Tug of War is the fifth episode of the fourth series of the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. It first aired on 12 October 1974 on ITV. October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... This is a list of all episodes of the British ITV drama Upstairs, Downstairs. ... In the performing arts, a period piece is a work set in a particular era. ... Upstairs, Downstairs was a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning British drama set in a large Edwardian townhouse in London that depicted the lives of the servants downstairs and their masters upstairs. It ran on ITV for five series from 1971 to 1975. ... October 12 is the 285th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (286th in leap years). ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... It has been suggested that Channel 3 (UK) be merged into this article or section. ...

Background

Tug of War was filmed on 30 and 31 May 1974. The writer, Rosemary Anne Sisson, had used the diaries of Lady Cynthia Asquith, who like Georgina was a society VAD nurse, while writing this episode.^[1] Polly Williams, who played Lady Viola Courtney, was the sister of Simon Williams, who played James Bellamy. May 30 is the 150th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (151st in leap years). ... May 31 is the 151st day of the year (152nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... This article focuses on the education and regulation of nurses. ...

Cast

• Meg Wynn Owen - Hazel Bellamy
• Lesley-Anne Down - Georgina Worsley
• Jean Marsh - Rose
• David Langton - Richard Bellamy
• Gordon Jackson - Hudson
• Angela Baddeley - Mrs Bridges
• Jacqueline Tong - Daisy
• Simon Williams - James Bellamy
• Valerie Lush - Matron
• Barrie Cookson - Colonel Buchanan
• Betty England - Mrs Carbury
• Betty Romaine - Mrs Blaine
• Mel Churcher - Angela Barclay
• Polly Williams - Lady Viola Courtney^[2]
• Richenda Carey - Head Nurse
• Christopher Good - Captain Philip Hanning

Meg Wynn Owen sometimes formerly credited as Megwyn Owen is a British character actress. ... Hazel Patricia Bellamy (née Forrest) (c. ... Lesley-Anne Down as Jacqueline Payne Marone Lesley-Anne Down (born March 17, 1954 in London) is a British actress. ... Jean Marsh (born 1 July 1934) is an English actress and writer, who is best known for co-creating the British period drama Upstairs, Downstairs with Eileen Atkins. ... David Langton (born 16 April 1912, died 25 April 1994) is a British actor. ... Upstairs, Downstairs was a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning British drama set in a large townhouse in Edwardian London that depicted the lives of the servants downstairs and their masters upstairs. It ran on ITV for five series from 1971 to 1975. ... Gordon Cameron Jackson, OBE (December 19, 1923 - January 15, 1990), was a prolific Scottish character actor, best known for his roles in the film The Great Escape, the spy thriller The Ipcress File, and the television series, Upstairs Downstairs (for which he won a best supporting actor Emmy Award) and... Madeline Angela Clinton-Baddeley, CBE was an English character actress born on July 4, 1904, in London, England. ... Jacqueline Tong (born 21 May 1951) is an English actress who is best known for playing Daisy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs from 1973 to 1975. ... Simon Williams (born 16 June 1946 in Windsor Berkshire) is a British actor with many television and film roles. ...

Plot

In a letter to Daisy, Edward suggests that she get a job at munitions factory. Daisy, who is tired of doing the work Ruby would have been doing as well as sharing Edward's duties with Rose, see an advert in a newspaper for omnibus conductor. However, before Daisy can apply Rose secretly applies and makes Daisy furious when she gets the job. Rose soon starts to work as a bus conductor during the day, and does her duties in the evening. Munition is often defined as a synonyn for ammunition. ... A factory worker in 1940s Fort Worth, Texas. ... Commercialism redirects here. ... A Go North East bus parked in a lay-by in Tyne and Wear, England. ... The guard, conductor, captain, or foreman (depending upon country of origin, or railway system) is the senior railway official responsible for the safe operation of a train, whether it is a passenger or freight train. ...

Georgina finds that being a nurse is more difficult and less glamorous than she thought it would be, and finds that she is only nursing sick, old women. She also has to look after two new nurses, her good friend Angela Barclay and the fearless Lady Viola Courtney. One night, they go to a party, but return too late and the hospital gates are locked. The following day, Georgina is told that her patient, Mrs Carbury, died overnight and was asking for her. She feels very guilty, but the Matron does not dismiss as she has the makings of a good nurse.

Meanwhile, James is home on leave. Richard refuses to help him get back onto the front line from his current staff job. However, Hazel secretly goes to see his company colonel, Colonel Buchanan, and asks for James to moved back to the front line. The Colonel agrees and James is moved to the Guards Division of the newly-formed Machine Gun Corps. A General Staff is a group of professional military officers who act in a staff or administrative role under the command of a general officer. ... The Guards Division is an administrative unit of the British Army responsible for the administration of all the units of Foot Guards of the Household Division. ... The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in World War I. The Heavy Branch of the MGC were the first to use tanks in combat...

Reception

Tug of War was praised by Hazel Holt, who wrote in The Stage and Television Today, who said that this was "the best episode for some time". Holt said that Rosemary Anne Sisson wrote so "we knew exactly how it felt to be politician, a VAD or the wife of a serving officer in 1916". However, she said that Sisson did not "breathe life into the downstairs menage", and said the servants were becoming "set and predictable".^[1] Hazel Holt (born 1928) is a British novelist. ...

Footnotes

References

• Richard Marson, "Inside UpDown - The Story of Upstairs, Downstairs", Kaleidoscope Publishing, 2005
• Updown.org.uk - Upstairs, Downstairs Fansite