The costume drama created by Alfred Shaughnessy of ’Upstairs Downstairs’ fame. The series follows the Bournes of Larkfield Manor, an aristocratic family whose daughters, Elizabeth (Sally Osborne), Anne (Jennifer Lonsdale) and Victoria (Susan Skipper), find themselves torn between two ages as the Second World War approaches. Though none of the three girls are fully comfortable in the traditionally passive role aristocratic society affords them, awaiting a suitable marriage proposal, will they be any better prepared for the changes in the role of women World War II brings about?
Dependent on their parents for income and bound by the remnants of the previous century’s code of social behaviour, they represent a small backwater of Thirties life. The girls’ great hope is to find a suitable husband, and their expectations are high; but who is to know that what awaits all women at the end of the ‘devil’s decade’ is war?
This period drama originally aired in 108 half hour episodes over two series before it was reformatted to fit an hour-long primetime Sunday evening slot during its final run in 1978. A huge success for ITV in the 1970s, The Cedar Tree picked up the reins for classy period drama from Upstairs Downstairs and is the precursor to today’s highly popular costume dramas such as Cranford and Downton Abbey. Featuring consistently watchable performances from Philip Latham and Susan Engel as the parents of three daughters (one clever, one flighty and one introvert), The Cedar Tree’s extended run of episodes allowed for the extensive character development and continuing plot threads that only a long-running series could allow. – Harry Martineau
Starring Susan Skipper, Ruth Holden, Sally Osborne.