User Reviews

The first 3 or 4 stories are a 10, they are focused on the point of view of the servants and Gemma Jones struggles to become a real chef. Then, for some reason, they reduce Gemma Jones to occasional pop-ins and the stories involved people we've never met, and will never see again, and whatever intrigue they are involved in. I lost interest. I want to continue to see the struggles and triumphs of the people I fell in love with in the first 3/4 episodes. Gemma, all the quirky lovely servants, their relationships.

A bit twee but delightful over-all. Would have like to see Louisa married to Charlie even for one second, but no it was not to be and frankly I dislike a series that kills off one of the main characters at the end of the series -- what is the point of that????? Over-all still liked it even though I had to pay to watch the second season, having been ripped off by Prime Video which allowed me to watch Season 1 for free and after getting me hooked, suddenly forces me to subscribe to Brit Box, disgusting behavior.

The Duchess of Duke Street purports to be a biographical mini-series about Louisa Trotter, the Cockney proprietor of a swank hotel in St. James, London. It's a fair little mini-series but it suffers from a common 1970s malady - manipulation of historical fact to make it more sympathetic to the modern viewer.

In this case the manipulation is so vast and so all-encompassing that the narrative has become wholly unrealistic. Worse, this seems to have been done mainly to sell the show to Americans, because every change seems to be designed to make the main character more sympathetic to the average American. Some examples: the real Louisa, Rosa Lewis, was a beautiful middle-class country girl who looked forward to a good job in service at age 12 like every other girl she knew, but in this series Louisa is Cockney, poor, and forced to work in degrading service because of her evil mom. In real life, Rosa was propositioned by a drunken European nobleman but was saved in time by her caring employer, an illustrious countess; here, Louisa's propositioned by a stuck-up English nobleman and she's almost fired by her callous employer, a stuck-up viscountess. (The nobleman also falls in love with her specifically because she says no - and her love turns him into an America-friendly egalitarian - but that's another entire level of unreality.) In real life, Rosa succeeded because of her talent but also because of her connections with the rich and powerful: Louisa works herself almost to death. And in real life Rosa was a woman of her time, class-conscious, unthinkingly racist, and deeply distrustful of what she considered "loose women" (ie. any woman who had sex outside marriage): but Louisa treats everyone the same, whether King or cockney, as long as they treat her fairly, and winks at "true love". Every bit of it, every aspect, is designed to make Louisa and by extension the series more appealing to 1970s American viewers.

That said: the series is brilliantly acted (Gemma Jones almost saves this single-handedly, but all the actors are first-rate), the writing is natural and the dialogue unforced, and many of the back stories are taken from real life (Fred the dog, the "conscie" footman, Merriman) and are really legitimately funny. All of that works, and it's enough to make this worth watching, at least once. But much of the comedy of Rosa Lewis's life as shown in the source text (Daphne Fielding's "The Duchess of Jermyn Street") is lost in the rush to make Louisa America-friendly. It could have been so much better.

One star. Warning: contains spoilers. I write this review as a warning to viewers who might react similarly to me.

I'm the only reviewer so far giving the bottom rating, so I better explain why. The series got off to a great start in episode 1 and immediately drew me in. I was willing to overlook the very poor video quality of the version I watched in the USA from Amazon Prime. The characters were engaging, and I looked forward to the story unfolding.

But I quit after episode 2, which completely blew me out of the water. The motivations and actions of the main characters disgusted me. I couldn't relate to them, respect them, or watch them any longer. Louisa, Augustus, and the Prince engaged in a corrupt relationship, supported by those surrounding them. The cumulative weight of the following events overwhelmed me, all in just one TV episode.

1. Louisa Leyton, the assistant cook, married Augustus Trotter, a man she didn't love, with the intention of also becoming mistress to the exploitative Prince of Wales, just to further her career ambitions. Had she no respect for marriage, love, or the human soul?

2. Augustus Trotter, the butler, married Louisa, a woman who didn't love him, and agreed to her becoming the Prince's mistress. How could any husband demean his wife like this and stoop to such depravity?

3. Louisa's mother, Mrs. Leyton, was more interested in her daughter's social status than happiness.

4. Louisa's father, Mr. Leyton, was a complete wimp. He let his wife and daughter walk all over him regarding Louisa's marriage, even though he suspected wrong motives.

5. The Prince of Wales used his dominating position to satisfy his lusts at the expense of ruining the lives of Louisa and Augustus, lower level people. He schemed to get them married in order for him to take Louisa as his 'respectable' mistress. What about adultery is respectable?

6. Monsier Alex's housekeeper, along with an upper class man, both of whose names escape me, cravenly joined in the plot to marry off Louisa to Augustus, knowing its corrupt purpose.

Goodbye, The Duchess of Duke Street. I sadly deleted it from my watch list.

I fell in love with Lord Hazelton. I loved the series, especially those special moments with Charlie and Louisa. I only wished that there had been more interaction between Louisa and Charlie. I just rented the whole series from the library and I think it has to be as good now as it was when it was first shown. Without hitting you over the head with the results of war, the series reminded us of how almost a whole generation was lost to England. Each story also had some of the changes that were caused by the war, especially the changes of those individuals in service. The reason the stories were so good, the plot would change from humor to sadness and keep you the viewer slightly of balance I loved Delightful Mary,and the blustery old Major they were my favorites next to Charlie. I liked it as well as Upstairs, Downstairs. I cared more for these characters. Thank you Masterpiece theater for this wonderful production.I wish we had more of this genre in the future.

This was a well-made series on a typically small British budget.

A working-class cockney matriarch suddenly finds herself catapulted into control of the most fashionable hotel in Georgian London. An' don't she know how to keep them toffs in line? You betcha.

The first part of the series is a comedy of manners that plays-out the contrast between upper-class sensibility and arrogance against uncompromising no-nonsense working-class pragmatism for all that it is worth. Later episodes tend to centre upon relationships, as the gap between our host's and her guests disposition and manners gradually begin to narrow.

The programme was made with panache and excellent performances were given by all involved. It just tended to go on for a bit longer than the ideas entertainment value. As most dramas tend to do.

The Yanks seem to have liked it though!

First of all I've seen that every review here raves about Gemma Jones portrayal. I'm less enthusiastic. I think she got half of her portrayal spot on ; the plucky, independent, never give up woman but she was far less effective at playing the beautiful woman who became the mistress of the king. Regardless of how pretty, a long standing mistress/ courtesan was required to portray the gracious lady. Jones' Portrayal was so forceful and unapologetically lower class Cockney that you constantly ask yourself why so many nobleman were attracted. Had Jones been stunningly beautiful you could say" oh that's why" but she's at best an average sort of pretty.

Aside from that, the only flaw IMO were the storylines about the visitors to the hotel. Some were entertaining and others were just plain silly and campy. I would have preferred far less attention to those and more to Gemma, Charlie and Marie.

Overall, this is a good series but nowhere near Downton, Middkemarch, the new Poldark.