This wooden performance is an oddity in the series. A very wooden script and directing by numbers- so mechanical. Acting dismal, desperately needs the other characters as these are the weakest. 'Sarah,' an understudy from pygmlian, is about as convincing as Dick van Dyke's chimney sweep but without the compensatory skills. Whole thing desperately wants to be Wilde- but fails. The valuables the characters want to steal look like charity shop repro and sets/ lighting require vibrant cast to work, which they haven't got. Repartee about pigs and spat-out cigar-butts don't make convincing Swedes, though the acting resembles the near relation.
10 Reviews
This episode was 'the pits'...
arrival14 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Though it goes against the grain, and hurts me to say it (being the die-hard UD fan that I am, and probably its most 'loyal') of this otherwise fabulous series, and to use a modern phrase I hate; this episode was the absolute 'pits'...
After almost half a century, I am still unable to follow or understand what it is all about... If it was not for the fact that whenever I watch the series in its entirety for continuity purposes (i.e. the reason for Sarah's second departure) - I would not waste my time ever watching this episode and simply skip it - but I'm a completist. In fact; I actually fell asleep this time around - which is unheard of during any other episode from the series - good or bad, and however many times I have watched them! I think everyone feels the same. None of the characters that are featured here behave or speak in any way that resemble their previous manner, and therefore I struggle to think what the script writer - or indeed anyone associated in the production of this particular episode were on at the time...
Make of it what you will; I will spend no more time even trying to review this nonsense...
I will simply say that this was definitely UD's lowest point, and that it would have been a great pity for anyone that tuned into 'Upstairs, Downstairs' for the very first time on the night they aired this, as they'd never tune into it ever again...
After almost half a century, I am still unable to follow or understand what it is all about... If it was not for the fact that whenever I watch the series in its entirety for continuity purposes (i.e. the reason for Sarah's second departure) - I would not waste my time ever watching this episode and simply skip it - but I'm a completist. In fact; I actually fell asleep this time around - which is unheard of during any other episode from the series - good or bad, and however many times I have watched them! I think everyone feels the same. None of the characters that are featured here behave or speak in any way that resemble their previous manner, and therefore I struggle to think what the script writer - or indeed anyone associated in the production of this particular episode were on at the time...
Make of it what you will; I will spend no more time even trying to review this nonsense...
I will simply say that this was definitely UD's lowest point, and that it would have been a great pity for anyone that tuned into 'Upstairs, Downstairs' for the very first time on the night they aired this, as they'd never tune into it ever again...
a very strange episode
christaylorq9 January 2013
Pleased am not the only one surprised at this particular episode in an otherwise splendid series; I particularly like the series as coming across very much like theatre plays with plenty of character build up. I recently got the whole box set and watching them in sequence but in this episode I fell asleep! I was then interested to read that "The Swedish Tiger" is generally regarded as the low point in the whole series. Looking forward to all the remaining episodes as have become quite a fan and remember bits from the original t v viewing in the 1970s but it is now like seeing them for the first time. I had not realised the first few episodes were in black and white but did not detract from the enjoyment, as of course a period drama. I did not really get into the recent new adaption of it nor got to see Downtown Abbey but there is something unique about the original Upstairs Downstairs, probably to do with the pacing and general direction/production. Recommended in the main.
A very odd episode indeed!
venusboys34 January 2013
I just finished watching this episode and came here to find out if I'd lost my nut or it actually was as bizarre as I perceived it to be. The previous episode was also a bit odd but this one, so much stranger still. The dialogue was baroque, the behaviors of the characters toward each other unfamiliar. Most of the cast seems absent and I would not have been surprised if it had turned out to all have been a dream, except this is not the sort of program to pull that stunt. I'm not sure if it's meant to be 'theater of the absurd' as one reviewer suggests. The plot and resolution are fairly clear and logical, rather it is the elaborate play of language... and the near total lack of the other servants, that sets this episode on a strange island of its own. It's hard to suggest it is a 'bad' episode... just very mismatched with the rest of the series. Sort of as if Hunter S. Thompson had stopped by to write an episode of Gilligan's Island and then disappeared in a puff of smoke. The only real complaint I'd have is that the character of Sarah deserved a better setup for her second leaving.
Not the best episode
juanitacicora16 May 2016
I love this show but I must say, this was the only episode of Upstairs Downstairs that I didn't like. Maybe not enough cast,
I love James, Elizabeth and Sarah but only featuring them for most of the episode didn't work, Or not for me anyways. I found a channel on Youtube that has most of the episodes and still I never tire of it. I watch over and over. What a great show, nothing has compared since . Downton Abbey is great but even that for me does not equal. I lived in UK when the show was first aired and watching it again all these years later brings back so many memories. They don't make TV like this anymore
I love James, Elizabeth and Sarah but only featuring them for most of the episode didn't work, Or not for me anyways. I found a channel on Youtube that has most of the episodes and still I never tire of it. I watch over and over. What a great show, nothing has compared since . Downton Abbey is great but even that for me does not equal. I lived in UK when the show was first aired and watching it again all these years later brings back so many memories. They don't make TV like this anymore
Not Everybody Loves Raymond
johnwinn8 February 2021
The Swedish Tiger
Prismark1023 July 2023
Warning: Spoilers
This is simply a bad episode and was poorly shot by the director, hence why you could end up being confused.
It does not help Elizabeth Bellamy suddenly appears and despite her interests in progressive causes. Picks on poor old Sarah.
The episode begins with a stranger looting valuables from the Bellamy household. He is well dressed but when Sarah spots him, she chastises him for not using the servant's exit and entrance.
The stranger is Thorkil Kraft, the valet for Captain Axel Ryttsen. A Swedish soldier who is a guest of James Bellamy while his parents are in Scotland.
James is playing cards with Captain Ryttsen but it is all a charade.
Rytssen and Kraft plan to steal valuable items from the Bellamys and leave poor old Sarah on the lurch.
Once again Sarah shows her gullible side, falling for Kraft's charms even though she knows he is a thief.
There is an interesting but diverting tale here. Shame it never made it to the screen.
It does not help Elizabeth Bellamy suddenly appears and despite her interests in progressive causes. Picks on poor old Sarah.
The episode begins with a stranger looting valuables from the Bellamy household. He is well dressed but when Sarah spots him, she chastises him for not using the servant's exit and entrance.
The stranger is Thorkil Kraft, the valet for Captain Axel Ryttsen. A Swedish soldier who is a guest of James Bellamy while his parents are in Scotland.
James is playing cards with Captain Ryttsen but it is all a charade.
Rytssen and Kraft plan to steal valuable items from the Bellamys and leave poor old Sarah on the lurch.
Once again Sarah shows her gullible side, falling for Kraft's charms even though she knows he is a thief.
There is an interesting but diverting tale here. Shame it never made it to the screen.
Jarringly inappropriate? Or delightfully adventurous?
flondolfo9 March 2021
As a youngster, I watched this one with my parents. As the credits rolled, my mother shook her head and proclaimed, "That was a load of rubbish!" My father concurred. 'The Swedish Tiger' has a reputation as the only truly bad episode of 'Upstairs, Downstairs' and it is easy to see why. It is certainly the least representative of the series as a whole.
'Upstairs, Downstairs' generally made a good job of mixing naturalistic humour with serious drama but 'The Swedish Tiger' is pure light comedy. As such, it is well done: with clever, witty, deliberately-artificial dialogue. James, Elizabeth, Sarah and Edward are the only series regulars in it and they, along with the guest cast (which includes the genuinely-Swedish Sven-Bertil Taube), handle the sophisticated shenanigans with aplomb.
On the one hand, the tone of the production is egregiously out of kilter with that of the rest of the series. On the other hand, it surely deserves some credit for daring to be so boldly different. I can see why many people disliked this episode - but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
'Upstairs, Downstairs' generally made a good job of mixing naturalistic humour with serious drama but 'The Swedish Tiger' is pure light comedy. As such, it is well done: with clever, witty, deliberately-artificial dialogue. James, Elizabeth, Sarah and Edward are the only series regulars in it and they, along with the guest cast (which includes the genuinely-Swedish Sven-Bertil Taube), handle the sophisticated shenanigans with aplomb.
On the one hand, the tone of the production is egregiously out of kilter with that of the rest of the series. On the other hand, it surely deserves some credit for daring to be so boldly different. I can see why many people disliked this episode - but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Something different, and hard to compare to the others.
creynold214 December 2012
The first time I saw this I agreed it was the absolute "pits," but on a second viewing I realized it was an attempt at theater of the absurd, along the lines of Samuel Beckett. When you think of it that way, this episode is actually kind of funny. It's clearly not something the writers tried again, though.
Lampoons of British manners were a prime subject for theater of the absurd, as in Eugene Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano." Consider how this episode opens: Nearly five minutes pass with no dialogue and then two characters (Sarah and the Swedish visitor) open the dialogue by saying, "Oof!" one right after the other.
Lampoons of British manners were a prime subject for theater of the absurd, as in Eugene Ionesco's "The Bald Soprano." Consider how this episode opens: Nearly five minutes pass with no dialogue and then two characters (Sarah and the Swedish visitor) open the dialogue by saying, "Oof!" one right after the other.
Whaddya, kiddin' me?
rick_lapin6 October 2022
Bad ersatz Oscar Wilde.
Performed badly.
By actors who don't believe in it any more than we do, since they are not asked to portray anything even remotely resembling actual human beings.
Sarah is the only sign of life from beginning to end of this tedious would-be comedic farce, and does her best to "make it go" -- but in vain: Her character has been so bent out of shape by the script that it's a wonder they ever let her back on the show.
Same with James and Elizabeth; Liz actually coming off worse than her brother, since you can at least imagine an amusing evening in his company -- away from the house, of course -- while Sis is so unutterably self-righteous and priggish that you wouldn't want her in your bed if she showed up buck naked with a bottle of fine Schnapps.
Down the Memory Hole with it ... and quickly, too.
Performed badly.
By actors who don't believe in it any more than we do, since they are not asked to portray anything even remotely resembling actual human beings.
Sarah is the only sign of life from beginning to end of this tedious would-be comedic farce, and does her best to "make it go" -- but in vain: Her character has been so bent out of shape by the script that it's a wonder they ever let her back on the show.
Same with James and Elizabeth; Liz actually coming off worse than her brother, since you can at least imagine an amusing evening in his company -- away from the house, of course -- while Sis is so unutterably self-righteous and priggish that you wouldn't want her in your bed if she showed up buck naked with a bottle of fine Schnapps.
Down the Memory Hole with it ... and quickly, too.
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