Paula Fleri-Soler takes a behind-the-scenes look at the eagerly anticipated big-screen adaptation of historical period drama Downton Abbey. 

Over its six-season, 52-episode run, British historical period drama Downton Abbey was must-see TV for millions of devoted fans all over the world.

Airing from September 2010 to December 2015, the series charted the privileged lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants. It traced their adventures as they observed and lived history in the first part of the 20th century starting from the Titanic tragedy in 1912 (which formed the basis of the original storyline) through World War I and beyond, ending around the mid-1920s.

Over the years, the Crawleys faced good times and bad, sickness and health, tragedy and triumph, new lives and unexpected deaths. By the time the final episode aired in December 2015 it was riding on a wave of merited critical and popular acclaim.

Like many popular TV series, its end was mourned deeply by its international fandom and it was not long before rumours that a big-screen adaptation was in the works began to surface.

“We finished filming the last season in 2015, made sure that all the characters were safely tucked up in their lives, said goodbye to them, and marked the moment with a wonderful wrap party in the Ivy Club,” reminisces Downton creator and writer Julian Fellowes.

“And that, I thought, was that. But, it seemed the public was not yet quite prepared to be parted from the Crawleys and their servants and the rumours of a film grew and grew until (producer) Gareth Neame and the rest of the team felt unable to resist them.  And so the film was born.”

The public was not yet quite prepared to be parted from the Crawleys and their servants

This big screen Downton Abbey story takes its audience back to the Great House (still played with most magnificent majesty by Highclere Castle in North Hampshire). Lady Mary is now firmly at the reins of the estate and faces the greatest challenge to her tenure – a visit to the Crawley Home by their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary. 

The calibre of the visitors causes quite a rumpus below stairs too, and cracks begin to form in the usually well-oiled machine. Mary pleads with the retired Carson to return to the house, just this once, to oversee this most significant event – but not everything goes to plan.

The loyal Downton staff must pull out all the stops in order to ensure success and that the place they are proud to call home is presented in its greatest light.

Family and staff will discover that the arrival of the royals will bring about some turmoil. For one thing, accompanying the king and queen is a lady-in-waiting whose own story will prove explosive to the Crawleys. Also, as an erstwhile Irish republican, Tom Branson’s political sympathies get him into trouble. The family will weather all this as best they can, but it soon will become clear that Mary must make some important decisions, for herself, for her family and for Downton Abbey.

There is no doubt that Maltese audiences have also been eagerly awaiting the film depicting the latest chapter in the Crawleys’ lives.

“I’ve always felt there’s a perennial interest in the English country house. It’s a unique environment that is quintessentially British, yet can travel,” says Neame. “What we did with Downton was to take that recognisable world that is really only British and combine a much-loved genre with very modern contemporary, almost ‘soap style’ writing.

“All of us live in families and arrange ourselves into hierarchies, whether that’s within our own families or in our workplaces,” he adds.

“We understand that about the world and, although Downton is a very heightened world with strict rules and codes of behaviour, as human beings anywhere on the planet we respond to those things. We understand the way that they’re behaving and we enjoy the rarefied world that they inhabit.”

Inhabiting this world is the original TV cast, with Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter, Raquel Cassidy, Brendan Coyle, Michelle Dockery, Kevin Doyle, Michael Fox, Joanne Froggatt, Matthew Goode, Harry Hadden-Paton, Robert James-Collier, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Elizabeth McGovern, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Douglas Reith, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton all reprising their roles. They are joined by Simon Jones and Geraldine James as King George V and Queen Mary, and Imelda Staunton as Lady Maud Bagshaw.

The film is directed by Michael Engler from a screenplay by Fellowes. 

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