TENBURY stepped back into a different time as the town entered into the spirit of things for a screening of the film Downton Abbey at the Regal Cinema.

It was a chance for people to dress up in style and they did, taking the venue back to a more sophisticated and stylish time.

It was not just the clothes that stole the show but there was also a vintage Rolls Royce.

The Regal will be screening the film for two weeks and there has been a great response.

Anyone in costume got a free glass of fizz.

So the plea for the first night was: ‘Come on ladies and gents, grace the red carpet and dazzle the paparazzi with your flapper dresses, fringe wraps and feather headbands. Gentlemen dust off your tuxedos, fedora hats, bow ties, and spats.’

It is all very different for the Regal than two years ago when the venue suffered serious damage from the February 2020 floods that required a lot of work including the installation of a completely new auditorium.

Measures were also put in place to try to make sure that any future flooding would be less damaging.

The Regal was able to stage a pantomime again last Christmas, albeit with a limited cast and with some shows having to be cancelled because of Covid-19.

But now with all restrictions lifted it is full steam ahead for the 1930’s cinema that underwent a Lottery funded major refurbishment a decade ago.

Downton Abbey is a film made in 2019 and written by Julian Fellows and is based upon the highly successful television series.

The film is set in Yorkshire in 1927 and depicts the life of the rich and well connected.

It was in 2010 that the television series was first screened.

Downton Abbey is filmed at Highclere Castle, an English country house in Berkshire, south of Newbury that has also been used for other films including Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Eyes Wide Shut and The Secret Garden.

The real Downton Abbey is in Hampshire, dating back to the 1300s and at one time owned by the Bishop of Winchester.