JOLLY JAPES AS NEW FACES JOIN DOWNTON

THE Downton set is famous for practical jokes. There is wigstealing, playing dead offcamera to try to put pals off their stride and a long tradition of the parlour game Wink Murder when filming around the dinner table at Highclere Castle (aka Downton Abbey). Dame Maggie Smith is the queen of Wink Murder. However, it seems nobody warned British actress Laura Haddock about the prank culture when she joined the cast of the film Downton Abbey: A New Era (which is out today) as actress Myrna Dalgliesh. ‘Hugh Bonneville [who plays Lord Grantham] said to me: “This is one of the most relaxed sets. It’s great here. Julian Fellowes [who wrote Downton] is really easy going, and if you ever want to ad lib a little bit or warm the script up, you can. He’s encouraging of that.” ‘And so, in the next take, I just added little bits and bobs. And Hugh was an absolute joker because that is NOT how this set works. You do not ad lib. And then I was on tenterhooks. ‘He was so naughty!’