A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes (25 page)

Life’s a beach for Thomas.

A day at the seaside.

MRS HUGHES:
‘You can hold my hand. Then we’ll both go in together.’

CARSON:
‘I think I will hold your hand. It’ll make me feel a bit steadier.’

MRS HUGHES: ‘
You can always hold my hand if you need to feel steady.’

CARSON:
‘I don’t know how, but you manage to make that sound a little risqué.’

MRS HUGHES:
‘And if I did? We’re getting on, Mr Carson, you and I. We can afford to live a little.’

SPOTLIGHT ON

There are several elements that make
Downton Abbey
a highly watchable television series, from its compelling plots to the award-winning acting. But one of the key factors is that the audience trusts that it is watching an authentic account of life in that period. The Crawleys and their servants may have more than their fair share of troubles, but they suffer them in a house that is unquestionably one of an aristocratic family’s in the early twentieth century. A large part of this is down to the fact that the location in which the above-stairs scenes are filmed is the house of an aristocratic family, one that has lived there for over 300 years. Nevertheless, the house as it is seen on screen is not exactly as it looks in real life and, of course, every other location is either an entirely constructed set – as with the whole of the servants’ quarters, built at Ealing Studios – or another house, adapted for
Downton
purposes. It is essential that everything seamlessly joins together and appears to be exactly right for 1924, so that the viewers are able to trust in what is happening on screen and allow themselves to sink happily into the drama.

A vintage fan from series five.

Linda Wilson is the set decorator, selecting all the props from beds to matchboxes, lights to drapes and so on, after Donal Woods and the director have briefed her. Linda is one part of a large art department that works apparently seamlessly to bring the visual elements of the show to the screen. Supervising art director Mark Kebby is responsible for overall logistics and planning, as well as being the show’s lead draughtsman. Art director Chantelle Valentine is mainly responsible for graphics and co-ordinating vehicles with Michael Geary, who provides all the cars. There is also a standby art director on set at all times, an art department assistant/runner, production buyer, assistant buyer, construction manager, property master, dressing propmen, standby propmen, painters, carpenters and prop makers.

New to the show for series five, Linda was already a fan and started to prep just before Christmas 2013, reading the scripts and looking through the continuity pictures: ‘A lot of things have been purchased for the show over the years, or certain things hired are set in stone, so I have to get those things back in again and re-dress them to the standards that have been set.’

Linda uses either her own large reference library – ‘I’ve got hundreds of books at home’ – or turns to the internet to check whether or not a prop will be right. ‘You start to get a feel for the year, but you also learn about how those houses operated and bring that to the set,’ she says. ‘Such as thinking about where the vegetables for the kitchen will have been sourced and where the flowers will have been picked.’ There are less obvious starting points too: ‘Sometimes you look at paintings to get an idea for colours, or go to a National Trust building to see how objects are arranged or pictures are hung,’ she says. ‘What’s amazing about
Downton
is that you’re entering a body of work – because it’s been going for a few years now, it’s a reference of its own.’

While things that are used from year to year have been bought and are owned by the production – such as the Household Wants Indicator in the kitchen or some of the personal items in the bedrooms – a great many come from prop houses, quite a few of which are handily close to Ealing Studios, in Acton, west London. These companies constantly add to their collections and will find items that are authentically of the period. They are particularly helpful when Linda has to build an entirely new set, such as a chemists shop ('I hired bottles from five different places') or cake shop.

Linda is a keen gardener outside of her work and enjoys dressing the house with flowers. ‘Whenever we do a dining-room or drinks-party scene, it’s lovely to use fresh flowers and make a great show of it. We think Cora would be appreciative of the effort.’ But everything has to be thought through or a mistake could easily find its way on to the screen: ‘In the wartime, for example, people grew more vegetables rather than flowers for the house.’

The kitchen is often the starting point for small stories told by the props. ‘Directors usually have a clear idea as to what they’d like the actors to be doing and I’ll stand by on set and see how the lemons should be cut or eggs broken,’ says Linda. ‘But we try to come up with ideas too, so it’s more interesting. For instance, there was a scene where the kitchen maids were making chocolates and then later, in the dining room, we saw the family eating them. Whether or not the viewer picks up on these details, it helps everything appear real.’

On a shooting day, Linda will always be working ahead, preparing sets one or two days before filming. ‘We’ve been dressing the Dower House today, which has been recreated on set at Ealing. We’ve been steam-cleaning the curtains and putting the hawthorn bushes out in the garden. I’m also researching for episodes six and seven, beginning to make phone calls and put out enquiries for things we’ll need. We’ve got a team of three to make sure all props and continuity props are in on time.’

Next time you watch a scene in the show, consider the fact that every item in the background has been deliberately thought about and put in its place. ‘Nothing is there accidentally,’ says Linda. ‘Even at Highclere, we don’t just walk in and it’s all in place. We take out their furniture and put in our furniture. It’s wonderful to link the different places together – starting in the castle and going down to the kitchens. We’re always very busy and we get going early in the morning.’ And with that, Linda presses on with her fascinating and eventful working day.

The much-coveted household monitor and Mr Carson’s telephone.