Downton Abbey’s Polished Facade Crumbles: Fackham Hall Trailer Unleashes a Riotous Parody Assault – Tea-Spilling, Incest Jabs, and Crumpet Catastrophes Await!

The world of Downton Abbey is getting the Naked Gun treatment, and no one — whether lord, lady, butler, or maid — is safe from ridicule.

Entertainment Weekly has the exclusive first trailer for Fackham Hall (careful saying it aloud), a spoof following “lovable pick-pocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) as he lands a job at a unique English manor house,” per the official synopsis. As Eric rises through the ranks, he engages in a “forbidden romance with lady-of-the-house Rose Davenport,” played by Thomasin McKenzie. But when someone is unexpectedly murdered, Eric is framed for the crime, “leaving Rose and her family’s future perilously uncertain.”

Described as a mix between British historical dramas such as Downton Abbey and spoof comedies such as Airplane! and Naked Gun, the film features a star-studded cast, including Damian Lewis, Fantastic Beasts franchise star Katherine Waterston, and Harry Potter alum Tom Felton.

Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, Damian Lewis, and Tom Felton in Fackham Hall

Thomasin McKenzie, Katherine Waterston, Damian Lewis, and Tom Felton in ‘Fackham Hall’.Bleecker Street

“There’s so much to love about British period dramas — the wonderful production values, the beautiful houses, the opulent drawing rooms, the hairstyles, the costumes, all of which are present and correct in Fackham Hall,” director Jim O’Hanlon tells EW. “But there’s also lots to poke fun at — which is where our movie comes in!”

For O’Hanlon and the film’s writers, which includes comedian Jimmy Carr, much of the humor comes from “this juxtaposition of proper, serious actors taking everything they say and do extremely seriously, no matter how silly or surreal the shenanigans going on around them.”

In Fackham Hall, you won’t find the characters acknowledging the craziness surrounding them. “The crazier the events of the film get, the more seriously the actors react to them, and the funnier the whole thing is,” O’Hanlon explains. “So it’s a huge tribute to our cast — and especially to Thomasin McKenzie and Ben Radcliffe — that despite the madness and the mayhem happening all around them, you still find yourself rooting for Rose and Eric, and wanting them to succeed, and to get together.”

As you’ll see in the Red Band trailer above (not to mention the film’s title), Fackham Hall is filled with enough rude humor to make even the most down-to-earth dowager blush. In fact, there were so many jokes and outrageous moments, O’Hanlon says some had to be cut for time. “We had a great scene involving two pigs having, shall we say, an amorous interaction, which I was very sad to lose,” he reveals. “We had to cut a whole comic subplot in which Fackham Hall’s resident cad Bert Chester (Adam Woodward) is caught in flagrante with several members of the staff and has to explain himself to his wife Fifi (Lily Knight).”

Jimmy Carr in Fackham Hall

Jimmy Carr in ‘Fackham Hall’.Bleecker Street

The director also notes that audiences should “look out for some pretty rude stuff involving a visit from the famous writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the naming of one of his most famous characters.”

Still, as much fun as he had skewering British period dramas, O’Hanlon says all the jokes came from a real place of love and admiration. “Ultimately, I don’t think parody works unless the people making it have at least some fondness for the genre they’re parodying,” he says. “So I like to think of Fackham Hall as a very affectionate parody of British period dramas and murder mysteries.

“We had so much fun making this film. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much during a shoot, and I really hope audiences across the board will have just as much fun watching the movie as we had making it,” he adds. “Those who are fed up to their back teeth of period dramas and want to see them sent up mercilessly, but also those who love them, who will hopefully be able to enjoy the lavish settings, lighting, costumes, and hairstyles even as they’re laughing themselves silly at the surreal madness of the world.”

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