– Imitation is the Biggest Form of Flattery –
by Trevor Cox | WTHR | December 2, 2025
Audiences across the world have an affinity for period dramas like “Downton Abbey,” “The Gilded Age,” “Bridgerton” and “Pride & Prejudice.”
Cross those with spoof classics “Airplane!”” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” and you’d get “Fackham Hall.”
The parody film follows a lovable pick-pocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) as he gets a job at a unique English manor house and forms a secretive relationship with lady-of-the-house Rose Davenport (Thomasin McKenzie). An unexpected murder takes place, leaving the Davenport family’s future unknown.
“I remember getting the script through and reading it, and I felt so sad because I was like, there’s a possibility that I might not get this role, and so I was so lucky when I actually did because it’s just such a good time,” said Radcliffe (“Masters of the Air,” “Pandora”). “Amazing cast, everyone’s so talented, and yeah, we had a lot of fun doing it.”
The ensemble cast includes Emmy winner Damian Lewis (“Homeland,” “Billions”), Katherine Waterston (“Inherent Vice,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”) and Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films).
“We had such a brilliant time, and they’ve got a big WhatsApp group now for all the actors, and I’ve now been allowed onto it,” said director Jim O’Hanlon (“Catastrophe,” “Trying”). “They became like a little family because it was just such fun. Every day, you were in these beautiful costumes, which is fun. We’re all dressing up ultimately, and they loved being in the costumes and then performing this ridiculous silly stuff and funny stuff and ludicrous stuff, and it was a brilliant time doing it, and I hope that that sort of shines through.”
At 25 years old, McKenzie has been acting in movies for more than a decade, receiving the most recognition so far for her performances in “Leave No Trace” and “Jojo Rabbit.”
“It was actually unexpectedly similar to making a drama. From the very beginning, Jim, the director, just asked us to take every single scene, take the roles, everything happening as seriously as possible to forget all the gags, everything going on in the background, which I think helps to to sell the whole thing for each and every character,” McKenzie said. “For Rose and for Eric, it was all serious, especially like the romance to them, that was real.”
And for fans of period dramas, think of it this way — imitation is the biggest form of flattery.
“I have a great affection for ‘Downton Abbey,’ for the characters, for the actors that are in it, for the settings and the production values and the houses and all that sort of stuff. I’ve done them myself. I did ‘Emma’ for the BBC, one of my favorite things I’ve ever done was that period drama,” O’Hanlon said. “My mantra was, if you hate ‘Downton Abbey,’ you’ll love this. If you love ‘Downton Abbey,’ you’ll love it even more because you’ve got all the things we like about ‘Downton Abbey’ … along with something like 300 jokes, which you would not necessarily expect to find in ‘Downton Abbey.’”
“Fackham Hall” opens in theaters Friday, Dec. 5.
Read the rest of the original article at WTHR.