Downton Abbey spin-off on the cards

By Matt Buchanan and Lissa Christopher
Updated October 1 2012 - 10:10am, first published 3:00am
Spin-off ... a prequel and a feature film could be in the works for <em>Downton Abbey</em>.
Spin-off ... a prequel and a feature film could be in the works for <em>Downton Abbey</em>.

The writer of Downton Abbey is planning a prequel that explains how the Earl and Countess of Grantham first met, London'sThe Daily Telegraph reports. Speaking as part of the BAFTA Screenwriters' Lecture series, held at the British Film Institute,Julian Fellowes said he was working on a spin-off about the courtship of Lord Grantham, played in the series by Hugh Bonneville, and his American wife, Cora, played by Elizabeth McGovern. A pair of young actors will portray the couple in the early days of their relationship, in a drama Fellowes initially planned as a book. Viewers already know that the cash-strapped Earl married Cora, the daughter of a US tycoon, for her fortune. In the first series, he admitted to falling in love with her only after they married. Fellowes said: ''I do actually have an idea of doing a prequel of the courtship of Robert and Cora, when all those American heiresses were arriving in London - the Buccaneers, as they were called. They had a slightly troubled courtship, because she was in love with him before they married, as we know, and he married her entirely for her money. I sort of feel there's something quite nice in there because he's a decent cove, and so he feels rather guilty about this.'' The latest series features Cora's mother, Martha Levinson (Shirley MacLaine), whose straight-talking American ways are anathema to Dame Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess. Fellowes, who also hinted that a Downton play or feature-length film could also be under consideration, said he owed his present success to the US director Robert Altman, who hired him to produce the script for the 2001 film Gosford Park. It earned Fellowes an Oscar for best screenplay. He said: ''I do feel very strongly that America rescued me.''

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