History Series / ManorHouse

** Averted, by contrast, by her sister Prof. Dr. Avril Anson. Because her Edwardian position as an unwed spinster is no where near as critical to the household or as pleasant as Lady Oliff-Cooper's, she spends most of the series quietly disagreeing with everything she sees, trying to deal with the "gilded cage" she's been locked in, and deeply upset by the changes in personality her family members have displayed. She becomes stressed and emotionally exhausted to the point where she has to leave the show early for her own emotional wellbeing.

** Also averted by the above-mentioned Master Guy, who enjoyed being able to boss people around for the first few days and then seemed to grow quite lonely and constrained within the rigid hierarchy, prefering to spend time with the downstairs staff since they were more informal.

** Averted, by contrast, by her sister Prof. Dr. Avril Anson. Because her Edwardian position as an unwed spinster is no where near as critical to the household or as pleasant as Lady Oliff-Cooper's, she spends most of the series quietly disagreeing with everything she sees, trying to deal with the "gilded cage" she's been locked in, and deeply upset by the changes in personality her family members have displayed.

** Averted, by contrast, by her sister Dr. Avril Anson. Because her Edwardian position as an unwed spinster is no where near as critical to the household or as pleasant as Lady Oliff-Cooper's, she spends most of the series quietly disagreeing with everything she sees and trying to find ways to escape the "gilded cage" she's been locked in.

* BecomingTheMask: Several participants to different degrees, most of them belonging to the privileged upstairs. For instance, John, playing the roll of a newly-knighted nouveau riche, becomes arrogant, assuring the downstairs workers that he understands their hardships and is a benevolent employer while at the same time being unyielding, unsympathetic and bigoted to them and others, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his personal opinions are starting to sound increasingly dismissive and self-entitled--at one point, he even tells his sister-in-law that he thinks educating women is a waste of money. However his wife, Dr. Anna Oliff-Cooper, is possibly the most extreme example. A modern, well-educated, capable, intelligent medical doctor in the beginning, but after just three months of living the life of an upper-crust Edwardian society woman... by the end, it's like she's been brainwashed. It gets just a tad eerie.

---> '''Lady Oliff-Cooper''' ''(in reference to her son, Guy)'': And I was thinking to myself: 'He mustn't get too close to the servants'. Because eventually when he inherits the house, he'll have to stand his distance as the lord and master. And then I thought to myself: 'Oh dear, how ridiculous'. Of course because this isn't all for real, in three months time we go back home again. But for just that brief moment, this seemed completely real.

* BecomingTheMask: Several participants to different degrees, most of them belonging to the privileged upstairs. For instance, Sir John becomes arrogant, assuring the downstairs workers that he understands their hardships and is a benevolent employer while at the same time being unyielding, unsympathetic and bigoted to them and others, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his personal opinions are starting to sound increasingly dismissive and self-entitled--at one point, he even tells his sister-in-law that he thinks educating women is a waste of money. His wife, Lady Oliff-Cooper, is the most extreme example. A modern, well-educated, capable, intelligent professional in the beginning, but three months of living the life of an upper-crust Edwardian society woman... by the end, it's like she's been brainwashed. It gets just a tad eerie.

** Averted, by contrast, by her sister Miss Avril Anson. Because her position as an unwed spinster is no where near as critical to the household or as pleasant as Lady Oliff-Cooper's, she spends most of the series quietly disagreeing with everything she sees and trying to find ways to escape the "gilded cage" she's been locked in.

--> '''Lady Oliff-Cooper''' ''(in reference to her son, Guy)'': And I was thinking to myself: 'He mustn't get too close to the servants'. Because eventually when he inherits the house, he'll have to stand his distance as the lord and master. And then I thought to myself: 'Oh dear, how ridiculous'. Of course because this isn't all for real, in three months time we go back home again. But for just that brief moment, this seemed completely real.

* BecomingTheMask: Several participants to different degrees, but Lady Oliff-Cooper is the most extreme example. A modern, well-educated, capable, intelligent professional in the beginning, but three months of living the life of an upper-crust Edwardian society woman... by the end, it's like she's been brainwashed. It gets just a tad eerie.

** Averted, by contrast, by her sister, interestingly enough.

* EstrogenBrigadeBait: Rob, Charlie, Kenny, Tristan.
** Jonty Oliff-Cooper, for girls who like the more refined, intellectual type.

* {{Meganekko}}: Becky. Kind of a pity that she's...

* SingleTear: Edgar let's one slip during the aforementioned [[HeelRealization Heel Realization.]]

* DisproportionateRetribution: Sir John Oliff-Cooper hands down a particularly harsh one to the entire staff after a social faux-pas. [[spoiler: The Oliff-Cooper clan gave the entire staff the night off while he and his family dined out. They all had a rowdy get-together at a local pub to blow off some steam. Uncannily, they chose [[OhCrap the exact same restaurant the Oliff-Coopers were at.]] Sir John suspended all time off for the entire staff as punishment.]] Truly, this was [[ThisIsUnforgivable unforgivable.]]

** Poor, poor Jonty Oliff-Cooper.

'''!!This show contains examples of:'''

'''This show contains examples of:'''

* Meganekko: Becky. Kind of a pity that she's...

* ButtMonkey: Kenny. Being hallboy basically means being this professionally. 17 hours a day, seven days a week, bed in the front hall, first to get up, make the fires, and wake everyone else up, plucker of ducks, and lowest paid into the bargain. On the other hand, he's also the one who successfully [[spoiler: carries on a fling with Jessica the housemaid, right up to the end]].

* EstrogenBrigadeBait: Rob, Charlie, Kenny.

* OutOfFocus: Mrs. Davies, Becky, Tristan, Antonia, Jessica, Ellen. Responsible? Good-natured? Did your backbreaking labor day in and day out without drama or secret love affairs? Well... good for you.

* SpotlightStealingSquad: Mr. Edgar, Rob, Charlie, Kenny and Jessica.

* BecomingTheMask: Several participants to different degrees, but Lady Oliff-Cooper is the most extreme example. A modern, well-educated, capable, intelligent professional in the beginning, but half a year of living the life of an upper-crust Edwardian society woman...

* SculleryMaid: Kelly, Lucy, Ellen.

** Also, the scullery maids, Kelly, Lucy, and Ellen. Seventeen hours a day, keep the fires stoked, and take orders from [[Jerkass Dubiard the chef.]]

* ButtMonkey: Kenny. Being hallboy basically means being this professionally. 17 hours a day, seven days a week, bed in the front hall, first to get up, make the fires, and wake everyone else up, and lowest paid. On the other hand, he's also the one who successfully [[spoiler: carries on a fling with Jessica the housemaid, right up to the end]].

* OutOfFocus: Mrs. Davies, Becky, Tristan, Antonia, Jessica. Responsible? Good-natured? Did your backbreaking labor day in and day out without drama or secret love affairs? Well... good for you.
** After two failures walk out, Jessica arrives and successfully assumes the role of scullery maid. You will never hear from her again.

* AFatherToHisMen: Edgars, the butler, to the staff. He actually admits to coming to think of them as his grandchildren.

* HeelRealization: An intriguing inversion. Mr. Edgars' grandfather had actually been a real butler in the Edwardian era. An icy, distant, authoritarian figure, he inspired silent terror in the young boy. In his shoes sixty years later, a shaken Edgars comes to understand [[TearJerker just why he had to be that way.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Edgars, the butler, to the staff. Though undeniably strict and intimidating, it's noted that he would actually have been considered lenient by the standards of the old days. Also noteworthy that an early act of leniency comes back to bite him, rather viciously, at which point he is forced to affirm the "Authority Figure" part of the trope.

** By contrast, Sir John. See the entry for [[DisproportionateRetribution Disproportionate Retribution]].

* ButtMonkey: Kenny. Being hallboy basically means professional butt-monkey. 17 hours a day, seven days a week, sleeps in the front hall, first to get up, make the fires, and wake everyone else up. On the other hand, he's also the one who successfully [[spoilers: carries on a fling with Jessica the housemaid, right up to the end]].

* OutOfFocus: Mrs. Davies, Becky, Tristan, Antonia, Jessica. Responsible? Good-natured? Did your backbreaking labor day in and day out without drama or rule-breaking? Well... good for you.
** After two failures, Jessica arrives and successfully assumes the role of scullery maid. You will never hear from her again.

* OutOfFocus: Mrs. Davies, Becky, Antonia, Jessica. Responsible? Good-natured? Did your backbreaking labor day in and day out without self-defeating behavior? Well... good for you.