With the success of Downton Abbey still causing shock-waves both sides of the pond, the path has been set for a new generation of period dramas, and the next one to watch out for is Whittington Manor.

Written and adapted to screenplay by Claire Voet, Whittington Manor tells the beautiful story of love and heartbreak during the Second World War.  The heartwarming yet dramatic story, tells of class division, corruption, deceit and betrayal, as it follows the life of 16 year old Sarah Whittington.

The only daughter of Lord and Lady Whittington, and residing at the famous Whittington Manor, this story is set in one of Britain’s most historic, yet somewhat forgotten cities, Portsmouth.

Sarah finds love at the top of Portsmouth landmark, Portsdown Hill, with an unlikely suitor, Joe Lambert.  Divided by social class, and knowing their relationship could never be accepted, the pair meet in secret until war breaks out and Joe is sent to fight.

Sarah works at the local hospital, Queen Alexandra, and sets about making her contribution to the war efforts.  However, overhearing a conversation between two soldiers sent back from Dunkirk, her life changes direction entirely, and a new path, filled with grief and suppression follows.

Whittington Manor was written by Claire Voet, a local Portsmouth lady, and focuses not just on the love story between Sarah and Joe, but embarks on key moments during the second world war, specifically significant to the naval town of Portsmouth, including the battle of Dunkirk, where from the wounded and dying were shipped to Britain’s nearest port, Portsmouth.

Whittington Manor is Voet’s debut novel of factual history interwoven with skillfully crafted characters, and has been written with eight episodes so far although its likely that from the 2^nd episode onwards Voet will co-write the screenplays with the production company itself.

I spoke with Claire, who has written a second novel, The Ghost of Bluebell Cottage, and who is currently adapting her third, The Other Daddy, to screenplay for another television drama, to ask her about Whittington Manor.  Although it was Whittington Manor we mostly talked about.

How did the process from turning the book into screenplay come about?

“I actually wrote it myself as a screenplay, whenever I write a book I see it as a movie as I write it, and  I had always seen Whittington Manor as a TV series.  Critics have likened Whittington Manor current period dramas such as Downton Abbey & Upstairs, Downstairs, with regard to the social divide, between upper-class and lower-class, but I tried to stay clear of that with regards to it being condensed into one house, with the story not focusing on  servants and  residents.  Although there are some storylines which involve the servants, the main focus is on the social classes of the Whittington’s and the Lamberts, and the divide that falls between them.”

“As well as the romance, there have been a lot of other notable things thrown in  to do with the area and the history of the area, which had not previously been covered by any other dramas.  I thought, having completed the book, that this would be a great opportunity to turn it into screenplay.”

“When developing the screenplay, there were a few changes that needed to be made, in particular for certain scenes that were less adaptable than the novel. With a book it is a lot easier to jump from scene to scene, but with the screenplay there needed to be more content added to connect these properly, and a few new characters were written in to help with this process, although each does have their own interesting thread of story-line too.”

Who has picked up the project?

“Whilst I am not at liberty to discuss too much on the production side of things just yet, I can confirm that Whittington Manor is in the hands of production companies and one of them being the BBC.  Whittington Manor will be developed into a TV series, not a film. The first series will be made into eight episodes, and will cover the book in its entirety.

How much, if any, input will you have on the production/filming side of the project?

“When it comes to the screenplay and its development, I will have plenty, but not on the production or filming side of things, although coming from the area I will always be available to offer advice and opinion on the geographical details.”

Is much of the filming planned around the Portsmouth area?

“Yes, Whittington Manor is based in Portchester, near Fareham (top of Portsmouth), which is where I grew up.  The book mentions Portsdown Hill, which is situated at the top of Portsmouth, looking down over the city, and is where Sarah and Joe first met and it becomes their secret meeting place.  Also mentioned a lot is Portchester Castle, which is featured in the centre of one of the books biggest and most dramatic storylines, as well as the Dock Yard.  Portsmouth’s famous Dock Yard was actually instrumental in the battle of Dunkirk, which features in the book, as the main base to which the dead and injured soldiers were brought back to be treated, and there is going to be quite a lot of filming done around that area, as one of the characters also works there.  The Portsmouth Guild Hall is documented as being the place where all the city gathered to celebrate that the war was over, and so filming there will be done for authenticity, including the famous steps, although at the time, because of the war, the Guild Hall itself was a burned out hole, so I am not entirely sure how they will rein-act that.”

“I was very intent on the filming being made in Portsmouth, I think it is important for the nation to see Portsmouth from every angle and to be recognised for its contributions during the war, as it is hardly ever mentioned in other historical dramas or acknowledgements.”

When is filming planned?

These things tend to take quite a fair bit of time. In the first instance the screenplay has to be fully developed. After that begins the production side of things, casting, location and then filming, so its difficult to say an exact time.  This is the process after commissioning of course.”

How much research was put into the book, in particular in the area?

“The hospital that features in the book is the Queen Alexandra, and whilst I was familiar with that particular hospital, I wasn’t aware of how much it did during the war.  I did a lot of area research, as well as asking some reliable local sources, and found out that the main hospitals at the time would have been the Haslar War Memorial hospital in Gosprt, and St James Mental hospital in Southsea, which would have been the most active during the war period, St James in particular as a spill over, especially after Dunkirk.  Queen Alexandra was, at the time, a civilian hospital, but was used as an extra resource for those fit enough to travel, being the furthest away from the naval base.  Sarah worked at QA as a voluntary nurse, much to her parents disapproval, as it was the nearest hospital to her, as her parents would not have allowed her to travel into the city for her safety.”

What Other Projects are you working on?

“My second book, The Ghost of Bluebell Cottage, is now completed and has been released on Kindle and is due to be released in paperback by next month.  I am still considering whether to adapt it to screenplay, although I have created a synopsis and character bio’s, mainly for the producers of Whittington Manor, who are interested to see what I am doing next.”

“My other project is a series I have written called The Other Daddy.  Although this is primarily a screnplay, I do have plans to release it in book form also.  Currently, The Other Daddy, is being written for a two part drama.  It is not like anything else I have done, it is not a romnce, or hystorical, but a mystery.  The story is based between Cambridge and The Orkney Islands, and focusses on two girls whos friend disappears, and whilst I dont want to give too much a way, the key to the answers seems to lie in the hands of a little boy with behavioural problems.

“My other project is a series I am currently writing called The Other Daddy. Although this is primarily a book, I am writing it as a screenplay at the same time. I am writing The Other Daddy, as a two part drama. It is not like anything else I have done, it is not a romance, or historical, but a mystery with some paranormal twists. The story is based between Cambridge and The Orkney Islands, and focuses on two girls who mysteriously disappear, and whilst I don’t want to give too much a way, the key to the answer as to what has happened to those 2 Scottish girls, seems to lie very much in the hands of a little boy called Callum suffering from what his parents and doctors initially believe to be behavioral problems, but when inexplicable things begin to happen to him, it becomes a lot more intriguing by the minute!  Was the answer really born before the question? We shall have to wait and see!”

We will be following Claire and the development of Whittington Manor exculisvely here on imediamonkey.com, and we will keep you updated of its development every step till its release.

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