IT is one of the best-loved series of the 1970s.

And the long-awaited return of Upstairs Downstairs is set to be a big hit of the winter TV schedules.

But there is an added incentive for people in Huddersfield to tune in.

For some of a certain age may remember a young Jean Marsh, a star of both series, in her young days in Huddersfield.

The actress, 76, began her professional career with the former Huddersfield Repertory Company back in the 1950s.

She appeared in a number of productions by the company, which used the former New Theatre in Venn Street, which was previously the Empress Ballroom.

And she was in good company: other stars who made their bow in Huddersfield include Prunella Scales and Roy Barraclough.

Born Jean Lyndsey Torren Marsh on July 1, 1934 in Stoke Newington, London, she was the daughter of Emmeline, who worked in a bar and as a theatre dresser, and Henry, who was a handyman and printer’s assistant.

She became interested in performing after taking dance and mime classes as therapy for an illness.

She began acting on stage, with a stint at Huddersfield Rep in the 1950s, but it wasn’t long before she transferred to the bright lights of London.

But Marsh, of course, is best known as co-creator and star of the original Upstairs Downstairs.

165 Eaton Place, Belgravia, became an iconic address if ever there was one.

But if you’ve never heard of it, you’ve clearly never seen an episode of the original run of Upstairs Downstairs.

The house was at the centre of the classic drama, created by actresses Eileen Atkins and Marsh, which ran for 68 episodes between 1971 and 1975.

However, most of the old faces have gone, to be replaced by a new family headed by Ed Stoppard and Keeley Hawes as Sir Hallam and Lady Agnes Holland, who move into the house in 1936 following a diplomatic posting abroad.

Marsh does, however, return as former parlour maid Rose Buck, who is charged with finding new staff.

Atkins, who didn’t appear in the original series, joins the cast as Maud, the formidable mother of Sir Hallam.

Marsh said: “I said yes, partly because it was the BBC, because it’s so chic, and partly because of timing.

“I realised if we didn’t do something now, I might not be alive if it was done again.

“Enough time has gone by that it won’t offend people to recreate it. People aren’t necessarily going to say, ‘How could you do that Jean’?”

The series starts with Rose wandering through the mess the town house has become after six years of standing derelict.

It’s an emotional moment for Rose and Marsh said: “I can’t think about coming back without feeling tearful, not bad tearful but just emotional.

“The past is there, exquisitely recreated, and it’s startlingly upsetting to see the house where I lived for five years, and was Rose for 35 years, looking a mess,” Marsh says honestly.

There’s been a mighty buzz about ITV1’s Downton Abbey in recent weeks, but TV critics believe is it about to have its crown stolen as the period drama of the year.

Marsh’s earliest screen appearances came in such TV classics as The Twilight Zone and Danger Man.

She also appeared in three Doctor Who adventures, most notably as William Hartnell’s short-lived companion Sara Kingdom.

She and fellow actress Atkins devised Upstairs Downstairs as a comedy, before it became a hugely successful drama. Marsh won an Emmy for her role as housemaid Rose.

Other TV projects include The Saint, The Tomorrow People, and Sensitive Skin.

She and Atkins later re-teamed to create The House of Eliott.

The three-part Upstairs Downstairs starts on Boxing Day on BBC1, at 9pm.