MASTERPIECE Studio is your backstage pass to the PBS series—from Sherlock to Poldark. After the show, turn off the TV and tune in to MASTERPIECE Studio for the scoop with host Jace Lacob. Listen for exclusive interviews with the cast and crew of your favorite shows. Get the history lowdown behind the people and places you see on screen, and hear revealing stories from the set. MASTERPIECE Studio is made possible by Viking Cruises and Raymond James. Sponsors for MASTERPIECE on PBS are Viking Cruises, Raymond James, and The MASTERPIECE Trust.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 5 of the Fifth Season of Grantchester. A stunning revelation in the village of Grantchester leaves everybody at a loss for words — but Grantchester series creator Daisy Coulam was plotting this moment the entire season. Coulam returns to the podcast for a conversation about change, growth and thematic consistency in her charming series.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of the Fifth Season of Grantchester. Ellie Harding is a bold newcomer on the Grantchester green, digging for front page scoops in the murderous little village. Actor Lauren Carse loved Ellie's modern, career-minded character, and she joined the podcast for a conversation on romance, rumors and Meryl Streep.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of the Fifth Season of Grantchester. After a particularly cinematic episode of Grantchester, we head behind the camera for a conversation with episode director Christiana Ebohon-Green. With hints of classic film noir and Hollywood's golden age sprinkled throughout a classic picture house crime scene, Ebohon-Green reveals where she and the creative team turned for inspiration.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 2 of the Fifth Season of Grantchester. The quiet charm of Leonard Finch and Daniel Marlowe's blossoming romance has been an unexpected highlight of the last few seasons of Grantchester . Even actor Ollie Dimsdale, who brings Daniel to life, is surprised by the strength of his character's long-running narrative arc. He explores the past — and future — here.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode 1 of the Fifth Season of Grantchester. It's the fifth season of Grantchester , and series lead Tom Brittney is firmly in control in his role as Rev. Will Davenport. He's also — in a change — in control of his on-screen motorcycle, having finally obtained his bike license. He joins the podcast for a look ahead on the season on the way.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of the First Season of World On Fire . After a stunning season one finale, World On Fire lead Zofia Wichłacz and series creator Peter Bowker return for another new podcast conversation, wrapping up the drama of season one and looking forward to the thrill of the second season already in the works.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of the First Season of World on Fire. In the international cast of World On Fire , Nancy Campbell and her nephew, Webster O’Connor, are two Americans facing the perils of a looming war. Actor Brian J. Smith found something of himself in the romantic character he plays on the series, and he shared stories from set in a new interview.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of the First Season of World On Fire*.* During World War II, Julia Brown's grandmother was a jazz singer, which gave the World On Fire star a broad starting point for her fiercely independent character, Lois Bennett. But in Brown's hands, Lois is a strong and sharply independent young woman looking for adventures of her own.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of the First Season of World On Fire. A World War II documentary helped spur Peter Bowker to create his multi-layered, international drama, World On Fire . With a season of the series dedicated to every year of the global war, the creator offers new insight into his first year, and subtle previews of the season still on the horizon.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of the First Season of World On Fire. From a summer romance in beautiful prewar Warsaw to a rebel resistance in the rubble of her struggling city at war, young Polish waitress Kasia Tomaszeski has seen a life's worth of trauma in a few brief episodes. Actor Zofia Wichłacz was prepared for the dark role, but warns in a new interview — there's still more pain to come for Kasia.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of the First Season of World On Fire. If World On Fire' s Nancy Campbell seems familiar, it's more than just the fact that she is played by Academy Award-winning actor Helen Hunt. The no-nonsense war correspondent was based in part on the legendary Clare Hollingworth, and in this special episode of the podcast, we share Hollingworth's own memories of the German invasion of Poland in 1939.
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Beecham House. Fillmmaker Gurinder Chadha brings a keen eye to her multigenerational Indian drama, Beecham House . And the family story isn’t just in front of the camera — her husband, Paul Mayeda Berges, created and produced the series with her, and the couple’s twins appear as royal characters. The entire historical costume drama is now available for binge viewing on PBS Passport, and Chadha previews the story for MASTERPIECE viewers...
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of the First Season of *Sanditon * Actor Anne Reid is quick to remind anyone listening that her Sanditon character, Lady Denham, is a terrible, grouchy miser. But the actor herself is anything but, and her interview here is a charming farewell to the first season of the series.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of the First Season of Sanditon. Screenwriter Andrew Davies has already adapted Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, and *Emma *for television *— *but his new iteration of the author's tragically unfinished final novel, Sanditon is a creation distinctly his own. Davies reveals how he found the plot in Austen's 24,000-word fragment, and what he embellished on his own in creating the new series....
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of the First Season of Sanditon. For the first time since her journey from Willingden, Charlotte Haywood leaves the town of Sanditon, heading to London in pursuit of her kidnapped friend, Miss Georgiana Lambe. Series stars Theo James, Rose Williams and Crystal Clarke join Sanditon creator Andrew Davies in a special podcast episode exploring the misty streets of Regency-era London, and offering previews of the final two episodes on the way....
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of the First Season of Sanditon. Esther Denham has few friends in Sanditon, and even her wolfish step-brother, Sir Edward, seems to prefer the company of others more than he does his sharp-tounged step-sister. So it's a charming surprise to speak with actor Charlotte Spencer, who truly is everything that Esther is not.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of the First Season of Sanditon. In a special bonus episode of MASTERPIECE Studio, Sanditon stars Rose Williams and Crystal Clarke reunite in the studio to answer a few of your viewer questions about the series, their friendship and the difficulties of wearing Regency-era corsets.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of the First Season of Sanditon. Crystal Clarke is not the first major character of color to appear in a MASTERPIECE production — but the American-born actor thinks it’s high time more period dramas offered a broader range of history than currently on view. Clarke talks pineapples, codeswitching and the sadness of Miss Lambe in a brand new interview.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of the First Season of Sanditon. The dashing Sidney Parker floats in and out of his brother Tom's seaside enterprise of Sanditon with barely a word besides. But Theo James — already a MASTERPIECE fan favorite from his memorable role in the first season of *Downton Abbey *— has plenty to say about this new series and his character's seemingly icy resolve.
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes One and Two of the First Season of Sanditon. As she prepared for her role as the ambitious Charlotte Heywood in MASTERPIECE’s Sanditon , actor Rose Williams went deep into Jane Austen’s literary catalogue of heroines. Her Charlotte is an entirely new creation, and one that both respects the Austen pantheon and brings new light to familiar literary tropes. Williams previews the exciting series to come, and gives special insight to this story by...
Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of the Fifth Season of Poldark. For Poldark creator, writer and executive producer Debbie Horsfield, there was never any question as to whether or not the original Ross Poldark, Robin Ellis, would come back for the series finale of her adaptation of Winston Graham's novels. Horsfield and Ellis both say goodbye to Ross and company in a final podcast episode.
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of Season Five of *Poldark. Catherine Despard was a real-life abolitionist and activist whose story is often ignored in the history books. That sense of responsibility gave actor Kerri McLean a real motivation in her performance as Kitty in this final season of Poldark.
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Four of *The Durrells in Corfu. After four years and four seasons of television, Louisa, Larry, Leslie, Margo and Gerry Durrell are leaving Corfu. It's a departure that's true to life, like much of the sunny series, and actors Callum Woodhouse, Daisy Waterstone and Milo Parker join The Durrells in Corfu creator Simon Nye to reflect on the fantastic family at the heart of it all.
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Five of *Poldark. During his time living with his sister, Demelza and his brother-in-law, Ross, Drake Carne has come close to death many times. After years of struggle and strife, however, things finally seem to be looking up for the earnest blacksmith. Actor Harry Richardson sees his constantly optimistic character as most similar to a well-meaning, but utterly inept labrador puppy. He defends his quasi-canine counterpart in a ...
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of Season Five of *Poldark. Prudie Paynter might be the world's most ineffective housemaid, but she's a loyal friend and a true source of humor, both on screen and off. Actor Beatie Edney has made a name for herself on the *Poldark *set as one to drive her fellow castmates into laughter mid-scene. Edney might pretend to be serious, but her interview proves she can make anybody laugh.
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of Season Five of *Poldark. Jack Farthing's Sir George Warleggan is the obvious villain in Poldark , and he brings his share of villainy to this final season of the series. But for Farthing, Sir George's complicated response to personal trauma has lent his portrayal a surprising human layer that the actor reveals in a new interview.
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Season Five of *Poldark. Actor Heida Reed played Elizabeth in the first four seasons of Poldark, but her character's early death in childbirth was a tragic ending to the fourth season. So her spectral appearance in Sir George Warleggan’s grief-stricken mind this season was a welcome surprise for Elizabeth's fans. Reed joins the podcast to discuss how it felt to return to set as an idealized and imaginary Elizabeth.
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Four of *The Durrells In Corfu. Simon Nye, the creator and head writer of The Durrells In Corfu , doesn’t see Gerald Durrell’s books as necessarily sacrosanct, but his fictionalized family is awfully similar to the Durrells’ actual four years in Greece. Now, as the fourth and final season begins, Nye joins us for a conversation exploring the family’s journey from page to screen, with a special preview of what remains for everyone...
*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Five of *Poldark. For the last five years, every season of Poldark has adapted at least one of Winston Graham's original novels. For the fifth and final season, however, series creator and head writer Debbie Horsfield was forced to fill in a gap of 11 years between Graham's book, The Angry Tide , and the next novel,' The Stranger from the Sea. It's a challenge she took to, and she explains what she learned in creating this season...
On this very first episode of Poldark , we meet all the key characters who will come to shape the series — Ross, Demelza, Elizabeth, Francis, Verity, Aunt Agatha, George, Prudie. We also meet our Mining Poldark podcast hosts — Robin Ellis, who the original Ross Poldark in the 1970s adaptation of Winston Graham’s novels, and Barrett Brountas, a MASTERPIECE staffer and Poldark superfan. Come along on our journey as we explore the entire scope of this beloved series, episode by episode! The full fi...
