Mr. Selfridge: The Making Of Mr. Selfridge

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When you drive in, you think,

is this really where we're shooting?

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A carpet warehouse?

Yeah.

The, it takes the glamor away
a little bit.

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It's extraordinary.

It's three huge warehouses
full of the most

amazing sets.

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[applause]

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From the outside,
all the sets just look like boxes.

And then you step inside.

And they're so ornately decorated.

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it's almost like it could be

made into a museum. Now.

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The attention to detail,

how they manage
to find these period pieces.

And you could literally zoom in
to any part of the set,

and it would be on point.

It does half the work for you.

All these letters, they've all got to Mr.

Crabb on from different people,
and it's just incredible.

It's, it takes a lot of research

and a lot of hard work, actually,
but it's worth it.

I’m pleased to hear that they, they appreciate it.

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The Selfridge
has evolved over the full series

we’ve done.

The attention to detail for each
period has been just extraordinary,

And it's the most elaborate set
that I've ever seen.

Mind blowing.

I'd heard from previous actors
that the set was huge, but I was never

expecting on this scale.

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Favorite set for me

works a lot on the temperature of a set
because,

we do film in a carpet warehouse,
it tends to be very cold.

I do actually like it on the shop floor.

Yes. Ladies, can I help you?

When we're in small little sets like this,
it's like there's a gale

blowing through.

I think probably my worst set was Lady
May's flat this year

because it was absolutely freezing.

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The final series,
they've really pushed the boat up.

We’re out on location more and more,
and we got to go France.

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With the

madness of the ‘20s with the,
you know, the Dolly sisters

and the, the drinking and partying
and the dancing and everything.

The location was fantastic.

And then we had to
make it into a ball club.

All the way from America,

Miss Alberta Hunter.

Park Lane Ballroom,

one of the oldest Art Deco
ballrooms in London.

When you saw the ballroom
when it was empty,

and then you sent me pictures of it

when they were dressed --
Yeah.

They were dressing on a Saturday.

It was just like a different place.
Yeah.

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Hundreds of extras, dancing,

rich colors, silks, velvets, chiffons,

devores, lots of beautiful fabrics.

Everyone is dressed incredibly carefully,
and we always work

to the highest standards

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For the Dolly sisters,
you want them looking so glamorous,

the movie stars of that time,

How long will you be staying in London?
As long as you'll have us.

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Their hair is totally

crazy
and has been designed around champagne.

So you got the bubbles
and you got the puff.

This look is more like a Clark Gable,
rather than make him an old man.

So we had to put a little bit of
nice little grays and white in the hair.

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I think the hair and makeup
this year is just extraordinary.

I was so taken aback when I came on set
and suddenly saw so many people,

because I don't think there's been
this many people all at once

since the very, very beginning
when the store opened.

Biggest crowd day ever on this show.

We had 145 crowd
and that's a big operation for a period

drama.
Makeup, props, wardrobe, lighting, sound.

Everyone.

You just sort of see every department
getting on and making this

special show to be part of.

It's a really beautiful
working environment in terms

of everybody pulling together and trying
to make the best show that they can.

It's, it feels like it's a labor of love
and it always has.

And the end is so close.

I don't really believe it,
like doing the photographs and things.

I was like, “We’re not done already, are we.”

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It’s really sad, but I’m so
proud of what we've done.

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[clap!]

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