Jean Marsh, Photo Credit: Mike Marsland/WireImage

Actress Jean Marsh, star and co-creator of the 1970s original “Upstairs Downstairs” as well as the BBC’s revamped version of show, has suffered a mild stroke, according to the BBC.

Marsh, 77,  has won multiple Emmy nominations for her role as maid Rose Buck.  She is expected to miss the first few episodes of the season.

“Unfortunately I won’t be returning to Eaton Place quite as quickly as I had hoped,” Marsh said in a statement released by the BBC.  ”I am looking forward to spending time with Rose again when I’m match-fit and I miss the cast and crew tremendously.”

The show was set to begin filming next week.  “Upstairs Downstairs” followed the lives of the Bellamys of Belgravia and their servants  who lived below them.  She has said of returning to the show:  ”I said yes, partly because it was the BBC, because it’s so chic, and partly because of timing… 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 new “Upstairs Downstairs” is again set at 165 Eaton Place but in 1936, with six years elapsed since the original series and with a new family ensconced in the plush London home. The staff is new, too, save for Marsh’s Rose, who has gone from parlor maid to housekeeper.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.