A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes (15 page)

The wireless arrives at Downton for the first radio broadcast by King George V

SPOTLIGHT ON

Julian Fellowes, creator, writer and executive producer of
Downton Abbey,
is also The Lord Fellowes of West Stafford, after having been created a life peer in 2011. So we meet for lunch, appropriately enough, at the House of Lords, where a man in white tie signs me in before Julian walks me through the Princes’ Chamber to the Peers’ Guests’ Bar. The ambience is perfect for a
Downton Abbey
meeting. It is not our first lunch together – Julian is my uncle, my father’s younger brother, and we have always been good luncheon companions. When I was a girl on the cusp of adulthood, I would request that Julian took me out for grown-up lunches in smart Chelsea restaurants, which he dutifully would – he was just the right sort of uncle for the occasion.

We have both always shared an interest in history – that is, the stories of history, some of which came from our family, some from iconic figures of the past, some of which were simply illustrative tales of the human condition. It’s probably as true to say that our shared hobby is people, whomever they are and whenever they lived. As we always have, we start by exchanging news and gossip of our many relations and mutual friends. We catch up on what the other is doing, although Julian has always been remarkably prolific and it’s all I can do to keep on top of what is happening during any given week, let alone the year. It is testament to
Downton Abbey
that while the first ever series was being made, it was the only project that Julian referred to more than once as something he was rather excited about; it was the first tiny inkling I had that this might be A Big Deal. Of course, we weren’t to know how much. ‘I do find the phenomenon of
Downton
extraordinary,’ says Julian. ‘We are now officially the most successful television programme this country has ever produced and you wouldn’t dare to dream of that.’

Charford Manor, pictured here, was the home of Julian’s great-grandfather, John Wrightson. He was President of Downton Agricultural College, hence the name of the show. Most of the original house has sadly since been pulled down.

As to why it has been so successful, Julian thinks this comes down to the fact that ‘we’re basically watching a bunch of fairly decent characters – even Thomas has some decency in him – and I think audiences enjoy that because we’re a bit worn out watching those we don’t like'. It is this very likeability that has led to what Julian calls ‘the Classic
Downton
Conundrum', which is when the audience doesn’t always know whose side to take. In every
Downton
dilemma, both sides of the fence are not only visible but easily sat on. Nor does Julian believe that villainy is the only dramatically interesting character trait to explore; in the case of Anna, for example, ‘the rape story was very important to me, and the involvement of Anna was key. All my life, I have witnessed the culture that implies the victim must accept some level of blame. I disagree with this absolutely, and I wanted a story where there could be no question of shared guilt. By making Anna the victim, we ensured that. As a matter of fact, I have received letters since from abused women who felt they had been blamed, at least in part, and the
Downton
story had helped them, which I am extremely glad of.’

The show is propelled by the characters and this is an important distinction in Julian’s writing. ‘Its an actors’ show, in that it’s driven by the characters’ narratives as opposed to some incredibly complicated plotline where the hero has to get to the bomb before the clock strikes twelve.’ Nevertheless, with myriad characters in the show, there are a lot of plates to keep spinning. All of the stories are given equal weight and this is key – ‘it means you are never going to the lesser story, you’re just going to
this
story'.

Before Julian starts writing a series, he has a crib sheet on which he has all of the historical events for that period. The very big over-arching plotlines – for example, Annas attack and the effects on her marriage – are discussed between Julian, Gareth and Liz, before he goes away and writes the first draft. That draft is read by his wife, Emma, who has always had sight of everything Julian writes before anyone else; she makes notes, which he works through before handing it on. Gareth and Liz then read it and Gareth synthesises their notes – ‘there are a lot of notes at this point, and I take most of them in.’ A second draft, another round of notes and then it goes to ITV, who will make some notes of their own. After that, the script editor has it and once it’s a shooting script, changes are relatively minor and usually to do with props, ‘if something can’t be got hold of or a location won’t work or whatever,’ he explains.

And what of the language the characters use? English, of course, but is it specifically of its time? ‘You have to be careful – you can’t use too much of the slang from the period, as it would alienate the audience, though I drop in a bit now and then. [Such as when Rose says she is ‘puffed’ to see someone, meaning pleased.] But I do deliberately put in modern-sounding language, partly to relax the audience by using parlance they are familiar with. But I always check that it was in use at that time.’ It’s good to be reminded, I say, that we did not invent everything in the twenty-first century, and Julian nods.

Julian is fond of his characters and their fundamental decency, but it is the era they are in that is the source of the shows central theme of change and of compelling interest to their creator. It was, in many ways, an apocalyptic time, with European monarchies falling and the aristocracy feeling under attack by new socialist governments. ‘Why should they believe it was anything other than the end?’ he says. ‘If you lived then, the temptation would be to think, “It’s all going to be over by 1930, let’s enjoy it while it lasts.”’

Writing the show seems to come entirely naturally to Julian – though one shouldn’t underestimate the technical skill that makes it appear that way – and there is definitely some truth in the idea, as Gareth Neame spotted in his original outline, that Julian had lived with the characters for a long time before he wrote them on to the page.

As a young man growing up in the 1960s, another period when the last embers of upper-class life were being stamped out, Julian would seek out older relatives in order to hear their stories about what their youth had been like. It was his closeness to his aunt, Isie, his grandfather’s sister, that later provided the inspiration, as well as some actual lines, including ‘What is a weekend?’ for Violet, the Dowager Countess, and the wonderful quip about bought marmalade being ‘very feeble’ for Lady Trentham in Gosford Park, both played by the impeccable Maggie Smith. If the world of Downton Abbey feels real, it’s because, once, it was.

Julian is the youngest of four brothers (from left to right): Rory, Julian, Nicholas and David.

Debutantes