Downton Abbey comes to downtown D.C.

Jessica Fellowes, niece of the creator and writer of "Downton Abbey", Julian Fellowes, visited the National Press Club Nov. 5 and delighted the audience with behind the scenes stories about everything Downton.

Fellowes talked about the fifth season of the series -- but "no spoilers," she said. The season is featured in her book, A Year in the Life of Downton Abbey: Seasonal Celebrations, Traditions, and Recipes. The book explores both what a year would have been like living in a large country house in the 1920's and the process of filming a season of "Downton Abbey", she said.

"Downton Abbey" is the highest-rated PBS Masterpiece series of all time and costs $1.6 million per episode to produce.

Fellowes was introduced by and shared conversation with NPC Book & Author Committee member, Eleanor Herman. Herman was dressed in a period costume, leading Fellowes to quip that Herman was "above stairs" and "I'm below stairs."

During the conversation with Herman, Fellowes talked about the production schedule, the costumes, hair and makeup, and even how the props that go into making the series are placed in such a manner to make it look authentic.

The book, which was sold as a fundraiser for the National Journalism Institute, features beautiful color photographs of the month by month seasonal celebrations and events in the great house, including house parties, debutantes, the London Season, the sporting season, yearly trips to Scotland, and the rituals of Christmas. There is also a delicious array of traditional British recipes adapted for modern kitchens.

Fellowes said her uncle, Julian Fellowes, wrote the scripts for "Gosford Park" and "Young Victoria".

Julian's life "changed overnight" after he won the Oscar for "Gosford Park" but he initially resisted a suggestion he write a TV drama about the same time period. Soon, however, he changed his mind and sent an e-mail to Gareth Neame, executive producer, outlining the characters, Jessica said.

Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, played by Maggie Smith, was actually based on one of Fellowes' relatives. Another relative actually said one of the lines that Lady Sybil says from Season Two, "It seems as if all of the men I danced with are dead," Jessica said, referring to the fact that there were more than 2 million more females than males in the 1921 Census following World War I.

While Julian writes the scripts, Jessica stressed she writes books about the series.

Jessica is the bestselling author of The Chronicles of Downton Abbey. Formerly the deputy editor of Country Life, she writes for The Daily Telegraph, The Lady, The Times, and The Sunday Time’s Style. She was brought up in London and now lives in Oxfordshire and Notting Hill with her family.