It would never have happened in the time of strait-laced Edwardian butler Mr Hudson from the original Upstairs Downstairs.
But extra-marital lesbian scenes will feature in next Sunday’s episode of the BBC show in a bid to boost ratings. Doctor Who star Alex Kingston and Silent Witness actress Emilia Fox will play female lovers who scandalise 165 Eaton Place.
The two women are shown sharing a passionate kiss, and in another scene they are in bed together.
In one erotically charged moment, Kingston’s character, the archaeologist Dr Blanche Mottershead, slowly and provocatively traces her finger down the front of Fox’s body. She tells her: ‘There is a visceral thrill when you stumble on a find, whether you roll away a stone and discover a ransacked tomb or dredge the sands and bring up the shattered cup.’
The controversial storyline is part of an attempt by the BBC to sex up the show so it can compete with its ITV costume drama rival Downton Abbey, which has so far proved a bigger ratings hit.
Kingston’s free-thinking character, who joined the series last week, has already caused ripples by questioning the established order of things in the grand London house.
But she brings social disgrace on to the household when she rekindles a past sexual relationship with the beautiful and bisexual Lady Portia Alresford, played by Fox.
Lady Portia unexpectedly comes back into Blanche’s life after an absence of almost four years. Fox’s character is now the happily married wife of an MP with three children but she is determined to bring her former lover back into her life.
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Emilia Fox thinks she and Alex Kingston make a “great pair of lovers”.
The ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ actress - who portrays Lady Portia Alresford in the BBC period drama - explained the duo “weren’t nervous” at all about their upcoming steamy lesbian love scene, and acting out the raunchy plot was a “wonderful” experience.
She told Closer magazine: “Alex and I make a great pair of lovers! It was wonderful - we just went for it. We weren’t nervous, because we just decided to have fun with it and it’s good to be asked to do something you’ve never done before.”
Heidi Thomas, the writer and creator of ‘Upstairs Downstairs’, has previously admitted the pair’s lesbian liaison will mean there is a “real whiff of scandal in the air” when the show returns to screens.
She said: “These are two brilliant, intellectual women who have a deeply romantic friendship in the tradition of the great Edwardian romantics, which gives each of them endless stimulation and satisfaction.
“There is a real whiff of scandal in the air. When this relationship becomes apparent in the household there are various reactions both upstairs and downstairs.
“The relationship is covert and difficult. It causes a bit of a stir when it all comes out, but Blanche finds support and sympathy from an unlikely quarter.”
Original Source - Closer Magazine
