"Noblesse Oblige" is the fourteenth episode of the fifth and final series of the

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

'' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It first aired on 7 December 1975 on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

Background

''Noblesse Oblige'' was recorded in the studio on 24 and 25 July 1975.

Cast

Angela Baddeley Madeleine Angela Clinton-Baddeley, CBE (4 July 1904 – 22 February 1976) was an English stage and television actress, best-remembered for her role as household cook Mrs. Bridges in the period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Her stage career ...

- Mrs Bridges *

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress, singer and former model. She achieved fame as Georgina Worsley in the ITV drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–75). She received further recognition for her performances in t ...

Georgina Worsley Georgina, Marchioness of Stockbridge (née Georgina Worsley, born 28 November 1895), is a fictional character in the British television series, '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. She was portrayed by Lesley-Anne Down. Georgina Worsley arrives to liv ...

David Langton David Muir Langton (born Basil Muir Langton-Dodds; 16 April 1912 – 25 April 1994) was a British actor who is best remembered for playing Richard Bellamy in the period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Early years David Langton was born Basi ...

- Richard Bellamy *

Ursula Howells Ursula Howells (17 September 1922 – 16 October 2005) was an English actress whose elegant presence kept her much in demand for roles in film and television. Life and career Howells was born in London, the daughter of composer Herbert Howells, ...

- Duchess of Buckminster *

Christopher Beeny Christopher Winton Beeny (7 July 1941 – 3 January 2020) was an English actor and dancer. He had a career as a child actor, but was best known for his work as the footman Edward Barnes on the 1970s television series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', ...

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

Jacqueline Tong Jacqueline Tong (born 21 May 1951) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Daisy Peel in the television series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1973–1975), for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Contin ...

- Daisy *

Jenny Tomasin Jenny Tomasin (22 March 1938 – 3 January 2012) was an English actress best known for her roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and ''Emmerdale''. Early life Tomasin was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1938 to working class parents. S ...

Ruby A ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum ( aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sa ...

Anthony Andrews Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for an ...

- Robert, Marquess of Stockbridge * Elaine Donnelly - Mabel *

Joan Sanderson Joan Sanderson (24 November 1912 – 24 May 1992) was a British television and stage actress born in Bristol. During a long career, her tall and commanding disposition led to her playing mostly dowagers, spinsters and matrons, as well as intens ...

- Mrs Waddilove *

Deddie Davies Deddie Davies (born Gillian Nancy Davies, 2 March 1938 – 21 December 2016) was a Welsh people, Welsh character actress. Biography Davies was born in Bridgend, Wales. She trained at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, RADA and is most familiar to ...

- Mrs Tibbitt * Frank Duncan - Wireless AnnouncerUncredited role; www.updown.org.uk

Plot

It is June 1929, and Georgina and Lord Stockbridge are seeing a lot of each other. He admits to being in love with her and she admits the same. When Stockbridge proposes, Georgina accepts. His mother, the Duchess of Buckminster, tells Robert that she and the Duke disapprove. This is mainly because of the inquest and the press coverage Georgina has received over the years. However, a few days later Georgina is invited to

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

with the Duchess, who tells Georgina that she and the Duke are sending Robert around the World for one year. They feel that their son is not yet ready to marry or to run their large estate. When Georgina and Robert next meet, they agree to marry in exactly one years time, 12 June 1930. Meanwhile, after getting fed up with Mrs Bridges' constant rudeness to her, Ruby leaves Eaton Place during the night. She then writes to Richard Bellamy to ask for a reference, and gets a job as a cook-general on £46 a year. In Lady Bellamy's absence, Georgina interviews Mabel Wilks as replacement for Ruby, and she is soon employed. However, Mabel is not afraid to be insubordinate to Mrs Bridges, and is rude to everyone. Ruby's new mistress in the recently-developed north west London suburb of Ruislip, Mrs Gladys Waddilove, is a bully who treats her as a maid of all work, and makes her pay for breakages. When Mrs Bridges reads a letter from Ruby to Daisy, sensing she is unhappy, she visits Ruby. After hearing how exhausted Ruby is from the amount of work she must do, and witnessing Mrs Waddilove's abusive treatment of Ruby, Mrs Bridges brings Ruby back to Eaton Place, and sacks Mabel. Following the 1929 general election, Richard loses his

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

post but remains in the House of Lords.

Footnotes

References

Richard Marson Richard Marson (born c.1967) is an English writer, television producer and director, best known as a former editor-in-chief of the BBC's children's television programme ''Blue Peter''. In September 2007, Marson was sacked from his post for making ...

, "Inside UpDown - The Story of Upstairs, Downstairs",

Kaleidoscope Publishing Kaleidoscope Publishing is a publishing house founded by Richard Down and Chris Perry, and based in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1988 and exists to promote the appreciation of British television, including classic and cult programming. No ...

, 2005
Updown.org.uk
- ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' Fansite {{DEFAULTSORT:Noblesse Oblige Upstairs, Downstairs (series 5) episodes 1975 British television episodes Fiction set in 1929