KATHERINE HUDSON (most frequently remembered as Mrs. Bridges) was a character on the 1970's UK period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. She was played by the late UK actress Angela Baddeley.
165 Eaton Place's Queen of the Kitchen[]
Kate Bridges was the long-time cook at 165 Eaton Place in Belgravia, London. She was second in the servant hierarchy at the Bellamy household, after the butler, Angus Hudson.
Like all households, Kate was called Mrs. Bridges, mainly as a courtesy, as all housekeepers and cooks were considered to be Mrs. even if they were not married. Kate was a spinster from Bristol.
She came along with Lady Marjorie Bellamy, after she was married to Richard Bellamy. Kate began her years as a servant as a Kitchen Maid to a Mrs. Arkwright, the Southwold family cook. Time and respectability made her become a top-notch cook, whose specialty was French cooking.
Her most notable assistants (kitchen maids) were Emily, a sweet but very bedraggled Irish girl who, after being rejected by a footman from another household, killed herself; and a slow-witted but very honest woman named Ruby Finch. Despite her constant scolding of Emily and later of Ruby, it only hid the fact that she truly cared a lot about them.
Mrs. Bridges had a guilt induced breakdown after Emily's suicide when she took a baby from its pram at a greengrocers nearby the Eaton Place home. She was taken to court, and was saved by Mr. Hudson, who had asked her for her hand in marriage when they retire from service.
Downstairs, Mrs. Bridges was considered to be the matriarch of the servants hall. She could be tough and harsh and known for her scolding and tantrums, but she could also be very motherly and compassionate. She is also known for being more forgiving than Hudson.
During the series finale, Kate and Hudson are married after Georgina Worsley marries Lord Stockbridge. They move to Hastings, on the southeast coast and work at a guest house called Sea View.
This was a set up for a spin off featuring the newlywed Mr. and Mrs. Hudson and their former kitchen maid, Ruby. However, not long after Upstairs, Downstairs ended, the actress, Angela Baddeley, unexpectedly passed away and because of that, so did the idea for the spin off.