"All the King's Horses" is the fifteenth episode of the fifth and final series of the

period drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

'' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It first aired on 14 December 1975 on ITV.

Background

''All the King's Horses'' was recorded in the studio on 12 and 13 June 1975. The director of the episode, Simon Langton, was the son of David Langton, who played Richard Bellamy. ''All the King's Horses'' is the final appearance of Simon Williams as James Bellamy.

Cast

* Simon Williams – James Bellamy * Gordon Jackson –

Hudson Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson Rodrigues dos Santos, Brazilian f ...

Hannah Gordon Hannah Campbell Grant Gordon
Film reference website (born 9 April 1941) is a Scottish actress and presenter ...

– Virginia Bellamy *

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 *

Lesley-Anne Down Lesley-Anne Down (born 17 March 1954) is a British actress and singer. She made her motion picture debut in the 1969 drama film '' The Smashing Bird I Used to Know'' and later appeared in films ''Assault'' (1971), '' Countess Dracula'' (1971) a ...

– Georgina Worsley *

Angela Baddeley Madeleine Angela Clinton-Baddeley (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 laste ...

– Mrs Bridges *

Jean Marsh Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh (1 July 1934 – 13 April 2025) was an English actress and writer. She co-created and starred in the ITV series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1975), for which she won the 1975 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actr ...

–

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

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

*Pippa Page – Mary *

Jacqueline Tong Jacqueline Tong (born 21 February 1950) 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 C ...

– Daisy *Lindsay Campbell – Inspector Rodwell

Plot

James Bellamy returns from America with renewed enthusiasm for life and hope for his future. He has taken to speculating on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

and has made a lot of money. After bestowing lavish gifts on Virginia, Richard and Georgina, James proposes to pay for Georgina's wedding and even suggests moving to a bigger house as a direct result of his increasing wealth. Rose invests her entire inheritance from the estate of her deceased fiancé Gregory after taking advice from James, but sadly this is just before the Wall Street crash of 1929. James and Rose lose everything. The disclosure of the losses – particularly Rose's – leads to an argument in which James is berated by his father for his failures in life. Richard tells James he is glad his mother did not live to see how James is today. Retreating to his room, James later upsets Georgina by burning the letters she wrote to him in happier times. He then leaves Eaton Place, ostensibly to stay with a friend. James actually goes to a hotel in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

, where he commits suicide with his service revolver. The police arrive at Eaton Place late at night with the news.

Footnotes

References

Richard Marson Richard Marson (born July 1966) 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 m ...

, "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:All the King's Horses Upstairs, Downstairs series 5 episodes 1975 British television episodes Fiction set in 1929 Television episodes set in the 1920s