Upstairs, Downstairs
Sounds
Upstairs, Downstairs
Sounds
All of the following are in the popular mp3 format. The files often differ from the mp3 norm (i.e. stereo 44.1kHz sampling at 16-bits/sample, mp3 encoded in stereo at 128kbps) in order to maximise the quality to file-size ratio, but all should work on the latest version of Microsoft's Windows Media Player.
To download a clip, do a right-click on one of the icons below (on the left) and select "save link as" (or "save target as") and save the file to your hard disk. Durations and approximate file sizes are given on the right.
| Themes: | |||
 |
Upstairs, Downstairs theme: The Edwardians (Alexander Faris) - South Bank Orchestra. This is the 'official' LWT version of the full theme music but differs slightly from the arrangements heard on the actual TV show, and includes a "new" melody part. (Stereo) | 3'14 | 6.1MB |
|
Thomas & Sarah full theme (Harry Rabinowitz) - South Bank Orchestra. (Stereo) | 2'38 | 5.0MB |
|
The opening waltz theme in the version heard on the episodes themselves. (Stereo) | 1'24 | 2.7MB |
|
The "Uncle Arthur" version of the closing theme in the version heard on the episodes themselves. (Stereo) | 1'03 | 2.0MB |
|
The third and last screen version of the theme music, known by the composer, Alexander Faris, as the 'Elgar' version. (Mono) | 1'14 | 2.3MB |
|
Opening of the second part of The Mistress and the Maids. This trails off into a high trumpet (cornet?) part which was never heard again in the series. | 0'34 | 0.2MB |
|
Pauline Collins sings What Are We Going To Do With Uncle Arthur? for her 1973 Decca single. (Stereo) | 2'14 | 4.1MB |
|
The B-side of Collins' single with an interesting vocal version of the slow, waltz theme to the series. (Stereo) | 2'47 | 5.1MB |
|
The wonderful haunting theme music used for American PBS showings in Masterpiece Theatre. (Rondeau from Symphonies & Fanfares For The King's Supper - J. J. Mouret arr. Cellier) (Stereo) | 0'52 | 1.7MB |
| MIDI files of the theme: | |||
|
The Upstairs, Downstairs waltz theme. (Thanks to Jill Bond) | 1'51 | 9KB |
|
My Luve Is Like A Red, Red Rose. The song sung to Lady Marjorie by Captain Hammond. (Magic Casements). (Thanks to Jill Bond) | 2'22 | 10KB |
|
The Butcher Boy. Emily's song from I Dies From Love. (Thanks to Jill Bond) | 1'59 | 9KB |
|
The Upstairs, Downstairs waltz theme - version 2. (Thanks to Bunty Pritchard Jones) | 2'34 | 31KB |
|
The Butcher Boy. Emily's song from I Dies From Love - version 2 (Thanks to Frank Lennon) | 2'54 | 20KB |
|
With Every Passing Day. (Thanks to Bunty Pritchard Jones) | 2'45 | 26KB |
|
My Luve Is Like A Red, Red Rose - version 2. (Thanks to Bunty Pritchard Jones) | 2'58 | 23KB |
|
What Are We Going To Do With Uncle Arthur? (Thanks to Bunty Pritchard Jones) | 1'06 | 15KB |
| Miscellaneous versions of the theme music (mp3's not made by me!): | |||
|
Version A. A sort of violin/piano version of the waltz theme. | 2'35 | 3.1MB |
|
Version B. | 1'45 | 1.7MB |
|
Version C. | 4'28 | 4.2MB |
|
Version D. A 'Mantovani'-style version (cascading violins). | 2'23 | 3.4MB |
|
Version E. A guitar version. | 6'28 | 9.2MB |
|
Version F. | 1'06 | 1.1MB |
|
Version G. Performed by the Sovereign Collection. | 2'31 | 4.7MB |
| Versions of the theme music made (by the public) to introduce the Upshares, Downshares business segment of Radio 4 afternoon programme PM. Extraordinary thanks to Eric Olson, who downloaded all these for the site! I am not bothering to put all the sizes and run-times in: they range in size from about 200KB up to 6MB. The first link is a .zip file of them all (except the full Elvis one, which was added here later). | |||
|
ZIP archive of all the versions below | 57MB | |
|
PM Alexander Faris interview - 21DEC09 | ||
|
Reggae version - Jeremy Bentliff 11MAY09 | ||
|
Banjo version - Dr Martin Johnson 18MAY09 | ||
|
Jazz waltz version - Oliver Sheen 25MAY09 | ||
|
Spaghetti Western version - Jeremy Bentliff 01JUN09 | ||
|
Classical guitar version - Emma Vinyard 08JUN09 | ||
|
Stylophone version - Caroline Jackson 15JUN09 Incarcerated as I am, with a badly broken arm, I wanted to contribute to the upshares theme ... but what can I do (musically speaking, you understand) being one handed? And it came to me ... the trusty stylophone –a present from my somewhat wry but ever thoughtful other half. |
||
|
Organ version - The 1802 (George Pike England) organ in St. George Colegate, Norwich - Anne Duart 22JUN09 | ||
|
Virtual Wurlitzer version - Richard Mack 29JUN09 | ||
|
Heavy Metal version - Nick Roesen 06JUL09 | ||
|
Vibraphone version - Janet Fulton 13JUL09 | ||
|
Version in the style of George Shearing - Simon Whiteside 20JUL09 | ||
|
Hurdy Gurdy version - Matt Williams 27JUL09 | ||
|
Bossa Nova version - Frances Butt 03AUG09 | ||
|
Sung version - Ralph Woodward and the Fairhaven Singers 10AUG09 | ||
|
Musical Saw (accompanied by the pin-barrel harp) version - Henry Dagg 24AUG09 | ||
|
Steel band version - John Clemow 24AUG09 | ||
|
Punk Jazz version - Led Bib 01SEP09 | ||
|
Bee Gees-style version - Francis de Pellette 08SEP09 | ||
|
Xylophone version - Maurice Cheetham 14SEP09 | ||
|
Electric disco version - Foxymoron 21SEP09 | ||
|
Accordion version - Andrew Giddings 28SEP09 | ||
|
Computerised Morris-Dance version - Mark Iliff 05OCT09 | ||
|
Fugue version - Paul Spanton 12OCT09 | ||
|
Crumhorn trio version - David Force, Ruth Force and Michael Withers of the early music group Faronel 19OCT09 | ||
|
Version in the style of Stockhausen's Electronic Study II - Ed Stefaniuk 26OCT09 5 tones of 200ms duration put in a loop then through a reverberation chamber, to give a sound block, or dominant with quieter overtones. |
||
|
Guitar version - Matt Garrad 27OCT09 | ||
|
Accordion version 2 - Sue Coppard 29OCT09 | ||
|
Harp version - Annasee, Gossipmistress and Miss Pooh Bear 30OCT09 | ||
|
Ukelele version - Michael Jennings 02NOV09 | ||
|
Accordion version 3 - Anthony Calnan 03NOV09 | ||
|
Marimba version - Janet Fulton 05NOV09 | ||
|
Ukelele version 2 - Al Wood - Woodshed 06NOV09 | ||
|
Barbershop quartet version - Hullabaloo (Anne, Anne, Geraldine and Susan) 09NOV09 This version was recorded for Barbershop Awareness Week. |
||
|
Acid House version - Chris Miller 10NOV09 | ||
|
Version in the style of Russ Conway - John Tavner 11NOV09 | ||
|
Organ version 2 - Nicholas Scott-Burt | ||
|
Tango version played in Hispanic style, to the rhythm of a tango in the minor key - Graham Davies 13NOV09 | ||
|
Swing version - David Wright of Jazzmatazz 16NOV09 | ||
|
A Melancholy version - Andy Williamson 17NOV09 | ||
|
Theremin version - Nic Bradford 18NOV09 | ||
|
Morris Dance version 2 - Rob Kearsley Bullen 19NOV09 The Morris side is New St George Morris from the Vale of Belvoir, and I play the melodeon (a variety of button accordion) for them on the track. The dance is "Balance the Straw" from the Fieldtown tradition. |
||
|
Flamenco version - Kit Morgan 20NOV09 | ||
|
Addams Family-style version - Richard Mack 23NOV09 | ||
|
Morris Dance version 3 - Wickham Morris and Cath Watkins 24NOV09 | ||
|
A Heavy Rock version - Kit Morgan 25NOV09 Just to scare the listeners. Ha Haaa!! |
||
|
Retro arcade game version - Ivan Baines 26NOV09 | ||
|
Delta blues version - Kit Morgan 27NOV09 | ||
|
Version for Recorder - Alice, Stephanie, Claudia, Joseph, Renee, Nadine, Luis, Grace and Ewan of the St. Joseph's Junior School Recorder Club 30NOV09 | ||
|
Theremin and Mini-Moog version - Symon White 1DEC09 | ||
|
Hillbilly version on banjo and guitar - John Shield 02DEC09 | ||
|
Rag version - John Hartley 03DEC09 | ||
|
Dance version - Parker 04DEC09 | ||
|
Awesome version - Dr. Well Awesome and the Blue Murderers 07DEC09 | ||
|
Hand-bell version - Rung on 100 year old English hand-bells, by the Laurie Turner Ringers, of Wimborne Minster, in Dorset 08DEC09 | ||
|
A Christmas version - Neil Meredith 09DEC09 | ||
|
Theremin version in the style of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop - Kit Morgan 10DEC09 | ||
|
A toe-tapping version - Dave Bosanquet 11DEC09 | ||
|
Version in the style of Bach - David Thorne 14DEC09 | ||
|
A New Orleans brass band version - Roy Hudson and Joel Moors 15DEC09 | ||
|
Irish Bazouki version - Mike Addelman 16DEC09 | ||
|
Zorba the Greek-styled Mediterranean version - Tom Miles 17DEC09 | ||
|
Gypsy-style version - Dan Baker 18DEC09 I'm playing all the instruments on it, and I have used a telephone mouthpiece as a microphone, to obtain the sound of a gypsy outfit on a 78rpm record. |
||
|
A 'genteel retro' arrangement in the style of JS Bach - Richard Hibbs 21DEC09 | ||
|
Piano version - Sandy Faris - the composer of the original theme tune - performs his composition on piano 22DEC09 | ||
|
An alternative rendition on the piano - Sandy Faris 22DEC09 | ||
|
The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra version - Sandy Faris, conducting the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra 23DEC09 | ||
|
Carillon version - John Ridgeway-Wood 24DEC09 Recording has to be done on the Nave roof, about 160 feet above street level! We have to contend with pigeons, traffic, and the Minster clock bells. The Minster carillon is unique as is it the only one in a UK cathedral. It was installed in June/July 2008 and has been acclaimed as a very fine instrument by some of the world's top carillonneurs. It is played every day for half an hour before Evensong, and there are regular recitals, usually on Saturday afternoons. On the run up to Christmas it is also being played before the many carol services which are held at York Minster. |
||
|
The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra's extended version - BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sandy Faris 26DEC09 | ||
|
Version played on Blown Bottles, Mallets, Shakuhachi, Kalimba, Penny Whistle and a Koto - Simon Parker 04JAN10 | ||
|
A 'tribute to Henry Mancini' version - Kit Morgan 05JAN10 | ||
|
Electro-dance interpretation - Timothy Brook 06JAN10 | ||
|
Tchaikovsky ballet-style version - Dominic Leitner 07JAN10 | ||
|
A version to commemorate Elvis' 75th Birthday - Personym 08JAN10 | ||
|
|
Full version of the Elvis' 75th Birthday theme, above, by Personym. Being septuagenarians ourselves, the timing of a vocal version for PM to coincide with his birthday seemed appropriate. We were of course inspired by that lovely Pauline Collins vocal version and used as much of the Benny Green lyric as possible. We used the Acoustic Guitar midi track from Bunty Pritchard Jones' midi file (which I downloaded from your site), fiddled with it a bit, and added a simple bass line. The instrumental and vocal backings were based on the structure of Elvis' Are You Lonesome Tonight. We were aiming at an Elvis/Jordanaires "feel" ... it was not intended as an Elvis impersonation! It was of course too long to be broadcast in full on PM. |
||
|
Loony Tunes version - Kit Morgan 11JAN10 | ||
|
The Godfather version - Caroline Devine 12JAN10 ...sampled a musical box that plays the Godfather love theme with the idea of manipulating the fragments to create a new piece for the 'meta-musical box' to play. |
||
|
News-pips version - Nicholas Webb 13JAN10 | ||
|
Upsitars, Downsitars - a raga-influenced version - Michael Godfrey 14JAN10 | ||
|
An A Capella version - Sputnik Weasel 15JAN10 The Upshares theme slot is fast becoming the aural equivalent of Gormley's Plynth. |
||
|
Country version - Kit Morgan 18JAN10 | ||
|
Mediterranean version - Tom Miles 19JAN10 | ||
|
Latin-American version - Juan Escudo Y Su Orquesta 20JAN10 | ||
|
For wind trio in the style of a classical minuet - Dominic Gannon 21JAN10 | ||
|
Circus version - Nigel Middleton 22JAN10 | ||
|
Spanish Guitar and Tabla version - Jon Leadbetter and Owain Clarke 25JAN10 |
| Trailers etc: | |||
|
TV trailer for the LWT repeats of 1996/7. (Stereo) | 0'29 | 0.9MB |
|
Opening of the first episode in LWT's 1996 re-runs (Stereo) | 0'39 | 1.3MB |
|
TV trailer for Granada Plus transmissions of the show. | 0'29 | 0.2MB |
|
The late Frank Muir introduces the first episode for Channel 4's TV Heaven in 1992. The anecdote about Gordon Jackson actually applied to the junked black and white version of On Trial and not to the colour version which was then presented! The episode is prefaced by the 70's LWT jingle which would have been heard before all the original transmissions. | 1'28 | 0.6MB |
| Interviews: | |||
|
Jean Marsh (co-creator and Rose) talks about the genesis of the show. | 1'01 | 0.4MB |
|
Jean Marsh on the read-through of the first episode, On Trial. | 0'22 | 0.2MB |
|
Jean Marsh on Gordon Jackson's nervousness as an actor. | 0'29 | 0.2MB |
|
Gordon Jackson talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about his attitudes to his own domestic staff. | 0'26 | 0.2MB |
|
Gordon Jackson talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about public recognition. | 0'59 | 0.4MB |
|
Jenny Tomasin (Ruby) on Angela Baddeley's attention to detail. | 0'23 | 0.2MB |
|
John Hawkesworth (producer) on how Angela Baddeley would sometimes slip into her Mrs Bridges persona. | 0'29 | 0.2MB |
|
Angela Baddeley talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about being padded up for her role as Mrs Bridges. | 0'38 | 0.3MB |
|
Angela Baddeley talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about a proposal of marriage from a viewer! | 1'28 | 0.6MB |
|
Angela Baddeley talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about her sister Hermione's TV show of the time, South Riding. | 1'17 | 0.5MB |
|
Simon Williams talks about his inspiration for how to play James. | 0'52 | 0.4MB |
|
Jean Marsh on the real food used on the set. | 0'36 | 0.2MB |
|
Jean Marsh on her poor eyesight. | 0'34 | 0.2MB |
|
Jean Marsh on the different dressing-rooms given to the "upstairs" and "downstairs" members of cast. | 0'54 | 0.4MB |
|
Jenny Tomasin on her interview for the series. | 0'42 | 0.3MB |
|
Chris Beeny (Edward) and John Hawkesworth on Beeny's near-fatal road accident during the second season. | 0'49 | 0.3MB |
|
Jean Marsh on her initial impressions of A House Divided. | 0'27 | 0.2MB |
|
Jackie Tong, Lesley-Anne Down and Simon Williams on their relationship on and off screen. Narrated by actress Linda Robson. | 1'00 | 0.4MB |
|
Gordon Jackson talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about the return of the series for Season Four. | 0'32 | 0.2MB |
|
Jean Marsh talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about her publicity trip to the USA. | 1'19 | 0.5MB |
|
Jean Marsh talks to Russell Harty (in 1974) about a proposed Upstairs, Downstairs massed streak! | 0'24 | 0.2MB |
|
John Hawkesworth on writing out Hazel. | 0'52 | 0.4MB |
| The following clip comes from the Russell Harty.... Goes Upstairs, Downstairs special from 1975 which was broadcast shortly after the last ever episode, and interviewed the cast on the Upstairs, Downstairs set. | |||
|
Harty introduces the special, walking through the empty set. | 0'30 | 0.2MB |
| Australian DJ Les Solomon interviewed some of the stars for his radio show World of Entertainment (part of Australia Overnight) at the end of the Eighties to coincide with a nationwide rescreening of the entire series. With many thanks to Les, his original interviews are presented here: | |||
|
Pauline Collins (Sarah) talks about how she got the role, and how she met John Alderton (Thomas). | 1'08 | 0.5MB |
|
Pauline Collins talks about Gordon Jackson's death. | 0'28 | 0.2MB |
|
Pauline Collins on the UpDown 'family', and books about the series. | 1'00 | 0.4MB |
|
Simon Williams on playing James. | 5'24 | 2.2MB |
|
Simon Williams comments on the scene where he argues with Richard for the last time in All the King's Horses. | 2'52 | 1.2MB |
|
David Langton on playing Richard. | 4'21 | 1.8MB |
|
David Langton comments on one of his many argument scenes with Simon Williams (James). | 4'35 | 1.9MB |
|
Meg Wynn Owen (Hazel) on how special the show turned out to be. | 5'01 | 2.1MB |
|
Meg on her wild riding scene from The Bolter. | 2'56 | 1.2MB |
|
Meg's reactions to the scene from Distant Thunder where she is arguing in the kitchen with Simon Williams (James). | 6'16 | 2.6MB |
|
|
