Keeping Victoria’s TV fans amused
University arts students reveal battle behind the scenes to maintain illusion for Christmas special
IN 1848, the Illustrated London
News published a drawing of Queen Victoria and her German consort Prince Albert celebrating around a decorated tree.
The tree was adopted by the British people and by the end of the 19th century Christmas in the UK had become the major annual celebration it is today.
Now, more than 170 years later the festivities are set to continue on screen with a yuletide twohour special of period drama, Victoria, on Christmas Day.
Watched by millions of viewers, the programme is renowned for its attention to historical detail, recreating thousands of costumes and lavish palace interiors.
But not all the props are as expensive as they look.
Working behind the scenes, a team of Leeds Arts University students have been helping recreate the Victorian splendour – and squalor.
Among them was fine art degree student Richard Stringer, who worked at the production team’s headquarters at a former RAF base near the North Yorkshire village Church Fenton. Inside a vast hangar, the television crew had built replicas of Buckingham Palace rooms.
Mr Stringer’s tasks included making fake stone columns out of foam and creating thatched roofs for a Victorian-era Irish farm, which was located a few miles from Church Fenton.
He said: “The amount of work that goes into getting the details right is staggering.
“The farm was transformed so it looked just like the right period, with the thatched roof put on top of the modern tiled roof.
“Then they spread tonnes and tonnes of mud and manure to cover the tarmac. It looked amazing and all that work for just a few seconds in the episode.
“It was a great experience and definitely the sort of industry I want to work in the future.”
Work experience on the Victoria set was undertaken by 10 students from the university.
Fine art student Grace Kneifati also helped make a variety of props for internal and external scenes on the show.
She said: “They look at the tiniest details. During one shot, the level of the wine in a glass had to be exactly right for continuity. It was someone’s job to check the level in the glasses. “There were bats in the hangar and a sound engineer was using equipment to check if the bats could be heard in the background – even the tiniest noise. If they could hear it, they had to reshoot the scene.” There was also the surreal element of working in an environment where almost everything was fake.
“It was amazing how real everything looked, but if you bumped into it, you realised it was made out of cardboard or foam,” said Miss Kneifati.
“One day I helped make some ‘stone’ balustrades. They were actually made of foam and wood.
“I also went on location to the ‘Irish’ village. The crew were making the wind and the rain, but it was sunny so they used special filters on the cameras to make it look miserable.
“They also had to throw water on the actors because they were meant to be soaking.”
It was someone’s job to check the level in the glasses. Fine art student Grace Kneifati.