"Upstairs, Downstairs" was originally an idea by two actress friends, Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, for a comedy called "Behind the Green Baize Door". It would focus on two housemaids, played by Marsh and Atkins, in a large English Country House in the Victorian era. They soon added a family upstairs, as Marsh recognised "Servants have to serve somebody". In summer 1969, they took this idea to Sagitta Productions, which was run by John Hawkesworth and John Whitney. They soon removed the comedy element, changed the setting to a large English Townhouse in Edwardian London and the title became "Below Stairs". It was first offered to Granada Television in Manchester, but they declined as they already had a period drama, called "A Family at War", about to start. However, Stella Richman, the Controller of Programmes at London Weekend Television, saw potential, and in April 1970, the first series was commissioned.