Pictures show filming of new Downton Abbey movie at Beamish Museum

Beamish was one of the shooting locations for the film, based on the smash hit ITV series.

The museum welcomed stars and backstage crew for the filming of the highly-anticipated movie, which is released this Friday, September 13, in the UK.

More than 100 people descended on Beamish in October last year for filming, which involved some of the museum’s staff and period vehicles.

The County Durham open air museum also featured in the last ever episode of the global hit TV series, the Christmas special in 2015.

Rhiannon Hiles, Beamish’s Deputy Director, said: “We were thrilled to welcome Downton Abbey’s cast and crew to Beamish Museum for filming for the new movie.

“Our wonderful open air museum brings history to life so it was great to be included as a location for the new Downton Abbey film and it was exciting to have some of our

staff and period vehicles involved.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing the Downton Abbey film when it is released in the UK this Friday.”

The multi-award winning Downton Abbey TV series, which ran from 2010 to 2015, was watched by millions of viewers worldwide and followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and the staff who worked for them in the early 20th century.

Set on the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey, the series charts the lives of the household between 1912 and 1926, against a background of real world events such as the sinking of the Titanic and the Great War.

Beamish’s town, pit village and colliery depict life in the run up to the First World War.

Julian Fellowes, who created the original Downton Abbey TV series, has written the screenplay for the film, which was directed by Michael Engler.

The movie, which is is produced by Carnival Films, and will be released by Focus Features and Universal Pictures International, opens internationally this Friday and in North America a week later.