MASTERPIECE Studio

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Two of *Victoria. Homosexual romances no doubt existed in Queen Victoria’s court — but perhaps not in the way as depicted in this season’s dramatic storyline involving Lord Alfred Paget and Edward Drummond. The term ‘homosexual’ wasn’t in use in the common dialogue, and actor Jordan Waller thinks that nameless love makes his depict...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Two of *Victoria. Series creator Daisy Goodwin moves between historical fact and dramatic fiction when she and her team write each episode of Victoria . For this week’s on-screen quest to Scotland, Goodwin relied heavily on Queen Victoria’s actual diary entries from a 1844 royal visit to Scotland’s Blair Castle. Goodwin —and Victo...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of Season Two of *Victoria. Ernest, the charming royal German rogue of  Victoria , has a reputation for being a kind of happy-go-lucky courtier. But his personal journey this season — from his dying father to his catastrophic medical condition — leaves actor David Oakes wishing somebody else in court would take the time to ask how Ernest is...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of Season Two of *Victoria. Prince Albert is purely logical — which makes Tom Hughes’ search for emotional depths all the more challenging in this second season of *Victoria. *The actor keeps a close eye on his character's historical experiences, all the while digging for the motivating forces that help push his character through challengi...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Season Two of *Victoria. Rufus Sewell has relished the opportunity to play Lord Melbourne in the last two seasons of Victoria . As he bids farewell to the character, he explains how Lord M’s complicated relationship with Queen Victoria changed during the young Queen’s heady early years on the throne, and why viewers took so strongly to hi...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Season Two of *Victoria. Daisy Goodwin may be the creator and head writer of Victoria , but she can’t help but sound like an ardent fan when she talks about the resurgent popularity of her version of Lord Melbourne. “Obviously, I would like Lord M to be in every single episode,” Goodwin said. She explains how and where she looks for histo...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Two of *Victoria. Queen Victoria is a proud new mother — but so far, she’s anything but pleased. As Prince Albert manages the daily stresses of the royal boxes, Victoria finds herself longing for both marital clarity and professional order. Actor Jenna Coleman warns — this is just the rocky beginning of a particularly dramatic new...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Two of *The Durrells in Corfu. Louisa Durrell let another love interest pass her by at the end of The Durrells In Corfu ’s season two. Along the way, however, she might have been reminded where her true loyalty lies: with her family. Actor Keely Hawes says “the Durrells are very good at change,” and she looks ahead to the upcoming...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Nine of Season Three of *Poldark Demelza Poldark ended her third season of Poldark with a stunning act of defiance. Actor Eleanor Tomlinson doesn’t feel like she could have made the same choices, but she has been pleasantly surprised by the way fans have supported her character’s heartbreaking decision. “If Ross is going to go and do what he wan...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Two of *The Durrells in Corfu. Actor Daniel Lapaine has made a career playing rakishly charming characters — He’s ‘a Smiling Devil,’ as one director told him. Lapaine’s role as Hugh on this season of The Durrells in Corfu is more of the same, but he explains how the allure of the Durrell family is all too real for this Australian...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Three of *Poldark Caroline Blakiston’s Aunt Agatha Poldark has been a secret triumph throughout these three seasons of Poldark , lurking by the Trenwith fire while reading her tarot cards and peering into the Cornish future. After a particularly dramatic episode, Blakiston joins us to talk costumes, character development and how Ha...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Three of *Poldark After just missing her chance at true romantic happiness this week, the young Morwenna Chenoweth seems to be trapped in a loveless, lifeless marriage. But Ellise Chappell, the young Poldark actor who plays Morwenna, isn’t worried. “We’ve got to keep hoping,” for the troubled Morwenna, she tells us — and offers st...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Two of *The Durrells in Corfu. As a child, Keeley Hawes adored reading about the Durrell family’s fantastic Greek adventures on the island of Corfu. Years later, she finds herself as the fictional head of the Durrell clan, playing the role of matriarch Louisa Durrell in the ongoing series,  The Durrells in Corfu . In conversation w...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes One and Two of Season Three of *Poldark. Poldark’s Caroline Penvenen, the beautiful heiress with a generous heart, has secrets in store in the upcoming third season of the series. Actor Gabriella Wilde offers hints of the stories yet to come for her character, and reveals what it was like to film with her newborn child on set — as well as which...

With the upcoming 2018 adaptation of Little Women on MASTERPIECE rapidly approaching, we wanted to look back 149 years to the original 1868 publication of Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel of the same name. More specifically, we wanted to hear from our listeners and viewers why that novel is an important part of their lives. On International Podcast Day 2017, you told us.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Four of *Endeavour. A string of mysterious and seemingly unconnected Oxford murders greets Detective Constable Endeavour Morse in a brand new season of Endeavour . Lead series writer Russell Lewis wakes up every day wondering, “Who am I going to kill today?’ — and he tells us what, and who, to watch for in the upcoming fourth seaso...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of Season Three of *Grantchester. Another season of Grantchester is done and dusted, and lead writer Daisy Coulam has a few thoughts about the emotional journey she took us all on these past seven weeks. She talks love, duty, personal faith and her favorite scenes of the season that was.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Three of *Grantchester. Iconic British actor Tessa Peake-Jones describes herself as a rather happy woman, but her Mrs. Maguire on Grantchester is anything but. She explains how she found her character, how she “listen acts” and what her former acting mentee, Al Weaver is really like on set.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Three of *Grantchester. Actor Al Weaver, who plays church curate Leonard Finch in Grantchester , began his time on the series with a rather unfortunate mustache. He tells us about his character’s journey from mustache to near-marriage and beyond, and gives some behind-the-scenes flavor of his funny, friendly relationship with his...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of *Prime Suspect: Tennison. The Prime Suspect: Tennison season is over, but Jane Tennison’s journey to Detective Chief Inspector is just beginning. Actor Stefanie Martini reflects on the explosive season finale, the young Jane’s first big case, and the steps that still remain in the WPC’s fledgling career in the Metropolitan Police.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of *Prime Suspect: Tennison. Actor Sam Reid plays the grizzled Detective Inspector Len Bradfield, an early mentor for a young Jane Tennison in the new prequel series, Prime Suspect: Tennison. Bradfield is a role all its own — but Reid told us he couldn’t help but sneak a few of the original Jane Tennison’s quirks into his new character as...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Prime Suspect: Tennison. The original Prime Suspect brought powerhouse Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison to our screens for seven seasons. But Tennison didn’t start at the top. Actor Stefanie Martini -- who plays a younger version of the iconic character in the new prequel series, Prime Suspect: Tennison -- reveals how she found he...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of the Third Season of Grantchester. The comic and dramatic collide in full force in the picture book village of Grantchester, perhaps in this upcoming third season more than ever. Most of that mood comes from lead writer Daisy Coulam, who joins MASTERPIECE Studio to unpack her writing method, the show’s distinctive moral messaging and the se...

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *Dark Angel. Fans of “Downton Abbey’s” Anna Bates were likely spooked by Joanne Froggatt’s character in “Dark Angel”: the manipulative real-life serial killer Mary Ann Cotton. In this episode, MASTERPIECE Studio dissects Mary Ann’s motives, and pulls back the curtain on Joanne Froggatt’s darkest role to date.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *King Charles III. In 2012, playwright Mike Bartlett had a revolutionary idea: a Shakespearean drama about a king who had not yet ruled, King Charles III. But the road from first draft to Tony nomination was anything but easy. In this episode, Mike Bartlett joins host Jace Lacob to go behind-the-scenes of his controversial work.