As of the filming of the 14-part television series ***The Jewel in the Crown*** (1984), the oldest notable cast member was **Fabia Drake**.
### **Specific Details:**
* **Cast Member:** Fabia Drake (born Fabia Turner)
* **Age at Time of Filming:** Filming for the series took place between **1982 and 1983**. Having been born on **January 20, 1904**, Drake was **78 to 79 years old** during the production. By the time the series premiered in January 1984, she had just turned 80.
* **Role:** She played **Mabel Layton**, the reclusive and dignified step-grandmother of Sarah and Susan Layton.
* **Role Details:** Mabel Layton is a central figure in the middle chapters of the saga (particularly *The Day of the Scorpion* and *The Towers of Silence*). She resides at **Rose Cottage** in the hill station of Pankot with her companion, **Barbie Batchelor** (played by Peggy Ashcroft). Mabel represents a fading, more egalitarian era of the British Raj; she is known for her quiet defiance of the rigid social codes of the other "memsahibs" and her fondness for her garden. Her death and the subsequent dispute over her burial place serve as a major plot point, highlighting the cruelty of characters like Mildred Layton.
### **Other Elderly Cast Members:**
While the production was famous for its cast of veteran actors, most were slightly younger than Drake:
* **Peggy Ashcroft** (Barbie Batchelor): Born December 22, 1907 (Aged 74–75 during filming).
* **Rachel Kempson** (Lady Manners): Born May 28, 1910 (Aged 72–73 during filming).
* **Zohra Sehgal** (Lady Chatterjee): Born April 27, 1912 (Aged 70–71 during filming).
* **Marne Maitland** (Pandit Baba): Born December 18, 1914 (Aged 67–68 during filming).
Fabia Drake’s performance was widely acclaimed, and she remained active in acting until her death in 1990 at the age of 86, notably appearing in *A Room with a View* (1985) shortly after *The Jewel in the Crown*.