Polly Williams, who played Lady Viola Courtney, was the sister of Simon Williams, who played James Bellamy.
Cast
- Meg Wynn OwenMeg Wynn OwenMeg Wynn Owen is a Welsh actress, who is best known for her role as Hazel Bellamy, née Forrest, in the television series Upstairs, Downstairs....
- Hazel Bellamy - Lesley-Anne DownLesley-Anne DownLesley-Anne Down is a British film and television actress, former model and singer.Down achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs...
- Georgina Worsley - Jean MarshJean MarshJean Lyndsey Torren Marsh is an English actress, occasional screenwriter, and co-creator of the television series Upstairs, Downstairs and The House of Eliott....
- Rose - David LangtonDavid LangtonDavid Muir Langton was a British actor who is best remembered for playing Richard Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs.-Early years:...
- Richard Bellamy - Gordon JacksonGordon Jackson (actor)Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE was a Scottish Emmy Award-winning actor best remembered for his roles as the butler Angus Hudson in Upstairs, Downstairs and George Cowley, the head of CI5, in The Professionals....
- HudsonAngus HudsonAngus Hudson was a fictional character in the ITV drama Upstairs, Downstairs, portrayed by actor Gordon Jackson from 1971 until 1975.-Biography:... - Angela BaddeleyAngela BaddeleyAngela Baddeley, CBE , born Madeline Angela Clinton-Baddeley, was an English actress best remembered for her role as Mrs Bridges in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
- Mrs Bridges - Jacqueline TongJacqueline TongJacqueline Tong is an English actress who is best known for playing Daisy Barnes in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs from 1973 to 1975. In 1975, she was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in the Primetime Emmy Awards.-Early life:Tong was born in Bristol,...
- Daisy - Simon WilliamsSimon Williams (actor)Simon Williams is an English actor known for playing James Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Frequently playing upper-class roles, he is also known for playing Dr...
- James BellamyJames BellamyMajor The Honourable James Rupert Bellamy MC is a fictional character in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs, that was originally broadcast for five series from 1971 to 1975... - Valerie Lush - Matron
- Barrie Cookson - Colonel Buchanan
- Betty England - Mrs Carbury
- Betty Romaine - Mrs Blaine
- Mel Churcher - Angela Barclay
- Polly Williams - Lady Viola Courtney
- Richenda CareyRichenda CareyRichenda Carey is an English theatre, television and film actress, who is mostly known for her roles in Monarch of the Glen, Jeeves and Wooster, Crush and most recently, Separate Lies and Criminal Justice...
- Head Nurse - Christopher GoodChristopher GoodChristopher Good is a British actor best known for his work on television.Good has made many one-off or short-lived appearances in drama and comedy programmes, with Murder Most Horrid, Rumpole Of The Bailey, Danger UXB, The Choir and Pie In The Sky being among them...
- Captain Philip Hanning
Plot
In a letter to Daisy, Edward suggests that she get a job at munitions factory. Daisy, who is tired of doing the work Ruby would have been doing as well as sharing Edward's duties with Rose, see an advertAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
in a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
for omnibus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
conductor. However, before Daisy can apply Rose secretly applies and makes Daisy furious when she gets the job. Rose soon starts to work as a bus conductor during the day, and does her duties in the evening.
Georgina finds that being a nurse is more difficult and less glamorous than she thought it would be, and finds that she is only nursing sick, old women. She also has to look after two new nurses, her good friend Angela Barclay and the fearless Lady Viola Courtney. One night, they go to a party, but return too late and the hospital gates are locked. The following day, Georgina is told that her patient, Mrs Carbury, died overnight and was asking for her. She feels very guilty, but the Matron does not dismiss her as she has the makings of a good nurse.
Meanwhile, James is home on leave. Richard refuses to help him get back onto the front line from his current staff
General Staff
A military staff, often referred to as General Staff, Army Staff, Navy Staff or Air Staff within the individual services, is a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units...
job. However, Hazel secretly goes to see his company colonel, Colonel Buchanan, and asks for James to moved back to the front line. The Colonel agrees and James is moved to the Guards Division
Guards Division
The Guards Division is an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the administration of the regiments of Foot Guards and the London Regiment.-Introduction:...
of the newly formed Machine Gun Corps
Machine Gun Corps
The Machine Gun Corps was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tanks in combat, and the branch was subsequently turned into the Tank...
.
Reception
Tug of War was praised by Hazel HoltHazel Holt
Hazel Holt is a British novelist.Hazel Holt originated from Birmingham, England, where she attended King Edward VI High School for Girls. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, and went on to work at the International African Institute in London, where she became acquainted with the novelist...
, who wrote in The Stage and Television Today, who said that this was "the best episode for some time". Holt said that Rosemary Anne Sisson wrote so "we knew exactly how it felt to be politician, a VAD or the wife of a serving officer in 1916". However, she said that Sisson did not "breathe life into the downstairs menage", and said the servants were becoming "set and predictable".