Upstairs Downstairs

Series Similar to Upstairs Downstairs

If you enjoyed Upstairs Downstairs, these series share similar themes, tone, and quality. Each recommendation is scored on genre overlap, tonal match, and critical acclaim.

1. The Newsreader

   2021 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile.

   In the maelstrom of a commercial television newsroom in 1986, Dale Jennings is a diligent young reporter, desperate to become a newsreader. Helen Norville is a notoriously ‘difficult' star newsreader determined to build credibility. Paired together over three months, Dale and Helen will cover an extraordinary chain of news events — from the shock of the Challenger explosion, to the hype of Halley's Comet, to the complexities of the AIDS crisis. From messy beginnings, a deep bond is formed that will upend their lives and transform the very fabric of the nightly news bulletin. This is a story of a grand, unconventional relationship in a world on the cusp of change.

2. Our Friends in the North

   1996 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, highly rated (8).

   A nine part series depicting the varying fortunes of four friends - Nicky, Geordie, Mary and Tosker - from the optimistic times of 1964 to the uncertainties of 1995. Taking nine pivotal years (1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1974, 1979, 1984, 1987, 1995) the personal lives of the characters become intertwined with the political struggles of their home town of Newcastle, and the capital, London. We also see the machinations behind the scenes that affect their lives, often for the worse: slum housing projects, police corruption, the rise of Thatcherism, political sleaze, and specific events like the 1984 Miners' Strike.

3. Lou Grant

   1977 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile.

   Lou Grant, the editor from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, turns serious and moves to LA to work as head editor for a major metropolitan newspaper. In this loose sequel to the popular comedy that takes a turn to the dramatic, Lou takes a bevy of young reporters under his wing and deals with the topical issues of the day.

4. Mr. Selfridge

   2013 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile.

   Mr. Selfridge tells the story of 'Mile a Minute Harry', a man with a mission to make shopping as thrilling as sex.

5. Dancing on the Edge

   2013 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, hidden gem.

   An explosive 1930s drama following a jazz band in London at a time of huge change.

6. State of Play

   2003 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, highly rated (8), also on BBC One.

   The serial begins with the murder of a young man, in what appears to be a drug-related killing, and the apparently coincidental death of Sonia Baker, the young researcher for MP Stephen Collins (Morrissey). As the deaths are investigated by journalist Cal McCaffrey of The Herald (Simm) and his colleagues (including Kelly Macdonald as Della Smith and Bill Nighy as editor Cameron Foster) it appears that not only were the deaths connected, but that a conspiracy links them with oil industry-backed corruption of high-ranking British government ministers.

7. Capital

   2015 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, hidden gem, also on BBC One.

   On one day, the people of one South London street all receive an anonymous postcard with the simple message 'we want what you have'. Its unsettling ripples affect every corner of the community.

8. Lark Rise to Candleford

   2008 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, hidden gem, also on BBC One.

   Adaptation of Flora Thompson's memoir of her Oxfordshire childhood, set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town, Candleford, at the end of the 19th Century.

9. Cranford

   2007 · Drama · ended

   Recommended for similar Drama profile, also on BBC One.

   A rich and comic drama about the people of Cranford, a small Cheshire town on the cusp of change in the 1840s. Adapted from the novels by Elizabeth Gaskell.

10. The Deep

    2010 · Drama · ended

    Recommended for similar Drama profile, also on BBC One.

    In the state-of-the-art research submarine Orpheus, Captain Frances Kelly leads a team of scientists deep below the Arctic ice. They are following the path of an earlier, disastrous expedition; searching the final frontiers of Earth for unknown and remarkable life forms, attempting to find the solution to the world's escalating energy crisis.Enduring crushing pressure, boiling vent gases, freezing temperatures and total darkness, the Orpheus arrives at the Lomonosov Ridge, an enormous area of sea bed which is disputed territory, currently under the United Nations' jurisdiction. Nobody comes here. But there is something else out here: something huge and bewildering. And, as the Orpheus crew struggle for survival and attempt to unravel the mystery, they uncover secrets more terrifying than they ever could have imagined…