The Duchess of Duke Street: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Duchess of Duke Street is the story of the rise of Louisa Leyton (Gemma Jones) from kitchen maid to the most famous cook in England. Her hotel, the Bentinck on Duke Street, is the turn of the century setting for her affair with Charlie Tyrell (Christopher Cazenove), her run-ins with family members, the activities of her high society guests and the lives of her faithful staff. Over two series this BBC Production tells an interesting and eventful twenty year story which also provides a fascinating insight into life in the early 20th century. The series is in fact based on the life story of celebrated cook Rosa Lewis, who ran the Cavendish Hotel on London's Duke Street.

Series details

• Title: The Duchess of Duke Street
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama
• Premiere date: 1976-09-04
• Final broadcast date listed: 1977-12-24
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: BBC One
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 13354
• IMDb ID: tt0077004
• TVDB ID: 78361

Cast and credited roles

• Gemma Jones — Louisa Trotter
• Christopher Cazenove — Charles "Charlie" Tyrrell, later Lord Haslemere
• Richard Vernon — Major Smith-Barton
• Victoria Plucknett — Mary
• John Cater — Starr
• John Rapley — Mr. Ernest Leyton
• John Welsh — Merriman
• June Brown — Mrs. Violet Leyton
• Mary Healey — Mrs. Cochrane
• Christine Pollon — Aunt Gwyneth
• Holly De Jong — Violet
• Lalla Ward — Lottie

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1976-09-04; final listed air date 1976-12-11; episode order: 15.
• Season 2: premiered 1977-09-03; final listed air date 1977-12-24; episode order: 16.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Duchess of Duke Street on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.