The show kicked off a new era for 165 Eaton Place as Sir Hallam Holland (Ed Stoppard) and Lady Agnes (Keeley Hawes) moved into the disused but iconic London address.
With Rose Buck (Jean Marsh), Agnes put together a new household staff and set about returning the home to its former glory.
The Christmas revival drew on death of King George V and the new King’s friendship with Mrs Simpson and her own dubious friendships with certain foreign ‘gentleman’ as it plunged the Holland’s and downstairs staff into a mix of fascism, betrayal and romance.
The new run of 60 minute episodes will air in “the first half” of 2012.
Danny Cohen, Controller of BBC One, said the show “was fantastically well-received but what drove us to recommission was the wonderfully imaginative and distinctive plans the team have to take the drama forward.”
Although plot details are being kept under wraps for now, the BBC has revealed the new run “will portray a society in its endgame” as it charts “a period of social change in Britain in which class structures and relationships between master and servant are tested to their limits.”
Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning, says viewers “will find everything they loved at Christmas, but with bold new stories that shed a fascinating light on a changing society. A huge shock will ensure events at 165 Eaton Place are never the same again.”
The first run of the revived Upstairs Downstairs is available to order from the seenit.co.uk store.