A continuation of Oscar- and Emmy-winning “Downtown Abbey” and “The Gilded Age” writer Julian Fellowes’ 2020 series, “Belgravia: The Next Chapter” brings posh and not-so-posh 1871 London to vivid life.
Set 30 years after the original series which Fellowes adapted from his 2017 bestseller, “Belgravia” is named for (and set in) London’s district of choice for the upper class. Namely Frederick Trenchard (Benjamin Wainwright), aka the third Lord Trenchard, who impulsively meets, loves and marries the recently fatherless Clara Dunn (Harriet Slater).
Clara too soon discovers this would-be dreamboat of a prince is actually one very tortured man, traumatized by a childhood where he’s the result of his mother’s affair. His real father John Bellasis (Adam James) is a real scoundrel. Frederick, alas, is given to rages, depression, anxiety and jealousy, threats to any relationship.
For Harriet Slater this means she’s got the toughest job of all: She must play a perfectly nice person – and not make her boring through eight episodes.
“Yes, she is nice. She’s very, very trusting — and potentially quite naive when she starts off on this journey,” Slater, 29, said in a Zoom interview from London. “She’s lived a sheltered life. I guess she doesn’t really know anything about what it is to be in a relationship with a guy. Or get married. Or be the lady of the house.
“She finds the whole thing a little bit overwhelming at times. And to begin with she definitely feels like an outsider. But it’s also extremely exciting. She’s just so determined to make this relationship work and keep the marriage going.”
But Slater notes, “Clara definitely has her flaws. Without giving too much away, she is desperate to be a part of this world and goes on a journey. She definitely has her own secrets as well.”
One secret Slater is willing to share is what it’s really like to go authentically period in costumes and wear a corset, something she never would have experienced if she wasn’t playing Clara.
“This was my first corset and they are real. Much tighter than I ever thought they would be. They really do tie you in there tight.
“Actually, it kind of helps sometimes because it changes your posture. It changes the way you move. It changes the way you sit. And it changes the way you feel because it really does constrain you sometimes.
“Which I guess is how women especially did feel back then. It’s quite suffocating. But it also is just the best feeling while thinking of getting it off at the end of the day.
“A scene in a night dress? That’s just a dream.”
“Belgravia: The Next Chapter” streams Jan. 14 on MGM+ and Sundance Now