Downton Abbey Read online

  The film is set squarely in this febrile world: it is 1927 and all around there is change – cars, not carriages, are the norm; Edith and Mary want to be firmly in control of their own lives; and Daisy yearns for more than a life of service – but the Crawleys are still at the helm of Downton Abbey and the estate is largely intact.

  The arrival of the King and Queen of course throws everything into disarray, a pivotal event that Julian and producer Gareth Neame thought could work well in the film. ‘I felt we needed an event that would affect the upstairs and downstairs community, all of them involved in the same endeavour to give the film unity,’ explains Julian. ‘In a television series, stories are often not resolved within one week, many go through three or four episodes or even seasons, and there are lots of variations with the stories. For a film, every story must on the whole have its resolution, whether it’s unhappy or happy.’

  The concept of the royal visit also appealed to Julian because, like all the stories in Downton Abbey, it is underpinned by historical reality. In the 1920s, King George V and Queen Mary regularly toured the UK, and stayed at the houses of local peers just as they do in the film. ‘It’s all quite believable that they would tour Yorkshire,’ adds Julian, ‘and it’s remarkable what they would bring with them. I read one royal used to bring his own furniture, which I thought might be a step too far for the film, but I liked the idea that the house in effect becomes theirs while they’re in it. And by bringing in their servant household, as happened in reality and at Downton, it would be as disruptive for the staff as much as anyone else.’

  Julian also remembers his grandparents talking about being summoned to meet the Duke and Duchess of York at a nearby house party just before they became king and queen. ‘The 1920s was a sensitive period for the crown, the First World War had swept away many of the great thrones of Europe,’ he adds. ‘Everyone needed to be sure that the monarchy had a role, and its value needed to be reaffirmed with the people. In fact, King George and Queen Mary were pretty successful at doing this, so much so that the monarchy was able to weather the crisis of their son’s later abdication.

  ‘So part of all that was getting out there and not just meeting the local toffs and waltzing but also being seen by the local population, who could see you were real and not just a profile on a stamp. As part of a visit they would organise a public event, just like the parade we have in the village, so the public could have a legitimate excuse to come and see them.’

  Like the rest of the production team, Julian was keen that the actors playing the royal couple should be good likenesses. He also didn’t want the portrayal of Queen Mary to be overly stuffy, as his feeling was that she was more than her very formal public persona. ‘She knew very well that when the public saw them, they would see what they wanted to see – a proper king and a proper queen, and she had this imperative not to be disappointing. But she was interested in all sorts of things, had friends who were writers and in the theatre, and she was probably more fun to be around than we might think. The formality she gave off acted perhaps as a kind of protection or a shield, to cope with the pressures of being a royal.’

  The seemingly unhappy marriage between Princess Mary and her husband, Lord Lascelles, is also woven into the storyline, a union that did seem something of a mismatch. ‘At the time, there were so many defunct royal houses abroad that Princess Mary had to marry domestically,’ explains Julian, ‘and there were a limited number of senior noblemen who had big enough estates and a way of life that was appropriate for the only daughter of the King. I think the list was pretty short.’

  The film also includes Imelda Staunton’s portrayal of the Queen’s lady-in-waiting Maud Bagshaw. The character is entirely fictitious, although her predicament is not. We discover she has had an illegitimate child – as of course happened in high society, which could just about turn a blind eye to affairs after marriage but was totally unforgiving of illegitimacy. ‘Each class had to develop ways of dealing with this kind of situation,’ adds Julian. ‘Lady Bagshaw chose to keep her daughter Lucy close by and in doing so has to reduce her social status to throw people off the scent.’

  Maud Bagshaw adds to the plethora of strong female characters that have always featured in Downton Abbey, and in the movie, both Lady Mary and Anna Bates show their mettle in their respective spheres of the house. Julian is also adept at giving older women, who are often overlooked on the big and small screen, their due prominence. Principal of these of course is Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, played by Maggie Smith, who delivers some of the most delicious bon mots in the show. It’s almost as if there’s a particular chemistry between the two, Julian clearly writing her part with real affection and Maggie delivering her lines perfectly. Julian modelled Violet on his own Great-aunt Isie, who was born in 1880 and lived through extraordinary times until 1971. These redoubtable women were (and probably still are) common to all families, as Julian has said: ‘There was a whole generation of women like Violet … these incredibly frightening matriarchs in all sorts of family situations, that everyone was half-terrified of and half-loved.’

  As queen of the zinger and withering put-down, Violet also brings plenty of humour to the show, as do other characters, with comedy a constant thread in the series. Julian also ensures the film has its share of laugh-out-loud moments, not least the scene when Mr Molesley (played by Kevin Doyle) serves the King and Queen at dinner. Just when everyone is trying to be very proper in front of the royal couple, Molesley makes the most horrendous faux pas by addressing the King directly – perhaps not a huge deal in today’s world, but we really do feel his total mortification afterwards.

  Romance is also deftly woven into the drama – we’ve seen the slow burn of attraction and the welling of emotion for characters young and old, even Isobel, who in season six was allowed her own fairytale ending with marriage to Lord Merton. In the film it’s the turn of Tom Branson and also Mr Barrow, both of whom have had their fair share of sorrow and who viewers feel deserve happiness and love.

  That search for happiness is very much at the core of Downton Abbey; there are dark and sad stories, but there’s always an overwhelming feeling of positivity. ‘Julian isn’t ashamed of that,’ says producer Gareth Neame. ‘He wants to make people happy, he wants people to enjoy themselves, and I think he’s remarkable at what he can do.’

  RETURN TO HIGHCLERE

  Making the movie of Downton Abbey meant of course returning to Highclere Castle, the key location for filming and the setting for Lord and Lady Grantham’s family estate. The castle, with its soaring towers and grand facade, is a powerful symbol of an aristocratic past, befitting of a family just like the Crawleys, who have for generations built and nurtured the house and its estate.

  Highclere Castle, a commanding presence in the Hampshire countryside, has its own illustrious history and has been lived in by several generations of the Carnarvon family. Remodelled in ‘high Elizabethan style’ between 1839 and 1842, the similarity of Highclere to the Houses of Parliament in London is no coincidence – both buildings are the work of the architect Sir Charles Barry. Despite its grand proportions, Highclere has an intimate and characterful feel inside. The castle, however, is not just a museum piece but a real home, currently to the 8th Earl and Countess of Carnarvon who, despite the disruption caused by filming, have always delighted in the close relationship they have built up over the years with the cast and crew of Downton Abbey.

  Inside the house, filming takes place in the impressive great hall, staircase and gallery, the dining room, drawing room and library. ‘Unlike many estate houses, each room is very individual, with a very different feel,’ explains Donal Woods, the production designer. ‘The owners welcomed us with open arms and it was lovely to be back.’ The treasures and furniture of the Carnarvons often stand in for those of the Crawleys. Portraits of Carnarvon family ancestors are left hanging during filming and Van Dyck’s famous painting of Charles I still provides an impressive backdrop for dining room scenes.<
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  As so many in the production crew were familiar with the house, the process of setting it up again for the film was fairly straightforward. Donal describes it as simply ‘putting the odd photo up and adding furniture’ although concessions are always made to protect the treasures of Highclere, with rubber sheets to protect its ancient floors and a white tablecloth on its antique dining table. The crew must also check for any modern items in and around the house, covering up everything from alarm sensors to radiators, and replacing the lanterns at the front of the house with ones suitable for the period.

  Downton Abbey’s location manager, Sparky Ellis, was also delighted to be back at Highclere, and liaised closely with Lord and Lady Carnarvon and their house manager John Gundill. ‘It’s a Grade I listed building, so you need to do things properly, and if you have eighty to ninety people suddenly descending on the house for the best part of two weeks, it can put an enormous strain on the property.’

  Much of the joy of filming at Highclere is its grand exterior and grounds, and the production team were keen to capture the full splendour of the house and make the most of the beautiful landscape surrounding it for the big screen. To achieve this, director Michael Engler and director of photography Ben Smithard made use of drones, which have improved in reliability over the last two to three years, although the team needed to secure the relevant licence and approvals to fly them over Highclere. Once they did, however, they were able to capture some fantastic aerial footage.

  Behind the Scenes

  THE OPENING MONTAGE

  Robert is coming down as Thomas enters the hall.

  He stops to take the letters from the salver.

  Thomas: ‘Just arrived, m’lord.

  There’s one from Buckingham Palace.’

  Robert: ‘Heavens.’

  The opening montage scene of the movie shows a crested letter making its way from Buckingham Palace, via King’s Cross station in London, to Downton Abbey.

  The production design team put in an immense amount of work into creating detailed authentic-looking props for Downton Abbey, including the letter from Buckingham Palace that we see winging its way to Yorkshire. Kimberley Bright, who handled many of the graphic props explains the process: ‘Multiple copies of the letter were made for each stage of its journey and for every take. We first see it signed by the King’s Private Secretary, Stamfordham, so a new one was needed for each take of the signings. After its journey from Buckingham Palace via the postal train, Post Office and postman on his motorbike to Downton Abbey, we see the letter being opened and read by Lord Grantham. Again, this needed several copies so that he could open a fresh letter for each take.’

  To recreate the letter paper, the Buckingham Palace crest was added by a letterpress company so it was slightly indented into the paper, as it would have been at the time. Historical advisor Alastair Bruce composed the wording of the letter, which was then typed on a 1920s typewriter: ‘This added further texture and character as the age of the typewriter created slightly uneven and wonky text.’

  Kimberley also made all the envelopes by hand and cut them to the much smaller size of letters in the period. As the King owned the Royal Mail, letters sent from Buckingham Palace didn’t require postage stamps; their envelopes were franked with the ‘Privy Purse’ stamp.

  The steam engine that we see thundering through the Yorkshire countryside – shot by the camera crew from a helicopter – is a Q6 no. 63395 locomotive. Built in 1918, it plied the tracks of north-east England for fifty years. Over 60 feet in length and weighing over 110 tons, it now belongs to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway Trust (NYMR). Its home at Pickering Station, also part of the NYMR, stood in for King’s Cross. Pickering is a small rural station so the scene required a huge amount of post-production work by the visual effects team, replacing it with a much larger recreation of King’s Cross based on photos from the era.

  The train sorting room was filmed in a mail carriage supplied by the Great Central Railway Museum in Loughborough.

  The footage of the letter on the final leg of its journey – a motorcyclist riding along the approach to Downton Abbey – was shot using a drone. As director of photography, Ben Smithard, explains: ‘We wanted the opening scene to set the tone and give the film an epic quality right from the beginning.’

  LORD and LADY GRANTHAM

  Hugh Bonneville

  Elizabeth McGovern

  Downton Abbey is the home of the Earl and his wife the Countess of Grantham: Robert and Cora. No one is more aware of the weighty responsibilities they bear in protecting the estate where generations of Crawleys and their staff have lived and worked. As a boy, Robert ran along its corridors and its very bricks are part of him, his whole life dedicated to its care and safekeeping for future generations.

  Over the years, Robert has had to face a changing world, and has wrestled with some tough decisions affecting his family, the estate and the household, the management of which is increasingly the realm of his eldest daughter, Mary. Nonetheless, while time has moved on to 1927, Downton Abbey still stands and life goes on for the Crawley family, as it has for generations. ‘At the beginning of the movie, Lord Grantham is in a fairly calm place,’ explains Hugh Bonneville, who plays the Earl. ‘The world hasn’t shifted on its axis and that’s fine for a conservative like Robert.’

  News of the royal visit, however, is set to puncture the quiet life that Lord Grantham cherishes, although he and the whole household are enormously proud to have King George V and Queen Mary visit their home. As a peer, Robert’s loyalty is not only to his family and estate but also to the Crown, although this centuries-old allegiance must also be balanced against the pressures of the modern world, which we see when Robert announces the impending royal visit just as Mary is worrying about paying for roof repairs.

  Robert: ‘Are you excited?’

  Cora: ‘I am a bit. Are you?’

  Robert: ‘Is it common to admit it?’

  Cora: ‘Not to an American.’

  In preparation for the arrival of the King and Queen, the house is thrown into a state of frenzied activity, ‘It’s like living in a factory,’ remarks Robert as he walks past hordes of servants cleaning in the hallway. Meanwhile Cora enjoys the hustle and bustle of the pre-visit preparations, reminding her of life during the war when the house was turned into an officers’ convalescence home.

  In private, Robert and Cora admit they are excited by the visit, but outwardly they play the part of gracious hosts to perfection. Cora, originally an American heiress, has spent all her married life at Downton and she is well versed in the protocol required, executing an elegant curtsey when she first greets the royal couple.

  Much of the turmoil, however, is below stairs, as Hugh explains: ‘The Crawleys of course want to make it look like a royal visit is water off a duck’s back, but – as with any water-and-duck scenario – there’s a lot of paddling going on underneath. Downstairs the two tribes – the royal servants and the staff of Downton – are at war. While upstairs everything appears to be calm, all card games and tinkling glasses.’

  Cora: ‘… if I know anything about royal visits, we will never stop changing our clothes.’

  Elizabeth McGovern, who plays Cora, revealed there was also something of a buzz on the set, the cast and crew conscious of the fact that they were working on a film. ‘On the one hand, it was a bit like Groundhog Day, as many things hadn’t changed and we slotted fairly quickly into the old rituals. But it was thrilling to work with actors I’d admired for many years and it was a real opportunity for the cinematographer to take it up a notch. And unbelievably my clothes were even more spectacular, the fabrics top of the line.’

  Having played the role of Cora since the beginning of the show, Elizabeth found the royal element of the film’s storyline interesting: ‘The experience of being in the show is a bit like being in the royal family. Like the Queen, Cora is very visible and she is expected to play a part without necessarily doing a great deal and by doing so sh
e seems to represent so much, the history and tradition.’ The royal visit gives her a sense of purpose, while she also no doubt enjoys the glamour and drama of such a momentous occasion.

  A loving wife and mother, Cora also proves herself an astute mediator within the family, which is no mean feat when it comes to relations with her indomitable mother-in-law Violet. In the movie, this skill is made evident when she manages to ensure the King withdraws his invitation for Bertie to escort the Prince of Wales on an overseas’ tour – a gentle word in the Queen’s ear is all that is needed to resolve the situation. Her motivation was Edith’s evident distress when she discovered her husband would be going away when their baby was due.

  Once the royal couple have left Downton, Cora and Robert are able to relax a little as they dance at the Harewood ball. Glowing in the success of the visit, Cora declares, ‘I do love our adventures’, to which Robert replies, ‘But isn’t it fun when they’re over?’ He’s clearly happiest when life at Downton Abbey returns to a familiar rhythm.

  ‘When we enter the story of the movie, time has moved on a little. Robert’s grandchildren are a little bit older, but there haven’t been drastic changes.’

  Hugh Bonneville