

MASTERPIECE Studio
MASTERPIECE
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 28, 2018 • 9min
Grantchester Reveals New Character, New Season Theme
*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 Tom Brittney, who will play the Rev. Will Davenport, an affable, energetic new arrival on the village green. In an exclusive interview with MASTERPIECE Studio, *Grantchester *creator Daisy Coulam reveals what to expect in the upcoming fourth season, and what fans have to look forward to with their new parish priest.

Jun 18, 2018 • 36min
Julian Morris Isn't Afraid To Play Complicated Characters
*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 challenge. Morris reveals what drew him to the role, what is was like to work with Vanessa Redgrave, and more.

May 27, 2018 • 31min
Emily Watson Means To Be More Like Marmee
*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 novel, and the role, as well as her Oscar-nominated film debut, in a frank and intimate conversation.

May 20, 2018 • 30min
Cinematic Sisterhood Was Simple For Annes Elwy and Willa Fitzgerald
*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 the scenes, and how their classic characters were granted a modern sense of discovery in writer Heidi Thomas’ elegant version of Louisa May Alcott’s charmed family.

May 16, 2018 • 11min
Bonus: Unpacking A Shocking 'Unforgotten' Second Season Finale
*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.

May 13, 2018 • 35min
Maya Hawke And Jonah Hauer-King Can’t Stop Making Each Other Laugh
*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.

May 6, 2018 • 39min
Angela Lansbury Is A Woman Of Her Time In 'Little Women'
*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, reveals what she learned on the *Little Women *set, and gives a preview of her role in the upcoming film, Mary Poppins Returns.

May 2, 2018 • 24min
Heidi Thomas Makes Alcott’s Words Shine In New ‘Little Women’ Adaptation
*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 writer. It’s one the longtime fan of Jo, Beth, Amy and Meg March knew she could handle. Thomas explains what she had to cut from the novel and just how icy her Amy’s frozen pond adventure really was.

Apr 30, 2018 • 32min
Sanjeev Bhaskar Still Can’t Quite Believe He’s In ‘Unforgotten’
*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.

Apr 9, 2018 • 18min
Benedict Cumberbatch Strives For Simple Answers In Complex 'Child' Drama
*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 McEwan's novels. The busy actor stopped by for a chat about time, trauma and the subtle beauties of the everyday.


