Downton Abbey stars have expressed their gratitude to the people of Edinburgh after filming on the Royal Yacht Britannia for the spin-off film, 'A New Era'.
As reported by STV, the series, which ran for six seasons, has been turned into one hit film, and A New Era is the second spin-off movie from the TV show.
The film follows the Crawley family who take a trip to the French Riviera to uncover a mystery that included the Dowager Countess, played by Maggie Smith.
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And during the film, the stars are shown sitting on a yacht sailing to France, but this particular boat usually resides in the capital of Scotland.
Raquel Cassidy, who plays ladies maid Phyllis Baxter, said of her experience: "We were really lucky because we got to go up to Edinburgh and film on the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was a history lesson and extraordinary and a really special experience and then straight off to France."
Allen Leech, who plays Tom Branson, added: “It was kind of a pinch-yourself moment when we sat there, especially for that big dinner scene we have looking out at the sea.”
He also added that Scottish fans should definitely look out for their Edinburgh yacht in the film, saying: "It’s an opportunity to forget about all your troubles and the world’s troubles right now and just go and immerse yourself in this world of characters that you’ve loved to watch in the past and will hopefully love to watch again.”
The movie was filmed during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, but Hugh Bonneville, who plays Lord Grantham, noted that the cast were extremely safe.
He said: "The ladies all had these elaborate ‘cones of shame’ that they wore from their neck upwards rather than squashing their wigs etc and I had an outfit that made me look like I was a welder, I had a pair of specs with a big plastic shield on,” he laughed.
“We all took it seriously and we all got through it.”
The film was released on April 29 2022, and can be viewed in various cinemas across the UK.
