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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 348862" data-attributes="member: 23">On With The Dance / A Place In The World / Laugh A Little Louder Please / The Joy Ride continued Adding another layer to the earlier scenes of disharmony are the fact that both Edward and Daisy initially seem threatened by their successors. Daisy is slightly frosty towards young new houseparlourmaid Lily, while Edward gives new footman (and James’s wartime batman) Frederick Norton verbal stick by commenting that darning socks used to be the “girls’” job (to which Frederick retorts words to the effect that such skills were learnt because there weren’t too many of ladies when the real men were fighting at the front). This seems to resolve itself somewhat quickly, and before the new positions are offered, though there’s still a welcome hint of rivalry between Edward and Frederick.Both Frederick and Lily are shown to be competent at their jobs. Mrs Bridges comments that Lily is quicker than Daisy was (I think she meant quicker of mind as well as speed of performance). Frederick is, if anything, over competent, which threatens Hudson who is shown to be slowing down a little with age and making a few little errors. While it’s only minor things, such as initially thinking a bell is coming from one room when it’s actually from another, I feel these little mistakes do Hudson’s character a disservice. Frankly I find it hard to believe he’d make some of these errors, even accounting for him being under pressure and getting up there in years. He’s lived this for so long it’s part of the fibre of his being. But I appreciate we need something tangible to show the audience that his age is a factor in him feeling threatened. It’s not as though he’s likely to tell anyone, after all.Frederick is enjoyable and Gareth Hunt very convincing as the former soldier used to being kept busy. He brings quite a different energy to the servants’ hall, and it’s interesting to see Hudson telling someone off for using his initiative and doing too much (which makes sense given the intricate and delicate balance he feels the house needs).Lily is also wonderful. Karen Dotrice (whom I initially mis-recognised as her sister Michele "Betty" Dotrice) gives her a visual that’s immediately interesting: long, lean and wispy - she looks almost like a Charles Addams-esque caricature. We know very little about her background - it’s been quite a different entrance from, say, Daisy or Sarah - and she feels rather peripheral so far. But that’s fine. Ruby works great for this reason and with the staff being suddenly so abundant (and so soon after the smaller staff was almost dismissed due to James needing to downsize) it’s fine to have a character who simply does their thing. I particularly enjoy her tendency to gab when she’s nervous, often overstepping the boundaries of what’s acceptable within the house, and I look forward to seeing more of her as the final series progresses.Richard and Virginia’s inevitable move into 165 has been fine. Now that Virginia is glammed up for the Roaring Twenties she’s more Stephanie Beachamesque than ever as she purrs her lines, which is wonderful. I expect her to be more compliant and agreeable than she actually is, but she’s spoken out against Richard more than once - and in front of other people as well, which would have been unthinkable in Lady Marjorie’s day when a united front was everything.James’s brief foray into politics gave us some agonising scenes, particularly his outdoor speech with him blathering on ineffectually as ambient noises intruded. I realise it was meant to be painful, but it felt like a chore to watch as well. At least in his later speech his key heckler was none other than Dolly from Widows (Enders’ Charlie Slater was there as well), and Virginia responded in kind with a raised voice and a rousing speech which made it more interesting.Three full years before Dallas gave us Survival, there’s been the obligatory “characters go missing when a private aeroplane goes down” episode. We even got gutter journalism in what seems to be a very quick moving press (the headline - and story implying an affair between stepson and stepmother - was printed the very day James’s plane went missing). It felt a somewhat workaday story, the saving grace of which was the wonderful Lady Prudence giving Richard solid support and being an all-round good egg.We’ve also had a second suicide in the house. This time a suitor of Georgina’s, who shot himself in 165’s nursery (now a school room once again, since Virginia’s children are now living there) after she rejected his marriage proposal. It was dramatic enough, though I felt the character wasn’t developed enough for it to matter as much as it could have done. Georgina’s return to the party girl, not investing in relationships and out to have a good time does work since it’s explained by her losses during the war. For me, though, this is the very reason it also feels disappointing. Her wartime experiences are what moved her away from this and so this feels like a retrogression for her character. She is now neither the ingenue from Series Three or the substantial Georgina of Series Four, and I’m not quite sure what to make of who’s left.Most interesting in this episode was Hudson’s discrete disposal of the suicide note. It’s all perfectly in character for him to protect Georgina from added guilt as well as the Bellamy name. All the same, this small act feels rather shocking and unpleasant to watch.</blockquote>

Verification: Who played Sue Ellen in Dallas?