MASTERPIECE Studio

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of the Second Season of Baptiste. The brilliant Fiona Shaw is already a regular guest on MASTERPIECE programs, but this is her first interview on MASTERPIECE Studio — a format that she takes to with ease, like so much else in her storied career. In the challenging second season of Baptiste , Shaw plays Emma Chambers, the no-nonsense British...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for the third episode of the sixth season of Grantchester. After six seasons in a single role, you might think Al Weaver has fully centered his performance as literary village curate, Leonard Finch. But in this serialized sixth season, there's still emotional and dramatic depth to uncover, which Weaver does with great skill. Weaver explains what he's learned...

Warning: This podcast contains spoilers for the first episode of the sixth season of Grantchester. In the six seasons of  Grantchester, the action has mainly centered on the titular village, along with crime in nearby Cambridge. For the first episode of series six, executive producer Emma Kingsman-Lloyd and head writer Daisy Coulam shift the action to a nostalgic British holiday camp — with murder...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes Three and Four of the First Season of Guilt. In Guilt, Mark Bonnar’s snide, crafty Max is far from sympathetic. But the veteran actor thinks even Max is redeemable in the end. Bonnar talks Max and making this season — and the next — of Guilt in a new conversation.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes One and Two of the First Season of Guilt. Guilt stars Jamie Sives and Mark Bonnar are old friends from high school, so it isn't hard to imagine them as their bickering on-screen characters. Sives explores the intricacies of the series’ tricky plot and more in a new interview.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of the Fourth Season of Unforgotten. The truly tragic ending of the fourth season of  Unforgotten made series creator and head writer Chris Lang tear up as he wrote it. Lang talks through the twisty fourth season of his series, and looks ahead to what's in store for the planned fifth season of his modern day crime drama.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Us. Douglas Petersen is prickly. The biochemist and father of one is picky, nervous and reluctant to change his mind. Tom Hollander sees his job as the actor playing a character like Douglas is, in part, to make him relatable — which he does, of course, in spades. Hollander talks Douglas,  Us and how to find the humanity and the humor in a...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Us. The sun-dappled European exploits of Douglas and Connie Petersen and their son, Albie, in Us mask a shifting truth at the heart of their gradually crumbling marriage. As Connie, MASTERPIECE favorite Saskia Reeves is a joy to behold, and she brings that spark to a new interview.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of Atlantic Crossing. As  Atlantic Crossing comes to a close, series creator, co-writer and director Alexander Eik joins lead actors Sofia Helin and Kyle MacLachlan for an intimate exploration of the truth behind the fictionalized historical drama. Though Crown Princess Martha never became Queen, her story still has impact today.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of Atlantic Crossing. The chance to play legendary American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one big reason for Kyle MacLachlan to sign on to Atlantic Crossing . But it was the story of the young Norwegian Royal Family at the heart of the miniseries that made him commit to the role. MacLachlan explores Roosevelt, Agent Dale Cooper and...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Atlantic Crossing. Norwegian Crown Princess Martha was born in Sweden, but Swedish actor Sofia Helin didn't know her story until she signed on to play the quiet Royal in Atlantic Crossing.  But after coming on board the miniseries, Helin helped shape the story of the little-known Princess, bringing a surprising light to her powerful story....

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Atlantic Crossing. For American viewers, the story of Norway's Crown Princess Märtha is likely mostly unknown. But the Crown Princess' World War II influence was a surprise even for Atlantic Crossing co-writer and director Alexander Eik, who spent almost seven years researching his miniseries. Eik explains how he found the key to Märtha's...

Even if you haven't been watching MASTERPIECE every Sunday for the past 50 years, there's a very good chance you tuned in to watch  Downton Abbey . The six-season epic brought renewed attention to the drama anthology series when it first aired more than a decade ago, and we look back at the interconnected lives of the Crawley clan and their servants with a few of the people who helped the title tu...

Masterpiece Theatre enters its third decade and settles in under its third executive producer, Rebecca Eaton, as new challenges pop up to make the Boston-based anthology series' life a touch more difficult. Cable TV competition, shifting public taste and limited funding lead Eaton and her team to make dramatic changes at the dawn of the new century. Fortunately for public TV viewers, those changes...

Five decades is a long time for any television series to air, but when a show hits 50, it's possible some people might start asking questions about where it all started. That's where this podcast comes in. Fifty years ago, a group of public television producers in Boston had the inspired idea to import British costume drama for American audiences. But they didn't come up with the idea on their own...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of the First Season of All Creatures Great and Small . Now that the first season of  All Creatures Great and Small  has come to a close, what should viewers expect in the already-confirmed second season? Series star Nicholas Ralph returns to the podcast for a quick look back on season one, and an exclusive preview of the season rapidly on t...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of the First Season of All Creatures Great and Small. Helen Alderson takes care of almost everyone in the farming village of Darrowby — but actor Rachel Shenton thinks the confirmed second season of  All Creatures Great and Small should give Helen some time for herself. Shenton defends her character's choices and praises her costumes in a n...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of The Long Song. The story of Miss July is ultimately a story of strength and perseverance following years of trauma and pain. Lead actor Tamara Lawrance brings strength to her portrayal of July, who goes from slave to memoirist in colonial British Jamaica. Lawrance reflects on the role, and the hope of  The Long Song,  in a new interview.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of the First Season of Miss Scarlet and the Duke . A female private detective in Victorian London seems anachronistic — but Eliza Scarlet more than holds her own on the grimy streets of the British capitol. Kate Phillips is a witty delight in the title role, and she brings that zest to the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of the First Season of All Creatures Great and Small. Even casual viewers of  All Creatures Great and Small  can see the obvious head honcho in Skeldale House — the unshakeable Audrey Hall. Series star Anna Madeley relishes playing the role, and she joins the podcast to reveal a bit of the confident Mrs. Hall's inner grit and grace.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of the First Season of All Creatures Great and Small. Dame Diana Rigg has been a MASTERPIECE regular for decades. From her Emmy Award-winning role in the 1997 adaptation of Rebecca to her years-long host duty on Mystery! , Rigg brought her charm and considerable gravitas to PBS TV screens for years. Rigg passed away in September 2020, making...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of the First Season of All Creatures Great and Small. Siegfried Farnon is a difficult man to live with — and Donald Sinclair, the real life Yorkshire veterinarian he's based on, was just as unusual. Actor Samuel West used Alf Wight's memoir series and personal anecdotes from those who knew Sinclair to build his character, and he shares some...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of the First Season of All Creatures Great and Small. MASTERPIECE fans already know Callum Woodhouse for his role as the shotgun-happy middle Durrell sibling, Leslie Durrell. Now, he's back on our screens in a different bucolic locale of the 1930s — the gorgeous Yorkshire Dales, playing the dastardly Tristan Farnon. Woodhouse promises he didn...

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 1 of the First Season of All Creatures Great and Small . In MASTERPIECE's warmhearted new adaptation of the Alf Wight — aka James Herriot —  All Creatures Great and Small memoir series, it's not just the series that's brand new. Lead actor Nicholas Ralph is making his screen debut as young veterinarian James Herriot, and he joins the MASTERPIECE...

Making MASTERPIECE is the full story of how public media’s favorite place for the best of British drama went from crazy idea to a franchise 50 years strong. Hosted by MASTERPIECE Studio host Jace Lacob, the three-part documentary miniseries features the inside scoop on everything from  Downton Abbey  to  Upstairs, Downstairs , and everything in between. Featuring exclusive interviews with MASTERPI...