All aboard the Downton Abbey tour

A Shropshire tour firm is cashing in on our love of costume dramas

Some ladies swoon. Others actually squeak. Either way, arriving at the location where one of their favourite period dramas was filmed, the unbridled joy of a group of fans can be measured as a physical reaction.

"And this is the spot where as Mr Darcy, Colin Firth, filmed the famous wet-shirt scene," says Shropshire woman Helen Porter to the utter delight of half a dozen romantics, who are by now beyond the point of swooning or squeaking.

Millions of enthusiasts of pomp and circumstance and fancy corsetry will be turning on their tellies on Sunday to watch the latest below-stairs shenanigans on Downton Abbey. But fan Helen, 49, from Bomere Heath, is bringing it all to life after turning her personal passion into a thriving business – running holiday tours to locations featured in popular costume dramas.

Four years ago, she and her daughter, Maddy Hall, set up P and P Tours and take people to set locations for Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre, as well as those for Atonement at Stokesay Court in south Shropshire and, of course, Downton Abbey at Highclere Castle in Berkshire.

"We used to watch all the period dramas together and when my daughter was 18 I wanted to surprise her with a tour for Pride and Prejudice, but I did some research and there was nothing like that," Helen explains. "It was then that we had a brilliant idea: why don't we do period drama holidays?"

She adds: "What we do is completely unique – there are Doctor Who tours, but in terms of period drama we are the only ones.

"The interest in period drama is absolutely massive. If you have a period house that's appeared on the television, all of a sudden I see a huge swell of interest from people wanting to visit."

What Helen has discovered is that almost all of her clients hail from overseas, many have never been to Britain before and come primarily to take part in a period drama holiday, which, over the course of several days, will take in a number of famous screen locations.

To get into the spirit of things, fans watch DVDs together of the scenes they visit, dress up in period costume for supper, and even re-enact their favourite set-pieces for fun.

The reaction of fans at finally getting close to the film locations and stepping into the shoes of their heroes and heroines is often emotional.

"Sometimes they cry, sometimes they re-enact a scene, talking in the type of language that was used in the scene they are trying to play out," says Helen.

Because of the connections she has made, and due to the authenticity and reputation of her tours, which not only tell the stories of on-screen characters but are spiced up with juicy behind-the-scenes gossip about the actors and actresses themselves, Helen has world exclusive access to Longbourn, the private house used by the BBC in Pride and Prejudice.

"We don't just show the locations, we get a lot of information about the actors and what they did on set to help tell the story. People do like juicy gossip!

Drama holidays

"In a way, finding the houses and locations is the easy part. But then we research anecdotes from the people who were around when filming took place, and find high quality hotels and suppliers who understand what we are about."

Viewing figures for Downton Abbey, in their millions per episode, confirm our growing appetite for harking back. But why is this?

"Escapism," says Helen. "People want to get away from modern life and go back to a time when life was simpler and more romantic – and women love to fall for a handsome male character!"

It's a female thing chiefly, Helen admits, but men do watch the programme – usually through one eye and with a laptop on their knee.

And it's a similar mixture of men and women who book Helen's period drama holidays.

"It's mainly women but we get far more guys than we expected. They might come for the history but a lot come because they want to see beautiful British places and scenes.

"Also we get mothers and daughters, best friends, dads and their daughters and single people."

A growing area of her business is private tours of period sets. Indeed, during the course of our interview an email pings into Helen's inbox. It's a message from a gentleman with one thing on his mind.

"He wants to propose at Longbourn in the room where Mr Bingley proposed to Jane in Pride and Prejudice!"

And with the return on Sunday of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants early in the reign of King George V, Helen expects more demand for her Downton Abbey tours.

"We visit the village of Bampton in Oxfordshire (where outdoor scenes are shot) and clients love it," says Helen. "I've been there during filming and it's fantastic – they dress the village up.

"Four years ago while on holiday I met the owner of Highclere Castle where Downton is based, and they were in near financial ruin because of low visitor numbers. Then along came ITV and it's completely saved them."

A happy ending. Which is as it should be in any self-respecting Sunday night fairytale.

• For details, visit www.pandptours.co.uk

The new Downton Abbey series is previewed in tomorrow's Shropshire Star Weekend supplement.