Who’ll be my sparring partner now Dame Maggie’s left?
Downton Abbey is returning for its third big-screen adaptation… minus the doughty Dowager Countess of Grantham, who was killed off in the last film. Penelope Wilton pays tribute to her fabulous former colleague, and reveals why she’s lending her famous voice to a children’s mental health app as Mrs Owl
THERE were smiles all round when, after weeks of speculation, it was officially announced that pre-production had begun on the third Downton Abbey film. Celebrated for its fabulous period detail, sublime costumes and high-end production values, Julian Fellowes’ costume drama made stars of Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens and won legions of fans across almost every continent.
Yes, it might have greater competition these days in the corset style-stakes – not least from sexy period-drama rival Bridgerton – but few can resist the allure of another riveting chapter about the upstairs Crawley family and their downstairs acolytes. There will, however, be a glaring omission in Downton the movie, mark three. Lady Violet Crawley, played so sublimely by Dame Maggie Smith, is sadly no more.
She of the withering putdown, scornful glance, snobby one up-woman – or in her case lady ship and distinctly aristocratic bearing – met her maker in the second Downton film… and, oh, she will be missed.
Not least by Violet’s on-screen sparring partner Baroness Isobel Merton, née Crawley, played by Dame Penelope Wilton. As Isobel will miss Violet, so Penelope will miss Maggie’s presence on set.
“Of course, I’ll miss Maggie,” Penelope says. “Once we start shooting it will be odd without her because she was always such a driving force within the production, such an integral part and such an important character.Who will I spar with now?”
Isobel’s daughter-in-law, autocratic Lady Mary, played by Michelle could be the answer. Lady Violet practically passed on the acid-tongued mantle to her elder granddaughter in her deathbed scene.
Plus, Isobel and Mary haven’t always enjoyed the most cordial of relationships.
But Penelope teases that Isobel may be crossing verbal swords with one of the new guesting characters in the next Downtown cinematic instalment.
“I’m sure there will be someone else for Isobel to spar with,” she smiles. “It could be somebody new or one of the regular characters.We are a very big cast and the storylines for the new film are very good.”
But canny professional that Penelope is, she’s remaining tight-lipped about names.
“I’m unable to reveal anything, you know that,” she twinkles. “It may be that Isobel becomes the new Lady Violet in terms of withering looks and put downs. That would certainly be great fun to play.”
UNBELIEVABLY, Penelope is 78 next month yet her energy levels belie this. From last October to late January this year, she trod the boards in the West End eight times a week in the royal comedy Backstairs Billy, in which she played the Queen Mum.
She has previously said that she likes parts that are “difficult”.
“Someone once said when you buy a painting, don’t buy the first painting you immediately like because you’ll soon get bored with it,” she explained. “Instead, choose something more complicated so you can live with it longer.”
Before returning to Downtown Abbey, Penelope also found time to voice the character of Mrs Owl in an animated new health app, Embers the Dragon, which aims to help children aged four to seven build emotional resilience.
Narrated by Jo Brand, other famous folk lending their voices to characters include the children’s TV presenter Nigel Clarke, actress Zoë Wanamaker, presenter Giovanna Fletcher and musician Harry Judd of McFly fame. The aim is to try and help young children manage and understand their emotions – and other people,” Penelope explains.
“It takes inspiration from Winnie the Pooh in that the animal characters have different personalities and issues – just like people.” Recent statistics show that over half of young children aged between three and seven struggle with emotional health problems, with this figure rising steadily into teenage life.
With one in every six children being diagnosed with a mental health condition, early intervention is key.
But worryingly, only a fifth of parents believe that their child can effectively manage their emotions.
Almost two-thirds said that their child has emotional health difficulties such as identifying or defining their feelings, communicating how they feel or managing them in unfamiliar situations. Many children are not getting the right support because of excessivelylong NHS waiting lists. “I think there have always been instances where some little children find it difficult to integrate with others. It just wasn’t talked about,” says Penelope. “Unless we try and address this, it gets worse and so the earlier these problems are addressed the better.
“I feel that the pandemic made small children feel especially isolated. When they should have been socialising with their peers, they weren’t able to go out.”
It’s an issue Penelope feels strongly about as a grandmother to Daniel, 11, and Ella, seven, by her daughter Alice. But there is the argument that children have too much screen time already.What does she say to this? “Embers is interactive,” she replies. “While the little animated films are on the screen, there are a lot of off-screen activities that come with it – such as drawing and games which young children can play out for themselves or with a parent or carer.
“All children, not only those with emotional or other difficulties, can benefit from this app. My grandson Daniel and granddaughter Ella would have loved it but they’re a bit old for it now.”
Like so many of us, Penelope sees social media as a double-edged sword or poisoned chalice. Particularly where young people and children are concerned.
“I think there are a lot of wonderful things about social media. Daniel does a lot of his homework via social media, for instance,” she continues.
“But the way youngsters access it has to be monitored. There is a danger of it taking over.You have to have rules in a family about what children are allowed to see, what they are allowed to access and what they are
allowed to have. It’s very difficult to say no to your youngster having a smartphone, for instance, when most of their contemporaries have one. Those that don’t feel excluded.”
She is not totally downbeat though. “I’m hoping the novelty wears off. I feel it is starting to, already. I hope at some point it will all calm down. My grandson is playing more traditional-type games with his friends now because he gets bored with screens after a while.”
Family is clearly everything to Penelope and she is very close to her only child Alice, whose father was the late actor Daniel Massey and Penelope’s first husband.
“I appreciate my daughter more than I can say. I’ve also got a very nice son-in-law!” she chuckles. “I’m at my happiest when I’m with them all.They are the most important things in my life. I take the children on holiday every summer.
“It’s very tiring but we have such a nice time.”
We’ve been blessed with Penelope’s presence on stage and screen ever since she made her stage debut at the Nottingham Playhouse in 1969. Unlike some actresses who are overlooked for roles as they mature, Penelope appears to be in greater demand with each passing decade.
NOMINATED for six Olivier awards to date, most recently she has starred as Anne, a sagacious widow who consoles Ricky Gervais’s newspaper journalist after he loses his wife to breast cancer in the Netflix black comedy-drama After Life.
The show became an unexpected worldwide hit, something that shocked both its stars. Penelope previously told the Express that she would jump at the opportunity to work with her “charming” co-star again.
“He has an old-fashioned courtesy as a director and he has a difficult job because he is everything – writer, director, actor,” she said. “He is an extremely clever man. I’m very lucky to have met him.”
When she’s not working or spending time with her family, Penelope loves to curl up with a book – “I read American novels, detective type things, and all of Iris Murdoch” she says. But she is also a great believer in the mental and physical benefits of walking.
“I try to do 12,000 steps or five miles every day no matter what the weather’s like – although when it’s absolutely pouring down, I don’t go,” she says. “I’m not a gym person so it’s my way of keeping fit. I have a step counter because it gives me encouragement. I live in London and we’re so lucky because of all the wonderful parks we have. We have hundreds of them and not just in central London.”
She lists off Victoria Park in north east London, Greenwich Park in the south, Hampstead Heath and Clapham, Putney, Wandsworth, Wimbledon commons.
“I often start in one park and walk through others – Kensington Gardens into Hyde Park, into Green Park and then St James’ Park,” she smiles. “I also like walking beside the River Thames and over the bridges. You get to see so much. And I always reward myself with a nice coffee at the end!”
As you can imagine Baroness Isobel Merton would too, naturally.
●●To learn more about interactive children’s app Embers The Dragon, visit embersthedragon.co.uk