Sally Welbourn meets Oscar winning writer of Downton Abbey at a charity event in Dorset to find out why he is such a successful fellow.
Lord Julian Fellowes, the writer of Downton Abbey, is exactly as I would have expected him to be: polite, articulate and witty. The personification of the hit drama series he created, one might say.
The final episode of the third series of Downton Abbey aired last night on ITV, leaving millions pondering the purpose of Sundays, which have been named “Downton Day” in honour of the hugely popular drama.
Surprisingly, Julian still remains humble and amazed by the success of the show depicting the life of the wealthy Crawley family, which has not only gripped the British nation but also become a cult hit in America.
“I thought [Downton] would find an audience, but no-one could expect this typhoon we’ve been caught in. That only happens once in a career, if that,” he said.
A local radio presenter told him that Downton Abbey was “the highlight of my week,” and Julian seemed shocked, as if it were the first compliment he’d received about the show. “Oh you are very nice.” he replied modestly.
Julian Fellowes, 63, is no stranger to success but has described himself as a late bloomer. After an entire career in the industry, at the age of 52 he won the best screenplay Oscar in 2002 for Gosford Park. This winning spree has continued as he collected an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for Downton Abbey in 2012. After starting his career in the entertainment business as an actor, Julian took on roles in Our Friends in the North, Monarch of the Glen and the BBC’s Aristocrats, to name but a few.
More recently, he has worked on Hollywood projects with the likes of Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie in The Tourist. His novel Snobs and Past Imperfect were both Sunday Times bestsellers. He has written the Romeo and Juliet adaptation for film to be released in 2013, and theatre productions including the west end musical The Wind in the Willows.
Despite success with varied creative projects, Dowton Abbey seems to be Julian’s forte. Accustomed to the style of living, Julian resides in a manor house in West Stafford in Dorset, immersing himself daily a life which resembles that of Downton.
Fellowes’s area of expertise – the ‘roaring twenties’ society which feature heavily in both Gosford Park and Downton Abbey, his most successful projects to date, provide a platform for some gloriously interesting and entertaining characters.
Whether your favourite character is Mrs Patmore the cook, or the grand Dowager Grantham, each character is given the opportunity to engage the viewer with their own personal struggles and dramas whilst still forming an important part of the overall storyline.
“You’re not directed to one particular group or character,” said Julian. “You can pick which characters you’re most interested in; whether it’s Daisy or Cora, they’re all involved in emotional complications of some kind. I think that’s part of the trick – that it’s quite dense – there’s something happening to each character all the time,” he added.
Julian still doesn’t pretend to know the absolute formula for writing a show which has captured the imagination of so many. “If I knew why Downton Abbey was so popular, then everything I wrote would be very popular,” he said laughing.
Whilst many of the topics in Downton Abbey are written in British history, such as the sinking of the Titanic and the First World War, Julian uses observations of people around him as inspiration for his characters.
“I look at people – I see their funny habits and thoughts,” he said. “People are talking about their sister’s marriage and I can hear myself thinking: Oh, that’s rather good. Of course you slice it all up and serve it slightly differently,” he added with a smile.
Not surprisingly, there has been a great deal of speculation about a fourth series and other projects connected Downton Abbey but Julian is confident that the show will go on. “I would be surprised if there were not a fourth series. The third has gone very well and the actors were terrific,” he said.
Whilst in America, he was asked whether he would novelise Downton Abbey. “I think it’s difficult to tell the story in two different forms, but one book I could imagine writing would be the prequel because that wouldn’t interfere with the story,” he said. “If I ever did write a novel about them I think that would be it,” he added.
Fans all over the world will wait with baited breath for the next instalment from this remarkably astute English gentleman. The last three years have proven that Julian has perfected the art of writing to a high standard. “It’s been a terrific three years,” he recalls. “I didn’t expect it but I’m absolutely thrilled,” he added.
Unassuming and accommodating, Julian Fellowes engages with those around him effortlessly. His manner is certainly extrovert, but he is not a ‘darling’ of the entertainment business. Downton Abbey is set to continue as long as there is an audience for it – it has been critically acclaimed and Sunday has even been re-named after it. It is fair to say that this fellow has put on a jolly good show.
