MASTERPIECE Studio

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Three of *Victoria. Victoria creator, head writer and executive producer Daisy Goodwin already knows the real history of Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s lengthy reign on the throne. But it’s in the intimate perils of the day-to-day where her series finds its true highs and lows. Goodwin joins MASTERPIECE Studio with a special preview...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season Four of *Poldark. Debbie Horsfield, the executive producer and sole writer of MASTERPIECE’s Poldark , is ready for the fifth and final season of her series. After the drama and sorrow of the series’ fourth season, she offers some hopeful hints about the story still to come.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of Season Four of *Poldark. Elizabeth Warleggan, formerly Poldark and née Chynoweth, is far from the most beloved character on *Poldark. *Her shifting affections, wayward alliances and confusing emotional center could drive even the most devoted fan of the series to hold Elizabeth at a distance. But actor Heida Reed has always seen Elizabe...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of Season Three of *The Durrells in Corfu. The dashingly charming Spiros Halikiopoulos is based on a real-life friend of the actual Durrell family during their time on the island of Corfu. It's a big help for the cast and viewers alike that actor Alexis Georgoulis finds charm to spare in his portrayal of the unofficial mayor of the island....

For almost 40 years, the MASTERPIECE Mystery! title sequence has offered viewers an ominous glimpse into the dark unknown. It's a vision made real by the masterful work of illustrator and author Edward Gorey, and his fictional affiliation with the criminal world continues in a special mystery-themed exhibit at the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, MA. In a special bonus Halloween episode of MAS...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Four of *Poldark. In lemon silks and too-tight breeches, the Reverend Osborne Whitworth is the gaudiest member of Poldark ’s core cast. With extravagant tastes and a limited budget, the Reverend turns to darker quarters to fulfill his incessant appetites. Actor Christian Brassington, who put on more than 35 pounds to play the heft...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of Season Four of *Poldark. While nobody in Cornwall seems to necessarily enjoy the company of one George Warleggan, even fewer appreciate his nasty uncle, Cary. As the sneering devil on George’s shoulder, Cary pushes George to be his worst self. So it’s a special treat to hear the care and thought that actor Pip Torrens puts into his icy p...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Season Four of *Poldark. Josh Whitehouse plays the dashing Lt. Hugh Armitage with an eye on the opportunity for capital ‘R’ Romance. But his character’s loyalties — and divided affections — heighten the stakes for the young actor, and often leave him searching for new motivations. In a new interview, Whitehouse talks Demelza, sand dunes,...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Four of *Poldark. Debbie Horsfield is the only writer of every episode of MASTERPIECE’s Poldark , so she definitely knows what’s on the horizon in the series’ fourth season. Secrets, lies and parliamentary politics come to Cornwall in a big way this season. Horsfield — who is also one of the series' executive producers — offers a s...

In celebration of the 100th episode of MASTERPIECE Studio, we bring some of our favorite moments from our conversations with MASTERPIECE’s actors and creative talents. From Downton Abbey to Unforgotten and everything in between, we’re delighted to share highlights — including some as-of-yet unheard extras! — from our first 100 episodes. Here’s to the next 100!

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season Four of *Grantchester. The beloved MASTERPIECE Mystery! series,  Grantchester , is set to return to your screens in summer 2019. In the upcoming fourth season of the show, lead actor James Norton — and his character, the Rev. Sidney Chambers — is set to leave the idyllic Cambridgeshire village. Taking his place in the Grantchester parish is actor...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *Man In An Orange Shirt. Actor Julian Morris is known for his darker characters — psychopaths, social outcasts and the like, who float around the edges of decent, common society. He says he loves the bombast such roles offer, but the pain and shame of his Adam Berryman in the new MASTERPIECE production, Man In An Orange Shirt , is a different kind of ch...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *Little Women. After her role as Marmee in the MASTERPIECE adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's  Little Women , actor Emily Watson has increasingly found herself wondering why she can't parent more like the March family matriarch. Marmee is wise, forgiving and subtle, and allows her four daughters to grow and learn from their mistakes. She revisits the nov...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes Two and Three of *Little Women. Annes Elwy and Willa Fitzgerald play two of the four beloved March sisters at the heart of the latest MASTERPIECE adaptation of  Little Women , and their familial closeness echoes throughout our interview with the young actors. The on-screen sisters describe how they and the rest of the series’ cast bonded behind...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season Two of *Unforgotten. The  Unforgotten detectives solved another cold-case murder. But the conclusion of the series' second season was far from neat. Lead actors Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar join the podcast for a look back at a surprising conclusion, and peek ahead at the upcoming third season, currently in production.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Little Women. For actors Maya Hawke and Jonah Hauer-King — *Little Women’*s Jo March and Laurie Lawrence, respectively — watching a reel of outtakes from shooting became a reminder of how much they make each other laugh. Hawke and Hauer-King bring that infectious spirit to a joint interview on the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Little Women. Dame Angela Lansbury has been an acting icon for more than 70 years, bringing character and charm to stage and screen alike. The brand new MASTERPIECE adaptation of Little Women , where she plays the peppery Aunt March, is her first appearance with our program. She takes us through highlights of her prodigious career, revea...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Little Women. Writer Heidi Thomas is already plenty busy with the upcoming eighth and ninth seasons of her smash-hit series, Call the Midwife — but she knew she couldn’t say no when Louisa May Alcott came knocking. Adapting the author’s classic novel, Little Women , into a new television series would be a big challenge for Thomas, or any...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season Two of *Unforgotten By his own estimation, Sanjeev Bhaskar started acting relatively late in life.  He gives a telling preview of the stunning second season of Unforgotten still to come, and explains how his zany breakout comedy, The Kumars at No. 42 played better in the United States than it did in his native UK.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *The Child in Time. Benedict Cumberbatch heads the cast of  The Child in Time  — and his new production company took the lead behind the scenes, as well. It's not Cumberbatch's first experience with author Ian McEwan's work — he appeared in the 2007 feature film, *Atonement. *Like so many readers, Cumberbatch appreciates the 'cinematic' qualities of McE...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season One of *Unforgotten. Nicola Walker leads the crime-fighting duo on the new MASTERPIECE Mystery! drama, Unforgotten . But the series’ complicated cold-case investigations surprise even her as they unfold week after week. Walker shares stories of Four Weddings and a Funeral , Broadway and why she could never be counted on to keep a criminal secret.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *The Child In Time In her role as the bereaved mother Julie in the new MASTERPIECE drama, The Child In Time , actor Kelly Macdonald admits a certain distance from the emotional tension of the part. Her acting partner and executive producer, Benedict Cumberbatch, worked hard to make the set a happy place for all involved, Macdonald says. She takes us beh...

For six years and six seasons of television, screenwriter Heidi Thomas has explored the challenges of 1950s-era British midwifery. Now, as the seventh season of her PBS drama Call the Midwife heads to air just ahead of her upcoming MASTERPIECE adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women , Thomas explores how a charming midwife’s memoirs became an unlikely global success story.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Nine of Season Two of *Victoria. At the end of another season of Victoria , we couldn't help but dip back in to our collection of conversations with the cast and creative talent behind the series to offer some highlights that didn't make it through in our original podcast episodes. Hear from Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes, Rufus Sewell, David Oakes,...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of Season Two of *Victoria. The Christmas finale of  Victoria 's second season is as joyful to watch as it was to film, the series' lead actors reveal. And show creator Daisy Goodwin hints at the all too true origins of many modern Christmas traditions — Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Christmas cards — that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert...