Downton Abbey premiere

Hard to say , but the go to person in this matter would be Mr. Carson .

The big crowds tend to be at the official premiere, which for big new releases will be a day or two before the general release, and involves red carpet and celebrities and cast members in Leicester Square. If the Downton Abbey film is having an official premiere like that, it will be crowded and fun for fans.

However I don’t think that the general British public is exactly waiting with bated breath for this film so I don’t think there’ll be queues round the block on opening day. Put it this way, it’s no Avengers End of Times or whatever that movie was called.

Was Downton Abbey really that much less popular in the UK than it was in North America?

OK, so just to be clear: Edith won’t be getting her revenge in a rubberized superhero suit and flying about with computer-generated graphics? And no walk-on cameo by a young American named Rick, looking for a backdoor?

I’ve never seen a full episode of Downton - it’s only recently that I discovered that the thing is supposed to be set in Yorkshire. However Highclere in my eyes will be forever Ditteridge Hall from the Fry & Laurie ‘Jeeves and Wooster’ TV Series. (A candidate for a rerun in my humble opinion!).

ianand Julie, sorry if this is straying too far from the original question at the top of this string, but you must be referring to Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie ... not familiar with the programme you mention, but they were absolutely brilliant on Blackadder 3 episodes our American Public TV showed years ago.

And I’m not certain whether the filming was done on location in Yorkshire, but the motoring scenes in Downton Abbey (Branson letting Lady Sybil drive, or Matthew’s tragic fatal car crash) looked much like the roadways in All Creatures Great and Small from an even earlier TV time. British television may be the best, although you folks also started the Big Brother and other “reality television” nonsense, too, right?

But our Public Broadcasting Service, which has featured some of Britain’s finest television over the years, is also what shows Rick Steves’ programs, so it's a good thing in many ways.

Jeeves and Wooster was fantastic.

I’m a huge Downton Abbey fan, i’ll be in Paris and hope to see it there.

It opens in the US on 9/20.

Hi Cyn -

Well, as I said, I’m no aficionado of Downton, but as far as I can see the village of Downtown was played by Bampton, in Oxfordshire I think. None of the filming for the TV or the film appears to have been shot in Yorkshire, although there has been some location shooting in Alnwick (Northumberland) at the castle, now forever associated with Harry Potter, and Inveraray in Scotland. As in all things Downtown though, I stand to be corrected!

Emma, as ever, is right. The Jeeves and Wooster TV series is absolute gold and certainly worth seeking out. A young Martin Clunes (Doc Martin) plays ‘Barmy’ in the early episodes. You are right about us coming up with the parade of stupid that constitutes much of reality television, for which I apologise! Oh, for a scintilla of the wit of Wodehouse to permeate any of these monstrosities, which I do try to avoid at all costs.

Incidentally, if you can track down the more recent BBC adaptation of Wodehouse’s Blandings, starring Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders amongst others, that’s well worth seeking out too.

The TV series currently doing wonders for industrial West Yorkshire is ‘Gentleman Jack’ by Sally Wainwright, which tells the true, if odd and remarkable for the times, tale of the real life Ann Lister, played by Suranne Jones. I understand that visits to the Lister family home of Shibden Hall, which actually does feature in the series have more than tripled in recent weeks! A second series has been commissioned into the bargain. Halifax as a tourist destination. Who would have thought?!!

Ian

Was Downton Abbey really that much less popular in the UK than it was
in North America?

It was popular but not I think in the obsessive must-go-to-Highclere Castle way that it seems to be with some of the people who post on this forum.

Bear in mind that for most of us Brits, we’ve seen this sort of programme over & over. And there are so many great stately homes here. It was pretty popular Sunday night tv when it was on, but that was a while back. We’ve moved on to other stuff now like Line of Duty and Killing Eve.

I think you hit the nail on the head This Person : “we’ve seen this sort of programme over & over. And there are so many great stately homes here.“

We haven’t seen it over and over (i loved Upstairs Downstairs but most Americans didn’t watch it. Gosford Park was very good but again, not a big success here) and we don’t have stately homes in most of the US.

The UK viewing figures for DA ranged from 10-12 million, excluding the first series, which wasn't shown in Scotland. The peak figure on PBS was 13.3 million. So more people watched in the USA than the UK, although in percentage of the population terms it was less.

As this is a Friday will there be showings of the movie during the day or evening only?

Usually when a movie premieres on a certain day, that means it's available for a full day of showings on that date. So if it's released on Sept. 13, it should be available for a full day of showings that day (depending on the theatre - some major blockbuster films expected to draw in huge crowds will get a whole bunch of showings that day, on multiple screens. Some smaller productions not expected to draw in as many people might only have a few showings).

So I think you can expect to see some daytime showings available for it. Just looking things up real quick, the Downton Abbey movie looks to be the only one set to premiere on Sept 13 - which further increases the odds you'll have options throughout the entire day (since screens won't be taken up by any big blockbuster release).

I am sooooo eager to see this movie. I need my Downton fix. Myself and some fellow Downtown Abbey-obsessed friends might even make an event out of it - get all dressed up and have a fun, silly, "cosplay" night as if we were wearing our stormtrooper outfits to a Star Wars premier (which... yes... I've done. Don't judge!).

I watched Downton. It was a good drama, but a wildly inaccurate portrayal of how life was like 100 years ago. In those days, servants were seen and not heard - they had to keep their eyes down and not look at their masters/mistresses and they certainly didn’t converse with them. Life was hard below stairs. There is no way a chauffeur would marry into a Family! The Earl of Grantham would be having his wicked way with most of the female staff and there would be far more staff for a house of that size - where are the gardeners and the stable hands?

The average Downtown tv viewer is 60-80 years old (OK, so I’m not an average viewer!) and they won’t be spending all day queuing to see some overpaid actors dash up a red carpet (although not as overpaid as some who have premiers here). Having said that, it’s in a busy part of town, so lots of people will stop to see what the road closures are all about.

It has been trailed in UK cinemas for months and the last one was about 5 mins long. Whether this shows they are expecting it to do well or needs a lot of promotion is a matter of opinion. Costume dramas in general seem to be on the decline in interest though.

Although I buy very few DVDs, I actually own the DVDs of the Fry & Laurie Jeeves and Wooster. Just wonderful. Thanks, Ian, for the recommendations of Blandings and Gentleman Jack.

My mother has many tales of life in service, as she (an orphan) was raised by her grandmother, who went into service soon after she learned to read, write, and do basic arithmetic. My great-aunt grew up on the grounds of a castle in Co Durham as her father was carriage master. Certainly no easy life.

I am a huge fan of Upstairs, Downstairs — I watched it as a young girl with my mother when it originally aired (not understanding any of the nuances!), and then several times as an adult I’ve watched it during reruns or gotten the entire series from the library. I lost interest in DA during the first season. I own the DVD of Gosford Park and the interviews with people who were in service are fascinating.

I will be in the UK during September/October and plan to see the movie while I am there. I loved DA; partly because I love most things British and partly because I loved the characters and their stories. I also LOVE stately homes and was lucky enough to visit Highclere last June.

DA doesn't have the large fan following here, I do think actor Hugh Bonneville was much better in the series called 2012, a spoof about the London Olympics planning team, he's also very good in the series W1A another spoof about BBC internal politics.

Agree with ianandjulie post, 'Gentleman Jack' set at Shibden Hall near Halifax, is much more interesting than DA.

I am counting the MINUTES until the movie!! Major clamoring here!! Every time I see the preview at the theatre I get a bit emotional--yes, I am totally goofy about it. I have never been a fan-girl about anything but this show meant something to me, came on just after the holidays and provided much happiness during a less than happy time of my life.

I was thrilled to get to visit Highclere and other Downton sites last year on the last open weekend in early Sept--filming of the movie was to begin the next week and I was told people in the village of Bampton were being paid to leave so as to keep the plot very secret. I will just be glad to see everyone again, not much they can do to ruin this for me.

I also disagree the average fan is in the 60-80 ur old group , lol that’s quite the statement .Programming does not cater to that age group . I was and am not in that age group nor are any of my family or friends and most of us watched it , including my hubby !

Downton did skew old, but not quite that far. In the UK the median viewer was in his/her late 50s and I believe it was similar in Australia. For the USA PBS skews old in general as well.

The conclusion I’ve drawn from this thread is they’re making a movie because there’s still a big international following even if the UK TV audience has somewhat moved on.

I think part of why Downtown Abbey was such a huge success (in general, and for PBS in particular) is it proved to be tremendously popular with younger viewers.

Granted, older viewers still made up a huge chunk of Downton Abbey's audience. PBS saw surges in viewership among what had been underrepresented demographics with Downtown Abbey, though, and that's what took it from being just a niche show to what was really quite the cultural phenomenon!

I believe the movie has been in the works for some time, also. I recall reading about the script being worked on then circulated among the cast only a year or two after the series ended. Then there's the actual production time, and time between the end of filming and its release. So really this movie has been actively worked on for most of the time since the series finale came out.

And it could not come soon enough! I'm thrilled most all of the original cast is returning, and thrilled to see what all our favorite characters have been up to since that final episode. I just love the fact that - amidst all heavy duty serious movies, horror flicks, big budget action blockbusters, and so much more - I can so thoroughly look forward to a movie where the core plot element seems to be Mr. Carson coming out of retirement to plan a dinner. There's something so wholesome - and downright silly - about that, and I'm all for it! :)

Emma- I saw Cats musical when I was a teen and thought it weird but it truly was show for the theater as the actors actually crawl out of the audience to go up on stage. The movie looks weird and the actors aren't wearing much fur. Some musicals don't translate well to film this was one.

As for DA, it was VERY popular with the Asian market and was a huge hit in China. I remember reading that Highclare Castle was a major stop on their tours. And yes, Hugh B is excellent in the comedy Twenty-Twelve. While incredibly dated now-especially after Brexit, it's still funny if you know anything about the London Olympics. Olivia Colman as Sally and Jessica Hynes as Siobhan Sharpe are excellent.

"especially after Brexit"
Have I missed something........Have we left already.😁

I replied earlier about my excitement over the movie...and now it seems I won't be home when it opens here....even better, I'll be in London!! Decided on a quick 4 day visit and well, I guess I will have to find a theatre!

I guess I will have to find a theatre!

What you need is a cinema, not a theatre. In the UK, theatres are for plays and cinemas are for films. Although nice work with the British spelling...

christa, fantastic!! It will be all the more fun to see it in London. I’ll be in Paris, not quite the same, but still good...