Edwardian Country House

An Edwardian Country House in Scotland is to be brought back to life. One family will take on the mantle of privilege and 12 individuals the yoke of service. For the next three months they've volunteered to immerse themselves in a world of social inequality and rigid class distinctions as they move through time from 1905 (when the house was built) to 1914.

At a time when industrial and commercial wealth was only just being accepted into the ranks of high society, it was crucial for a nouveau riche family like the Olliff-Coopers to hold and improve their position at the top. In episode two we will watch this happen, as Sir John and Lady Olliff-Cooper set about using their new assets including their country house, their male servants and their French chef to maximum affect in that most powerful social weapon - the dinner party.

This week the staffing crisis comes to a head. Mr Edgar the butler is dealing with virtual rebellion downstairs. They are one person down once more and they are campaigning for time off. This was a hot issue in the Edwardian period - the vast majority of employers including the masters and mistresses of servants were not obliged to give any time off or annual holidays. Servants could end up working over 100 hours a week.

Our family and staff are half way through their time at Manderston and Sir John has decided that standards must be raised to their Edwardian maximum. He is stepping up the pressure by holding a weekend Friday to Monday shooting party.

The occasion of a ball on the theme of Empire is an opportunity to place Manderston in a wider context. Homes like Manderston were built on the spoils of Empire and the international markets it produced. Their owners were men who became so rich and so successful that they saw the world as their oyster and the British race as the finest in the world.

Three months at Manderston are drawing to a close and everyone has to face up to going back to his or her normal life. A servants' ball is to bring the family and their staff in direct contact on the staff's home ground. This proves an uncomfortable experience for Sir John who is beginning to realise that the apparent deference of his servants may only have been surface deep. By now everyone in the house has been exposed for three months to nothing but Edwardian culture. From this vantage point they consider what their Edwardian future might have been. In each of their parting rituals we see them weigh up the pros and cons of their life as the last living Edwardians. They say their goodbyes dressed to take up their old lives in the modern world.