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The Lady in the Van is a 2015 British comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner, and starring Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings, based on the memoir of the same name created by Alan Bennett. It was written by Bennett, and it tells the (mostly) true story of his interactions with Mary Shepherd, an elderly woman who lived in a dilapidated van on his driveway in north London for 15 years. He had previously published the story as a 1989 essay, 1990 book, 1999 stage play, and 2009 radio play on BBC Radio 4. Smith had previously portrayed Shepherd twice: in the 1999 stage play, which earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 2000 Olivier Awards, and in the 2009 radio adaptation. Hytner directed the 1999 stage play at the Queen's Theatre in London. The film was shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival and received largely positive reviews from critics. Plot In 1970, writer Alan Bennett moves into a wealthy suburb of Camden. Soon after, he meets Miss Mary Shepherd, an irritable, eccentric, unsanitary, and religious homeless woman living in an old Bedford van, who squats outside multiple houses in Bennett's street of Gloucester Crescent. Social workers frequently check in with her, and other neighbours on the street frequently bring Miss Shepherd presents or food. One day, a couple of youths scare Miss Shepherd, shaking the van and yelling at her, which causes her to wake from a nightmare she was having of a long ago traffic accident. The incident with the boys worries Alan, so he mentions at a meal with neighbours an idea to let her park in his drive. Though initially hesitant, a wealthy neighbour buys her a new van, and Miss Shepherd moves into his driveway, where she proceeds to stay for 15 years, from 1974 to 1989. During this time, Bennett balances his writing career with watching over Shepherd and providing for his increasingly invalid mother. Though he denies "caring" for anyone, he slowly becomes aware of his growing friendship with Shepherd. He discovers her fluency in French, which she learnt while studying the piano in Paris. Despite this, she has an extreme aversion to all music. When asked why, she explained that when she was a novice nun, left alone in a room with a piano she started to play a classical piece. She was forbidden to play it again. Bennett also discovers that she had driven an ambulance during the 1939 blackout in WWII, played Chopin at The Proms, and attempted to become a nun twice. He also finds out her real name: Margaret Fairchild. A mysterious man stops by her van who frightens her every so often, and she gives him money, and she lives in constant fear of the police. Eventually, Shepherd is sent to a day centre. Bennett takes this opportunity to travel down to Broadstairs and meets with the man she frequently visits, who turns out to be her brother. He explains how he had had Mary institutionalised in Banstead (she escaped not long after) and that she studied under the virtuoso pianist Alfred Cortot. Bennett returns home, to find Shepherd back in her van. She had been scared off by a woman she'd known in Banstead, and had an opportunity to sneak in to play a piano in the centre. She explains that her confessor (in addition to the nuns) had forbidden her from playing, which she was told would help her spirit grow. Before Bennett goes into his house, Shepherd asks to hold his hand. Bennett obliges, and not long after he goes indoors, she dies peacefully in her sleep in her van. At her funeral, Bennett finds out that after Shepherd escaped from Banstead, she was involved in an accident when her van was hit by a motorcyclist, for whose death she believed herself to blame. She fled the scene, and lived the rest of her life in fear of arrest. After clearing out and removing the van from his driveway, Bennett decides to write a memoir covering the 20 years he knew Shepherd. The real Alan Bennett is shown observing the final scene being filmed, in which his younger self unveils a blue plaque on his home dedicated to "Miss M.T Shepherd, The Lady in the Van". Cast Maggie Smith as Miss Mary Shepherd / Margaret Fairchild Alex Jennings as both versions of Alan Bennett Clare Hammond as young Margaret Fairchild Roger Allam as Rufus Deborah Findlay as Pauline Gwen Taylor as Mum Frances de la Tour as Ursula Vaughan Williams David Calder as Leo Fairchild Jim Broadbent as Underwood Claire Foy as Lois Cecilia Noble as Miss Briscoe Nicholas Burns as Giles Perry Pandora Colin as Mrs Perry Clive Merrison as Man in Confessional The principal cast of Bennett's 2006 film The History Boys appear in cameo roles, with the exception of that film's "teachers", de la Tour, who has a more prominent role in this film. This includes the "temporary teacher" (Moore) and all the "students" from that earlier film: Samuel Barnett (as Donald), Samuel Anderson (as a Jehovah's Witness), Stephen Campbell Moore (as a doctor), Dominic Cooper (as a theatre actor), James Corden (as a street trader), Sacha Dhawan (as Doctor Malik), Andrew Knott (as an ambulance driver), Clive Merrison (as a man attending confession), Jamie Parker (as an estate agent), and Russell Tovey (as a man with an earring). Production Development The Lady in the Van was greenlit on 3 June 2014, with TriStar Productions and BBC Films working together to make the film adaptation of Alan Bennett's West End hit. TriStar won the film rights to handle worldwide distribution, while the BBC was the first to show the film on television in the UK. The involvement of Maggie Smith and Nicholas Hytner was announced simultaneously with the film, but they were attached to the project as early as 9 May (coincidentally, Bennett's 80th birthday). Both of them had collaborated with Bennett in the past; Hytner on The Madness of King George in 1994, and the film adaptation of The History Boys (in 2006), while Smith had portrayed Miss Shepherd in the original theatre production in 1999, and again in a 2009 radio adaptation by BBC Radio 4. Filming Principal photography began at 23 Gloucester Crescent (51.538681, −0.145635) in north London in October 2014. The film was shot in and around Bennett's old house in Camden Town, where the real Miss Shepherd spent 15 years on his driveway. According to Hytner, they never considered [filming] anywhere else, and it was entertaining to see the look on all the residents’ faces; many of whom were there when the van drove down the crescent. Filming was a difficult experience for Smith because she spent most of her time confined to one van or another. According to Smith, the van was not the most comfortable of places, and the film was much more concentrated than the play; the stage version was more physically demanding, but Smith admitted it was "a long time ago and [she] could handle it back then." She joked that not a lot of method [acting] was required when one was dressed as [she] was, and in a van. The production crew filmed for two da.... Discover the Maggie Fenton popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Maggie Fenton books.