MASTERPIECE Studio

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Moonflower Murders Episode 1. Having composed over 60 novels and countless screenplays, Anthony Horowitz is among today’s most prolific writers. We talk with Anthony about the sequel to MASTERPIECE’s Magpie Murders, his novel Moonflower Murders, and how he adapted this story for the screen. Anthony shares his insights on plot, character motivation, and w...

This is an encore release of an earlier podcast episode. Actor Tim McMullan had worked with author and screenwriter Anthony Horrowitz before, but never on a title as wild as the adaptation of his own Magpie Murders. As Atticus Pünd — a fictional detective who solves murders both real and imaginary — McMullan has great fun gently ribbing the classic whodunnit format.

This is an encore release of an earlier podcast episode. Lesley Manville is in high demand lately for her excellent work on screen, so it seems only fitting that she come to the MASTERPIECE screen in the role of brilliant editor Susan Ryeland in the twisty mystery of Magpie Murders. Manville explores what drew her to the role, and where she stands in her storied career.

This is an encore release of an earlier podcast episode. Anthony Horowitz has written dozens of books and scores of television dramas in his lengthy career, but the task of transforming his meta mystery novel, Magpie Murders — a crime novel about writing and publishing crime novels — was especially tricky. Fortunately for MASTERPIECE viewers, the resulting series is a delight, and the author expla...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Grantchester Season 9. Reverend Alphy Kottaram could be described as a “glass half full” kind of guy. And this season, that optimistic outlook has been repeatedly put to the test. Today, we’re joined once again by lead actor Rishi Nair, and Grantchester writer and creator Daisy Coulam to look back on this transformational season, and maybe peek into the...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Grantchester Season 9. Actor Al Weaver has played fan-favorite Leonard Finch since the first season of Grantchester . After successfully stepping behind the camera as the director of an episode last season, he’s back in the director’s seat for Episodes 4 and 5 of Season 9. Today, we’re joined by Al to discuss the choices he made in directing these spellb...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Grantchester Season 9. Actor Rishi Nair steps into the role of Grantchester ’s newest vicar, Alphy Kottaram. But this quaint Cambridgeshire village doesn’t exactly welcome him with open arms. Will Alphy find his place in Grantchester? Today, we’re joined by Rishi and lead writer and executive producer Daisy Coulam, to dive into all of the bi...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Grantchester Season 9. Tom Brittney has been a multi-hyphenate on Grantchester : lead actor, director, and executive producer. For the past five seasons, we’ve watched his character, Will Davenport, transform from rash youth to family man. This week, Tom joins us for a final time to reflect on what playing Will Davenport has taught him about himself and...

Mr Bates vs The Post Office writer Gwyneth Hughes joins the podcast again to continue our conversation about this real-life scandal, and what lessons we can take away from one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history.

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Alice & Jack . For lead actor and executive producer Andrea Riseborough, love can look like many things. From confusion and estrangement to laughter and awkwardness, love is always beyond our control. This week, Andrea brings us inside the mind of her character Alice, and to the heart of her tragic relationship with Jack, as this beautifully complex...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for episode 5 of Alice & Jack Actor Aisling Bea delights in bringing nuance to her characters and finding the humor in dramatic roles. This week, Aisling joins us to discuss playing Jack’s dynamic and resilient ex-wife Lynn in Alice & Jack , and how her character maintains her poise and dignity despite the chaos of Alice and Jack’s relationship.

For writer Gwyneth Hughes, Mr Bates vs The Post Office is the perfect culmination of her years of experience as a journalist, documentarian, and dramatist. This week, Gwyneth joins us to discuss how she adapted this true story for the screen, and the real-life impact of this drama series as the fallout from the scandal continues to echo in Parliament, the courts, and the halls of power in Britain....

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Nolly . Actor Helena Bonham Carter enjoys playing complex, dynamic roles. From Princess Margaret to Bellatrix Lestrange, she never shies away from complicated characters. This week, we talked with Helena about playing the trailblazing Noele Gordon in Russell T Davies’ Nolly , a role for which she earned a BAFTA Television award nomination for Leading Act...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Nolly . Composer Blair Mowat has written music for a long list of film and TV productions, including Class , After The Flood , and recently, Russell T. Davies’ bittersweet love letter to the Queen of the Midlands, Nolly . This week, we talked with Blair about how he approached composing the music for this eloquent and emotional real-life drama, for which...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 1 of Alice & Jack . For Alice & Jack writer and creator Victor Levin, love is a messy business worth fighting for. It often bypasses the rules of reason and logic and throws all kinds of emotional curve balls. But in the end, it’s the best thing we have. In this interview, Victor joins us to share his feelings on the nature of love, and w...

WARNING: This episode contains significant spoilers for Season 4 of Miss Scarlet and The Duke . For four seasons, we’ve watched Eliza Scarlet and William Wellington work together to solve a seemingly endless stream of serpentine mysteries in Victorian era London. But by the fourth episode of Season Four, Eliza and William's relationship is forever changed. Stuart Martin, who has played William Wel...

Dr. Mark Roodhouse, historical consultant for All Creatures Great & Small , and lecturer in History at the University of York, joins us to discuss his role on the show, and the real-life history behind rationing and black markets in World War II-era Britain. 

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 7 of All Creatures Great and Small Season 4.  Lead actor Nicholas Ralph returns to the podcast to reflect on Season Four of All Creatures Great and Small , and how his character, James Herriot, learned to embrace the ever-present uncertainties of life while training a new vet, joining the RAF, and becoming a father.

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Miss Scarlet and The Duke Season 4.  Writers Rachael New and Ben Edwards are back to wrap up Season Four of Miss Scarlet and The Duke . At the end of this season, Eliza steps out of the shadows cast by her father, Nash, and the Duke, and finally hangs her own shingle. This week, Rachael and Ben join us to discuss the Season Four finale, and...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 5 of All Creatures Great and Small Season 4.  Actor James Anthony-Rose joins All Creatures Great and Small this season as new veterinarian Richard Carmody. With Tristan away and James leaving for military training, there’s a lot of pressure on Richard to succeed in the veterinary practice. Will he rise to the occasion? James discusses how he appr...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 4 of Miss Scarlet and The Duke Season 4. It’s been a trying season for actor Stuart Martin’s ‘Duke’. He’s been pushed past the point of exhaustion, shot in the arm, in a coma, and now contends with rest and recovery. But as we see a more vulnerable Duke emerge, these events are hardly what occupies his mind. Stuart Martin joins us this week to ex...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 3 of Miss Scarlet and The Duke Season 4.  In episode 3 of Miss Scarlet and The Duke , writers and spouses Rachael New and Ben Edwards try something new: a flashback episode. We travel back in time to the world of young Eliza and William to witness their formative years and the origins of their relationship. Rachael and Ben join us this week to br...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 2 of All Creatures Great and Small Season 4. Actor Neve McIntosh joins All Creatures Great and Small this season as the organized and rigid Miss Harbottle. Bringing order to chaos is her speciality, and that’s what she plans to do at the rather disorderly Skeldale House. But will it be a good fit for the practice? This week, Neve McIntosh shares...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 1 of All Creatures Great and Small Season 4. New beginnings are afoot as Jamie Crichton takes over as lead writer for the fourth season of All Creatures Great and Small . With Tristan away and the war encroaching, things aren’t quite the same in Darrowby. But these changes leave room for other dynamics to blossom. Jamie shares how he stayed true...

WARNING: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 6 of World on Fire Season 2.  This season, actor Eugénie Derouand’s character, Henriette Guilbert, moves into the foreground. As the Nazis tighten their grip on the hospital, Henriette moves her resistance efforts to the French countryside, where she hides and rehabilitates fallen RAF pilots, and helps them return home. This week, Eugénie Derouan...