Tom Brown's Schooldays (2005)

Interesting facts

• Based on: Tom Brown's School Days

Tom Brown's Schooldays is a 2005 British television film directed by Dave Moore and starring Alex Pettyfer and Stephen Fry. It is an adaptation of the Thomas Hughes 1857 novel of the same name. It aired on ITV on 1 January 2005 and was released on DVD 9 days later.

Production

For scenes shot on location, all pupil roles that were not leads were played by real Rugby School students. The school all but ground to a halt for a fortnight as a large portion of the school grounds were used for shooting and the majority of male pupils were involved in taking part as extras. Several interior scenes were shot at Aldenham School in Hertfordshire, which was founded in 1597, a contemporary of Rugby.

Extensive cosmetic remodelling took place in some parts of the school so as to render the set historically accurate. For example, a convincing artificial well was constructed in the Old Quad where one had previously been but had since been demolished and bricked over. This particular prop remained at the school for nearly a year afterwards, as the film crew did not take it with them when they left.

The Old Gym, one of the longest standing school buildings, was sequestered as a base for costumes for the extras.

Stephen Fry interacted enthusiastically with the school during his time on set. He gave an almost universally attended talk to the entire school one evening, in which he, among other things, told the story of his expulsion from Uppingham School in 1972. Approximately ten select extras (pupils) were invited to talk to him at length in the Headmaster's study on another occasion.

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