A NEW, six-part series will follow life at home with the Duchess of Northumberland.
Channel 4 has commissioned 'The Duchess' (working title) from MGM Television which will give viewers access to a grand project which will see a one-of-a-kind, whimsical wonderland created close to The Alnwick Garden.
Grade I listed Alnwick Castle is England’s second largest inhabited castle and home to The Duke and Duchess of Northumberland and their family. The castle has become an iconic filming location for Harry Potter and Downton Abbey and has welcomed dignitaries, including Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Prince Charles.
The castle sits alongside The Alnwick Garden - a multi award-winning attraction - with a unique poison garden and the world’s largest treehouse restaurant.
The Duchess now has plans to develop a £15m magical village of make believe, named Lilidorei, on grounds close to The Alnwick Garden, complete with fairy grottos, goblin lairs and other surprises.
The majority of Lilidorei staff will be ex-service men and women and the attraction will continue to build on The Alnwick Garden’s ethos of working closely with the tight knit, local community.
“I didn’t think that building anything after The Alnwick Garden could be as challenging", said the Duchess of Northumberland. "But Lilidorei is proving much more complex, trying to explain to a construction team how a hobgoblin or a fairy might behave is proving almost impossible!
"The aim of Lilidorei is to encourage children to leave their phones in their pockets and to use their imagination - to achieve this the visitor has to enter into a totally believable, magical world.
"I am thrilled at the thought of a series that will shine a light on the many attributes that Alnwick and Northumberland have; a wealth of history, incredible castles, beautiful coastline and beaches and vast expanses of wild moorland.”
'The Duchess' is a six x 60 series commissioned by Jo Street, head of Daytime & Features, and Clemency Green, commissioning editor Daytime & Features.The series will be produced by MGM Television with executive producers Dom Bird and Vicky Hamburger.
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