Upstairs, Downstairs (TV Series) The Key of the Door (1972) User Reviews

The Key of the Door

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 15 September 2023]

The Bloomsbury set meets the Fabians. Elizabeth Bellamy has turned 21 and feels at home with the moe socially aware Bohemian artists.

Elizabeth might not quiet understand the poetry and literature. She might come from an upper crust background bit she has the hots for writer and poet Lawrence Kirbridge (Ian Ogilvy.) She is not the only one. Poor nerdy Stanley (Tom Owen) a fan of the more clean living writers like HG Wells stands no chance with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth radical stance comes to a head when she invites her new found friends to 165 Eaton Place for a party while her parents are away. Only to be mortified when they return and witness the mayhem.

Spurred on by one of her new friends, Elizabeth gets arrested for shoplifting when she gets boots for poor children.

Ian Ogilvy causes a pre Saint stir as the handsome Kirbridge. Other women have the hots for him and just what did he and the other men retire to do!

It was good for Upstairs Downstairs to explore other non establishment strata of the Upper Classes. They were just as selfish, debauched and conflicted as the people they despised.

Elizabeth Bellamy turns twenty-one and runs away from home...

[arrival · 18 July 2010]

After the awful nonsense of the previous episode (see my Review for that title) 'Upstairs, Downstairs' gets firmly back on track with a cracker in: 'The Key Of the Door'! Elizabeth, having got involved with a group of Fabians, invites them all to Eaton Place whilst her parents are away. Nothing wrong with that, except that her parents return unexpectedly - and her friends are not the most 'desirable'... As a result, the inappropriate visitors are 'ejected' from the house, thus embarrassing Elizabeth. To make amends to the head of the group 'Evelyn', she agrees to rob a shop keeper of some shoes to give to some poor children who don't have any, as part of her 'induction' to the Society. Consequently, there's a big family bust-up, and just having turned twenty-one; Elizabeth runs away from home...

This episode introduces Ian Ogilvy to the series as the gay Poet 'Lawrence Kirbridge' who later marries Elizabeth. There's also another chance to see some great performances from the likes of Georgia Brown as 'Evelyn Larkin'; Pay Nye as 'Perdita'; and Tutte Lemkow as 'Gustave'.