Oscar-winning scriptwriter Julian Fellowes is coming to Richmond for a question and answer session at Richmond’s Duke Street Church on Monday evening, writes Will Gore.

The event, organised by arts- richmond, is in aid of the Museum of Richmond, with tickets costing £20. Fellowes, who will also be interviewed on stage by the artistic director of the Winchester Festival, John Miller, says he won’t come to Richmond with any pre-prepared anecdotes or jokes, prefering instead to take any questions in his stride.

He adds: “I’m not very good at jokes, I just tend to bang on, and I think it’s better to just answer the questions as they come, because then you get to the subjects that the audience might be interested in, rather than deciding for them beforehand.

“It slightly depends, of course, on having an audience that asks good questions and not just, ‘what is Susan Hampshire like?’ Not that she isn’t perfectly lovely!”

Fellowes is best known for writing an Oscar-winning script for Robert Altman’s film Gosford Park and he is currently working on a glut of new writing commisions, but he is also an experienced actor and novellist.

Although he splits his time between his homes in Chelsea and Dorset, he knows Richmond well having performed at the theatre a number of times as a young actor in the 70s and, more recently, having spent time at Ham House, were another of his screenplays, The Young Victoria, was shot.

He adds: “I love Richmond, it is a charming place. Of course the theatre is very pretty and you’ve got the lovely Green as the centre of it all.”

The Museum of Richmond will be using funds raised from the night to help modernise its premises in Richmond’s Old Town Hall and Fellowes says he is delighted to support this worthy cause.

“I love places that develop a sense of community,” he explains.

“People want to feel part of something and that they are not leading a totally random life.

“These things we battle to save, like museums and schools, as well as being worthwhile goals in themselves, also stimulate a sense of community and that seems to me to be a good thing.

“In as much as I have the chance to help, then I’m really pleased to.”

Julian Fellowes, Duke Street Church, Richmond, January 25, 7pm, £20 (tickets available on the door), artsrichmond.org.uk