The world is on fire. We’ve put out most of the literal ones, but there remain several metaphorical ones which have made those of us aware clench our sphincters quite tightly as we watch for outcomes. In times like these, we are all in desperate need for a release. Last year, one such opportunity came in the form of Jim O’Hanlon’s Fackham Hall, a comedic spoof of class dramas in the vein of Downton Abbey executed like a classic ZAZ effort such as Airplane! (1980) or The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988) and with a top tier cast to boot. If you missed this one in theaters, it’s now out on home video with 15 deleted scenes that offer some insight into the sorts of jokes and narrative threads that got cut in the effort to keep Fackham Hall to a neat 97-minutes.
If you’re interested in learning about Fackham Hall in a spoiler-free context, head to EoM Founder Douglas Davidson’s initial theatrical release review.
L-R: Thomasin McKenzie as Rose Davenport, Katherine Waterston as Lady Davenport, Damian Lewis as Lord Davenport, and Tom Felton as Archibald in Bleecker Street’s FACKHAM HALL. Photo Credit: Bleecker Street.
The only way for the wealthy Davenport family to remain in residence at the illustrious Fackham Hall is for one of the daughters, Poppy or Emma (Emma Laird and Thomasin McKenzie, respectively), to marry. All seems well as Poppy is betrothed to cousin Archibald (Tom Felton), but chaos and uncertainty erupts when Poppy ditches Archibald for her true love, leaving him jilted at the alter and Lord and Lady Davenport (Damien Lewis and Katherine Waterston, respectively) left to fix their housing situation. As Lady Davenport pushes Emma to make moves on Archibald to restore their honor (and secure Fackham Hall once more), messenger Eric Noone (Bed Radcliffe) arrives and immediately catches the eye of Emma, making the efforts to retain Fackham all the more difficult. To make matters worse, someone appears to have murder Lord Davenport! But that can’t be related, can it? One supposes it must be when everything else at Fackham Hall is.
The following home release review is based on a Blu-ray retail copy provided by DECAL Releasing via Alliance Entertainment.
The bulk of what could be said about Fackham was already stated in my previous review. As expected, the jokes that work continue to land, while the ones that already grated continue to do so. The masturbatorium bell being presented in a row of service bells and breaking off due to use — funny. Emma driving over Eric while he rides a bike — expected in the setup and still funny. Emma parking her car, wiping off a smug, and saying no one will notice she took the car before the camera pulls back to reveal the *massive* damage done when she hit Eric — still funny. The sequence in which Lord Davenport almost gets killed twice while shooting guns? A great example of why Lewis should be working in more comedies. The sequence in which we see his murder play out? A great example of physical comedy from folks confident in the audience’s ability to get the joke. The only times the humor doesn’t land is, oddly, when it features one of the co-writers, comedian Jimmy Carr, who plays the vicar with the exact same joke each time he appears. This is particularly odd because Carr’s stand-up and other appearances are frequently quite good, with one of his deadpan bits (“Are you screwing behind my back?” “Well, who did you think it was?”) being stuck in my brain for what feels like more than a decade. Yet, it’s as though he and co-writers Andrew Dawson (Who Shot Simon Cowell?), Steve Dawson (Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas), Tim Inman (Cinderella: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas), Patrick Carr (Brotherhood), and Jimmy Carr (Jimmy Carr: His Dark Material), gave away all the good stuff. It absolutely frustrates because there are so many other great gags that highlight how comedy can be hilarious without a line of dialogue, like when Lady Davenport throws a blackened bouquet behind her as she leaves Lord Davenport’s funeral only for Great Aunt Bonaparte (Sue Johnston) to go from rapt excitement in catching the flowers to shock in realization of what it means. Even when the narrative turns unsurprising in how it resolves its conflict, there’s enough of a good time happening for audiences to want to revisit the whole affair.
As mentioned, the only supplemental materials are 15 deleted scenes. There is an option for English SDH and Spanish subtitles, but, otherwise, the deleted scenes are all that the physical edition offers. There are a few one-off jokes like “His balls are exquisite,” featuring the Bechdel sisters (played by Erin Austen), a gag that could’ve been left in as its tongue-in-cheek delivery sells it whether you see it coming or not. Additionally, there’re also four which deepen the involvement of Adam Woodward’s Bert Chester and Lily Knight’s Fifi Valentine; though one can understand why these were cut in favor of remaining focused on the Davenports, Eric, and the mystery of Lord Davenports death. There’s nothing here which truly screams “it should’ve been left in,” which makes them amusing to view, even if not much of anything to really be lingered on or revisited. Unfortunately, what one would really want isn’t here, which is a commentary track from the principal cast or filmmakers to offer insight into the making of the film or featurettes about the making of it. The film is such fun that one surmises the set was, as well, but we’ll never know it from this release.
Comedies are deeply desired and 2025 had a few good ones between Misfits, Wake Up Dead Man, One More Shot, The Naked Gun, Freakier Friday, Lesbian Space Princess, The Phoenician Scheme, and One of Them Days, to name a scant few. They don’t grasp headlines like some dramas, thrillers, or action-based tales, but they are out there and are doing the Lord’s work: bringing joy in times of darkness. So, if you’ve burned through your ZAZ and Monty Python discs and are looking for something familiar-yet-new, checking out Fackham Hall is going to scratch that comedic itch.
Fackham Hall Special Features:
- Fifteen (15) Deleted Scenes
Available on VOD and digital December 26th, 2025.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD January 20th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Bleecker Street Fackham Hall webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Recommendation
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