Upstairs, Downstairs - The Post-War Years 1

Not for nothing were they called the Roaring Twenties. After the Great War, which had claimed a father or son of almost every family in Britain, those who had survived launched themselves into a round of escapism. It was the age of the Flapper, the short-skirted, emancipated girl who smoked, danced the Charleston till dawn, and threw parties which progressed from the jolly to the bizarre. This crazy period could not last, but it eased the pain of the war and made the brave new world tolerable, if still far from the perfection for which millions had fought. While Georgina threw herself into a round of parties – trying to forget the suffering she had seen as a nurse during the war – James was different. His pre-war antics gave way to post-war concern, and he was bored with Georgina's friends and her frivolity.

Throwing herself into the Roaring Twenties, in 1921 Georgina organised a fancy-dress party at 165 based around the theme of Freedom. During a break from the party, her current beau presented her with a rather stark ultimatum: "Marry me, or I'll kill myself." Thinking he was drunk and talking foolishly, Georgina returned downstairs to the festivities. When it came, only James recognised the sound of a gunshot from somewhere upstairs in the house...

Despite her initial reluctance, emotional blackmail from James made Virginia decide to move back into Eaton Place after her wedding, along with William and Alice, the children from her first marriage.

Impressed by the common soldier's readiness to fight for an ideal, Major James Bellamy returned from the Great War with a new respect for the working class. Determined to help them in peacetime, he secured a Parliamentary candidacy in the East End of London. But men who had blindly obeyed orders on the battlefield would not accept upper-class leadership in civvy street.

Two new staff joined 165 after the war too – Lily (played by Karen Dotrice) and Frederick (played by Gareth Hunt). In spring 1924, Hudson developed a crush on Lily, and she quietly left Eaton Place to avoid a fuss. June 1927 saw Frederick leave too, planning a new "career" in society as a kept man – both upstairs and downstairs were duly appalled.

Mrs Bridges wondered how it could travel through streets and buildings; Mr Hudson thought it a miracle of science; and Daisy and Lily just marvelled. Wireless was here to stay.

As the Twenties came to their conclusion, the old way of life - the class structure which had supported the Bellamy establishment – was beginning to break down. Industrial confrontation in the latter part of the decade revealed a more conscious, less subservient working class, intent on gaining its rights. With class barriers being pushed aside, the young people of Eaton Place found themselves in the oddest places. Yet, for James Bellamy, firmly entrenched in the old order, the changes were incomprehensible and unacceptable. In 1926, James drove a bus to beat the General Strike called by the men he had once championed.