MASTERPIECE Studio

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 difficult role.

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 wine with lifelong Twin Peaks fan, MASTERPIECE Studio host Jace Lacob.

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. Helin talks royalty, FDR, and Saga Noren of Broen in a new interview.

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 story, and what viewers should anticipate in the next seven episodes, in a new interview.

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 turn heads and claim awards. And in this final episode of our three-part docuseries, we explore how MASTERPIECE might continue to evolve for the next 50 years, tackling the challenges and opportunities still ahead. We speak with Julian Fellowes, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Lily Collins and more. See our website, pbs.org/makingmasterpiece for a detailed transcript, complete with references and links.

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 come just in time to scoop up some unlikely new hits — from Middlemarch and The Buccaneers to Prime Suspect and beyond, including a certain family drama set in a fancy Yorkshire estate... In this second episode of Making MASTERPIECE, hear from Rufus Sewell, Laura Linney, Alan Cumming, Andrew Davies, Charles Dance and many more. See our website, pbs.org/makingmasterpiece, for a full transcript with links.

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 — there's a former FCC Chair, a popular soap opera, and a Polaroid exec with Julia Child's The French Chef on his mind involved, too. For three episodes, Making MASTERPIECE will show how the most unexpected and unlikely of series — Masterpiece Theatre — grew into one of the longest-running primetime television icons of all time. What are its origins? What actors, writers, and executives shaped its trajectory? How has it overcome numerous challenges? And what does it have in store for its future, 50 years on? In this first episode, that origin story, featuring interviews with the series’ original executive producer, Sir Derek Jacobi, Glenda Jackson, former FCC Chairman Newton Minow and dozens more besides. See our website, pbs.org/makingmasterpiece, for a full transcript with links.