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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 344437" data-attributes="member: 23">Series One Why Is Her Door Locked?In so many ways this looks and feels like a conventional story - certainly by the standards of dramatic television in the decades that would follow. There’s a kidnap; a breakdown; a courtroom drama; the revelation of a marriage proposal… Scratching the surface, though, there’s an awful lot that’s unconventional.Firstly, it’s refreshing even today that the kidnapped child is brought into the key household rather than being taken away from it. Stopping the viewer feeling too complicit, the kidnapper is still othered, at least for the episode’s first act in which Mrs Bridges is behaving strangely and there’s gossip and tut-tutting in the household about her locked door (Marjorie crisply reminding Hudson that she doesn’t permit her staff to lock their doors is another little titbit which further drives home their lack of what most would consider very basic rights).Not knowing where the story was going, and with Mrs Bridges’ erratic behaviour attributed to her grief over Emily’s suicide - still very much in the air as this episode opened - I wondered if the strange noises heard behind the door to Mrs Bridges’ room while she was downstairs were actually leading up to some kind of ghost story. Or some ghoulish setup where Marjorie had a swinging noose in her room as a guilty reminder of her failing. A baby didn’t cross my mind at all, and even once he was shown, I assumed there would be a simple explanation, such as her taking care of him for a relative or friend.And this is where the series sets up its situations so well. I responded to the situation with the same kind of disbelief as the rest of the household. Mrs Bridges seems such an unlikely kidnapper, which is why this story works. The standards are either ruthless ransomers or a young, recently-bereaved mother. It’s only as the story opens out that it becomes clear that Mrs Bridges is to all intents and purposes a recently-bereaved mother, since she felt maternal towards Emily. Of course, she was the critical type of mother, and this is what she is coming to terms with. But under the surface is also the reminder that she doesn’t appear to have had a child of her own. Probably wisely, seeing how pregnant servants have fared, but still…As well as Angela Baddeley, it’s terrific to see Gordon Jackson being given more to do as Hudson glides into court (it turns out he spends some of his spare time in the gallery observing cases out of fascination for the skill of the prosecutors) and calmly speaks to them of Mrs Bridges’ fine character before the quiet revelation that he’s proposed to her. Again, we learn something of importance in an unconventional way. I hadn’t noticed any hint of romance between them in previous episodes, so this is the first I knew of this angle to the relationship. And of course, that’s the point. Hudson is a pragmatist. He and Mrs Bridges are very practical people and this doesn’t appear to be a proposal based on romance, but on the simple fact that each recognises the need for companionship in their golden years. Perhaps this puts them on a better footing to marry than most.The thing that really stood out to me in this episode was the Bellamys’ entitlement and concern with keeping up appearances. One of the funniest little moments of the series so far came when there was talk of the police being brought in which could lead to Mrs Bridges’ arrest, and Marjorie protested to Richard that this simply could not happen because she was due to give an important dinner party the following week and couldn’t possibly find another good cook in so short a time. Likewise, the subterfuge involved when roping in Hudson to casually tap his police friend for information about the family of the kidnapped child in order to return him without notifying the police came very easily. Their visit to the Webbers to return their child, the Bellamys exuding wealth dressed in their finery and waving money around in the reasonably modest living room of the shell-shocked family. It was all about intimidation. We saw them through the eyes of this good, ordinary couple, and it wasn’t pretty.But, of course, it’s all about the shades of grey. I don’t blame the Webbers for finding the Bellamys repugnant, but as we get to see them behind closed doors and get to know them a little better each week, I find myself liking them, and while I wouldn’t want to be a member of their staff, it’s clear that they care for their household as much as society allows and will go out of their way to look after them. It’s almost sweet.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?