DRAMA | DOWNTON ABBEY I t’s 1927 and both the downstairs and upstairs residents at Downton Abbey are in a state of full-blown panic. The morning post has brought news of a visit from King George V and Queen Mary. “A royal luncheon, a parade and a dinner,” exclaims Mrs Patmore about the decadent itinerary. “I’m going to have to sit down.” For six series of Downton Abbey , the TV series’ screenwriter and creator, Julian Fellowes, has intertwined the stories of more than a dozen fictional characters with real-life historical events. And it’s true that in 1912 the first Windsors took to Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire – where Downton is set – in what was thought to be the earliest charm offensive between the royals and general public. Not only does this parallel to history serve as a good premise for the film, it unifies the focus between the downstairs and upstairs residents because, despite their different obligations to the house, they’re all working to the same end: the royal visit has to be a success. DOP Ben Smithard explains, “The story is, in essence, rather simple: it’s people coming over for dinner. But in the twenties – in that society – it would have been the biggest event of the year, so it had to be perfect.”
ABOVE Favourite faces return: (from left) Lesley Nicol, Sophie McShera, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan
Smithard had not worked on the series previously, but after shooting films like Belle and King Lear , he was, to say the least, fairly familiar with the period genre. “I hadn’t really watched the series and I was shooting another film when I got offered the job. So, at the end of each day, I would go home and watch two or three episodes a night. And within the space of six weeks, I had watched everything,” he recalls. While the series served as a good reference for the film, Smithard also drew upon paintings and photographs and upon
his own visual references from films that he had shot before. “It needed to be cinematic, which was quite difficult to achieve with the shoot taking place in the same locations used for TV, but the producers didn’t expect me to follow a line from the series, and I was pretty much given free rein to take it in the direction I wanted.” He continues: “I don’t know if it was ever referenced for TV, but Gosford Park – which is a film Fellowes had written before – was a big reference for me, because it perfectly encapsulates the dynamic
In that society it would have been the biggest event of the year, so it had to be perfect
1917 The year King George V and Queen Mary actually visited Highclere Castle 2.39:1 The aspect ratio the movie was shot in, unlike the TV series, which was shot in 16:9
IMAGES Michelle Dockery with director Michael Engler (centre) and DOP Ben Smithard; and above with Allen Leech. Right: Robert James-Collier
16 DEF I N I T ION | OCTOBER 20 1 9
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