THE HALCYON
EPISODE 1
Pictured : THE CAST.
In The Halcyon, hotel owner’s wife Lady Hamilton (Olivia Williams) is the boss who rubs shoulders with her employees
It sounds familiar… a lavish ITV costume drama chronicling the lives and loves of characters above and below stairs in a grand setting. No, not another series of Downton Abbey but a new period drama called The Halcyon.
The eight-part series, starting tomorrow, follows the goings-on at a luxury London hotel during the Second World War. But haven’t we seen it all before? Here, we highlight the uncanny similarities between the two sagas.
First find a fabulous setting…
While Highclere Castle was the sumptuous location for Downton, The Halycon is, in reality, not a hotel at all but a former Land Registry building, in Lincoln’s Inn Field, Central London. Built in 1903, it is now owned by the London School of Economics.
… and fill it with all classes
THE HALCYON
EPISODE 1
Pictured : THE CAST.
In The Halcyon, hotel owner’s wife Lady Hamilton (Olivia Williams) is the boss who rubs shoulders with her employees
Downton moved back and forth between the Earl of Grantham’s family and their servants. In The Halycon, hotel owner’s wife Lady Hamilton (Olivia Williams) is the boss who rubs shoulders with her employees, above.
Take a rusty old retainer
Downton’s butler Carson was the epitome of stern dependability. Hotel manager Richard Garland (Steven Mackintosh) is similarly the heart and soul of The Halcyon, but has a more sinister relationship with his employers. Hotel owner Lord Hamilton tells him: ‘You keep my secrets and I keep yours.’
Add an acidic grande dame
As hostess of the Halcyon, Lady Hamilton drips merciless wit in the style of the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) in Downton.
Put a sexy star centre stage
In Downton Abbey, Lily James oozed sex appeal as Lady Rose, the 1920s socialite who caused scandal by frequenting seedy jazz clubs and casting off the era’s inhibitions in some steamy love scenes. In The Halcyon, 2010 Strictly champion Kara Tointon cuts a stunning figure as Betsey Day, a voluptuous nightclub singer with a volatile sex life. It’s not too far removed, in fact, from the actress’s best known role until now – as the ‘tart with a heart’ barmaid Dawn Swann in EastEnders.
Have a sex pest pounce on a maid
The rape of maid Anna Bates, was the most shocking moment ever in Downton… and – spoiler alert! – it’s echoed in The Halcyon when an aristocratic guest forces his attentions on a helpless member of staff, above.
Bring on the bed-hopping bad girls
Lady Anstruther (Anna Chancellor) was sent packing from Downton Abbey after being caught in bed with footman Jimmy. In The Halcyon, blonde bombshell Charity Lambert (Charity Wakefield), left, is cavorting with Lord Hamilton when his wife arrives at the hotel unexpectedly. Will she catch them in the act?
Make the plot steamy with a bath scene
Oh, I say! Kara Tointon shows rather more than her acting talent when her character, Betsey, is unexpectedly visited by lothario hotel owner Lord Hamilton, the lascivious husband of Lady Priscilla. It’s an even more revealing moment than when Downton’s Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) was filmed in the tub. On that occasion, her evil maid placed a soap bar on the floor to send her sprawling. Will Betsey slip up too?
Let staff find love upstairs
Downton chauffeur Branson found love above stairs with Lady Sybil until her tragic early death. Will humble hotel receptionist Emma (Hermione Corfield) and Lord Hamilton’s eldest son Freddie (Jamie Blackley) fare any better in The Halcyon?
And finally… even hire the same faces!
As publisher, Michael Gregson broke the heart of Lady Edith in Downton. Now Charles Edwards is in The Halcyon as Lucian D’Abberville, a mysterious consigliere to an aristocrat.
SOURCE: Daily Mail – Chris Hastings
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