I can say with certainty that Upstairs Downstairs: The Complete Series: 40th Anniversary Edition is one of the biggest TV on DVD sets I’ve ever put my hands on. Not in terms of dimensions, of course; there are always much bigger ones. But the set’s twenty-one discs make for a pretty formidable – and hefty – package.
Don’t know Upstairs Downstairs? Then you’re probably not an anglophile. The show ran for five seasons forty years ago (thus the name of the set), and featured a London household filled with aristocrats and the workers who serve them. It feels like classic television, the kind you see in faded colors on public television. The characters are all subtle elaborations on British stereotypes (the upper class family, the haughty butler, the feisty cook), but they’re relatable. They’re funny. Their stories are incredibly watchable, and the show’s sweeping scope from 1903 to 1930 gives those stories more emotional weight. These characters grow on you, and so does the show. (The set doesn’t include the more recent BBC reboot of the series, however. That remake will be released next month by Warner Bros.)
This is one of the few Acorn Media releases that is absolutely packed to the gills with special features. There’s a five-part “making of” documentary, commentaries for about a third of the episodes, interviews with the cast, and essentially everything you could ever hope for from any TV on DVD set. You can really see the time and effort put into the entire set, and there’s something new to discover on nearly every disc.
Show: A
Set: A+
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