A new Tennant at Yorkshire stately home: Dr Who star films drama at Scampston Hall

Dr Who and Harry Potter star David Tennant, American Mad Men actress Elizabeth Moss, The Usual Suspects star Gabriel Byrne and British acting stalwart Michael Gambon are among the a-list cast filming Mad to be Normal - a feature-length biopic about the controversial psychiatrist R.D. Laing.

It is not the first time Scampston Hall, a regency period stately home in the village of Scampston near Malton, has been used as a film location, previously featuring in a production of An Inspector Calls, starring Miranda Richardson and David Thewlis. The crew arrived on Sunday night, with the cast arriving early on Monday morning for a full day of filming.

Chris Legard, the owner of Scampston Hall, said: “What was lovely about this production was that they used the hall as it is.

“There has been lots of excitement at Scampston since filming was agreed, and they came with minimal props, which is lovely because we will be able to see it on screen as it is, and how visitors see it when they come to hall.”

Getting to know the history of Laing was “a bit of a learning curve” for the family, but Mr Legard researched his story and found his “fascinating”.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, R.G Laing, who is played by Tennant, was an international celebrity, expressing opinions which turned the psychiatric establishment firmly against him.

Scottish Laing treated his patients like fellow human beings – giving them their own time and space. In 1965 Laing set up Kingsley Hall, a therapeutic sanctuary in East London, where patients could live just as they chose.

Laing became somewhat of a cult figure, with crowds flocking to hear him speak.

Scampston Hall is the latest in a long line of Yorkshire location to feature on screens big and small over recent months.

Leeds’s Temple Newsam House, Harrogate’s Allerton Castle and North Yorkshire’s Carlton Towers serve as the backdrop for a Bollywood blockbuster Shaandaar, filmed last autumn; Rotherham’s Wentworth Woodhouse featured in the David Walliams’ BBC children’s drama Billionaire Boy, this Christmas; BBC2 drama Peaky Blinders has featured a host of Leeds locations, including City Varieties; and Bridlington takes a starring role in the film adaptation of Dad’s Army, also starring Gambon, out this week.

Mr Legard added: “The film industry has historically been quite London-centric, as the big studios and many actors were based down there, so it’s great to see - especially with the support of Screen Yorkshire - that so many production companies are coming up this way and showcasing the beautiful locations we have to offer.”

Mad to be Normal is expected to be released later this year.

The film’s executive producer, Julian Hicks, said: “The incredible regency interiors and colours of Scampston Hall make for a striking backdrop for scenes in Mad to be Normal. It is always refreshing to be filming outside of London, and cast and crew have been offered a particularly warm welcome at Scampston Hall by the Legard family and their team.”

Grade II-listed Scampston Hall was built in the 1600s, and its famous gardens brought it to national attention long before the arrival of film crews.

Its Chelsea Flower Show Gold award-winning modern Walled Garden was designed by Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf in 1999, and complements the adjacent 18th century park, which was designed by Capability Brown - the famous landscape gardener who died 300 years ago.

The Hall’s past residents included several MPs, the first being Sir William St Quentin in the 1690s, and a High Sherriff of Yorkshire. It is now owned by Chris Legard, whose family took ownership in the 1950s.