Servants: True story of life below stairs
Nov. 14th, 2012 11:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
birdienlThat we are intruiged by the life of domestic servants is obvious from the large amount of period drama starring servants. Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs ofcourse, but also Berkely Square and Servants. But is what these series show us about service always right? Historian Pamela Cox, herself the great-granddaughter of domestic servants, tries to find out the true story about servants in the three-part documentary Servants: True story of life below stairs.
At the height of the domestic service 'culture', around 1870, over 1,5 million people in Britain worked as servants. This was more than worked in industry or in farming! Despite these large numbers, servants seem to have been by-passed by most history books. Pamela Cox tries to recreate their story, using their own words. As she discovers and tells us about diaries, letters and rare photographs of servants and takes us to the view still existing examples of servants quarters, you get the feeling you come very close to these people and their lives in service.
This series does not try to show us the mistakes in the portrayals of fictional servants in Downton or Upstairs, Downstairs. It simply tracks the story of servants in Britain, from the beginning of a special service class to their decline and dissapearance after WWII. It is not as much a technical story about what they did, then a social story about how they saw their own position and how changes in society influenced them.
Dr. Pamela Cox has a pleasing style of narrating and interviewing and the series teaches you a great amount of interesting information. I sometimes thought it steered a bit too far from the topic, going in-depth into changes in society. Also I would've liked to hear about the differences between the British domestic service system and servants in other European countries and America, but I guess that might be something for another series!
Absolutely recommended for fans of Downton Abbey and general history buffs, plus, all three episodes can be found in good quality on YouTube!
At the height of the domestic service 'culture', around 1870, over 1,5 million people in Britain worked as servants. This was more than worked in industry or in farming! Despite these large numbers, servants seem to have been by-passed by most history books. Pamela Cox tries to recreate their story, using their own words. As she discovers and tells us about diaries, letters and rare photographs of servants and takes us to the view still existing examples of servants quarters, you get the feeling you come very close to these people and their lives in service.
This series does not try to show us the mistakes in the portrayals of fictional servants in Downton or Upstairs, Downstairs. It simply tracks the story of servants in Britain, from the beginning of a special service class to their decline and dissapearance after WWII. It is not as much a technical story about what they did, then a social story about how they saw their own position and how changes in society influenced them.
Dr. Pamela Cox has a pleasing style of narrating and interviewing and the series teaches you a great amount of interesting information. I sometimes thought it steered a bit too far from the topic, going in-depth into changes in society. Also I would've liked to hear about the differences between the British domestic service system and servants in other European countries and America, but I guess that might be something for another series!
Absolutely recommended for fans of Downton Abbey and general history buffs, plus, all three episodes can be found in good quality on YouTube!
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Date: 2012-11-16 06:46 am (UTC)