September 9, 2024
Filming

Downton 3

Walking through the Wood of Goodwill alongside the curving beech hedge, a scattering of cherry trees hugs a sheltered elbow. In the middle of them is a tulip tree, a gift from my number six sister Georgie and her husband when they were married from here about 14 years ago.

It has, at last, grown to a substantial shape with unique pale leaves furling and unfurling in the eddying breezes which, if you glance back at it as you walk past, almost look as if the tree is in flower; each leaf or underside just tinged a pale yellow colour. Anticipating an early autumn, the air and thus the leaves seem to be constantly moving.

Summer has been so intermittent this year that I hope autumn tarries a little. Leaves are already starting to drop and there are already many berries. The rowans are particularly prolific with their wonderful shades of red.

Looking back, September 2018 marked the arrival of the Downton film crew to spend 2 months making the first Downton Abbey film. Part of the joy of filming at a location such as Highclere is the chance to capture the seasons, to have a natural backdrop against which the Castle sits as a central character, a familiar beautiful backdrop.

Launched into cinemas the following year, it was a huge success, taking first place on weekend box office takings and carrying on towards Christmas as an entertaining family film. That itself is somewhat unique as there seems to be so few films or TV series which generations of a family might sit down together and enjoy.

The Downton journey continued with a second film “Downton A New Era”  which premiered in April 2022 and now a third film has been made which will be premiered on 12th September 2025. Positive coincidences are always a happy beacon: if not quite astrological signs, at least good omens.

Some visitors ask if the crew and cast are still here and we explain filming is finished. They are then surprised at the length of time it takes between the end of filming and the date the film reaches the cinemas. However, it is a careful process to prepare, edit and polish the film long after actors have dispersed to other projects. Studios have been  booked for editing which you have to fit around and then there is the music which plays such a large part in any film. You only have a play a little of the Downton theme and everyone visibly relaxes and sits back to enjoy themselves.

Of course before the film is released there is all the marketing, trailers, teasers, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, posters, press releases and social media to entice us into the cinema.

Films are so magical in that they offer us the rare opportunity to imagine, to step into another person’s shoes, to experience a walk of life very different to our own and to see through  different eyes. Walk into a cinema, turn off your phone, sit back in a comfy seat, relax your shoulders, breathe and reach for the popcorn. It is a chance to stop thinking about work and all the things that have not been done. The big screen brings to life someone else’s story, whether glamorous or not, and a world far away. Whichever, it is always a treat to gather together with friends or family and leave the everyday behind.

A film like Downton Abbey is as enchanting as it is hopeful – about a community being together and somehow continuing come what may. I for one am certainly looking forward to the cinema and popcorn with some wonderful escapism in a years’ time.