Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece Classic 2011-2012 (Read 149972 times)

CallieOK · « **Reply #200 on:** January 31, 2012, 10:04:43 PM »

Masterpiece Classic 2012 brings back favorite authors and introduces new authors and programs. See the complete 2012 MASTERPIECE CLASSIC schedule.

NOW DISCUSSING

April 15, 2012
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
An adaptation and completion of Charles Dickens' last novel left unfinished at the halfway mark at his death, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood is a psychological thriller about a provincial choirmaster's obsession with 17-year-old Rosa Bud and the lengths he will go to to attain her. Cast includes Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters) and Julia MacKenzie (Miss Marple).

COMING

April 22 & 29, 2012 at 9pm
Birdsong
An adaptation of Sebastian Faulk's novel about lovers torn apart by World War I. Eddie Redmayne (The Pillars of the Earth) plays Stephen Wrayford, whose pre-war affair with Isabelle Azaire (Clemence Poesy, Harry Potter films) has an enduring effect on him as he fights in the trenches.

ALREADY DISCUSSED

April 1 & 8, 2012
Great Expectations
Widely considered one of the greatest novels by Charles Dickens, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip the battered orphan boy, who rises from blacksmith's apprentice to gentleman under the patronage of a mysterious benefactor, who assures him of "great expectations." Starring Gillian Anderson, David Suchet and Ray Winstone.

February 26, 2012
One 90-minute episode
The Old Curiosity Shop
A teenage girl and her grandfather lose everything to a maniacal moneylender and flee his relentless pursuit. Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius) stars as Grandfather, with Sophie Vavasseur (Northanger Abbey) as Nell and Toby Jones (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) as Quilp.

January 8 to February 19, 2012
Downton Abbey Season 2
Downton Abbey season 2 resumes the story of aristocrats and servants in the tumultuous World War I era. The international hit is written by Julian Fellowes and stars Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, and Hugh Bonneville, plus a drawing room full of new actors, portraying the loves, feuds, and sacrifices of a glittering culture thrown into crisis. Watch all episodes online through March 6 at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch/index.html

The Primetime Emmy Award® winning Downton Abbey season one returns December 18 & 25, 2011 and January 1, 2012. (Check local listings.)

Bellemere, do you have Closed Captioning? I can hear but I don't always understand what's being said and the CC helps a lot.

It seems to me that the writer(s) are trying to work in everything they can about the era. So William and Daisy's hasty marriage may have been to set up a plot line about widows getting pensions, etc. She is now entitled to his. How will this affect her status in the kitchen and the attitude toward her?

Bringing in Cora's American mother will provide a story line about nouveau riche Americans sending their daughters to England to marry into the aristocracy. This was discussed at some length in the program about The Manor House that preceded Downton Abbey the past couple of weeks. Winston Churchill's mother was mentioned but there was more information about her sister who had married an English aristocrat earlier.

CallieinOK

bellemere · « **Reply #201 on:** January 31, 2012, 10:19:01 PM »

My old TV had closed captioning at the press of a button on the "menu"
Or new, more modern, more expensive TV has a remote control with 64 buttons, and pressing the wrong one can lead into a labyrinth of disaster. I must figure out how to get the captions if I am to get to the heart of
Downton Abbey.
I know that Sir Richard will be a terrible husband. Maybe Mrs. Bates will assasinate him. Did you catch the fancy mink scarf she bought with Sir Richard's money before she realized the trap he had sprung.?

marcie · « **Reply #202 on:** February 01, 2012, 01:33:28 AM »

I hope that you can figure out the closed captioning, bellemere. I found the closed captioning in the "setup" for my TV. I know what you mean about pushing the wrong button on some of the more modern appliances!

Callie, I think you are right about the writer(s) trying to work in everything they can about the era. That seems like a good supposition about why all of the plot intricacies.... that and the conflicts that will keep audiences watching to see how they are resolved.

rosemarykaye · « **Reply #203 on:** February 01, 2012, 05:43:08 AM »

That's interesting. Joyce Grenfell (who was exceedingly posh - her aunt was Nancy Astor) had an American mother, as did Gwen Raverat, Charles Darwin's granddaughter.

Babi · « **Reply #204 on:** February 01, 2012, 09:10:07 AM »

Oh, I can't wait to see the 'confrontation' between Maggie Smith and
Shirley MacLaine! I confidently expect that to be a highlight of the
season. They should play off each other beautifully.

GINNY, doesn't the theme seem mostly to be that there are good and bad
types both upstairs and down. And times of crisis seem to bring out both
the best and the worst, don't they?

We don't even get Hallmark Theatre here anymore, JEANNE. I don't know
why, but I have missed it. I feared it was gone forever.
I totally missed the mink scarf, BELLE. That woman is pure spite and
poison. Celebrating her success with a mink is probably typical of her.

MaryPage · « **Reply #205 on:** February 01, 2012, 10:00:35 AM »

I could not hear anything on the television any more without my CLOSED CAPTIONING. But the British accents would totally defeat me without CC.

Yes, Mrs. Bates explained in detail the first time she showed up exactly how it was she heard the news about Lady Mary. This, too, would have been typical of the times, and the Downstairs in every household exchanged information, gossip and slander with servants from other households.

There was a film made and shown, I think, on Masterpiece Theatre about a bunch of American girls, rich ones, marrying British titles. Winston Churchill's mother was an example. There have been a lot of books written, too. A lot of it was done, really quite a lot of it, to save the estates. That is all very typical. I think the film was called The Buccaneers? Look it up and see if you can get it. You will like it fine.

Funny story in The New Yorker. The gal that plays Anna was in New York for the awards recently. She is to be married later this year (in her private life) and recently went to see a vicar about making plans. He recognized her and asked if he could possibly visit the set. "You will go straight to Heaven," he assured her! She told this to The New Yorker reporter.

marcie · « **Reply #206 on:** February 01, 2012, 11:19:20 AM »

"You will go straight to Heaven," he assured her! LOL, MaryPage!

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #207 on:** February 01, 2012, 12:56:03 PM »

Computers back - still setting up the main computer but starved for news I opened the laptop immediately and started to read all the posts -

I am still back at wondering about the character on next week's episode who appears badly wounded and questions if he is known. I don't remember the name but in the first series what about the Duke or Earl or Lord or whoever who brought the Turkish attaché - seems to me he was visiting as a possible suitor for Mary - I wonder if it is a segway to re-opening Mary's story and Sir Richard gets wind and makes a to do - somehow I just do not see Mary and Sir Richard going down the aisle.

I am also imagining Matthew's mother returning with another modern and therefore magical cure. I wonder if we will ever find out what makes Mrs. Bates so intent on destroying him. She becomes more a characture of hate with each appearance.

And poor Daisy - she really had her lesson about not following your heart and doing what other's think is right - now hopefully the others will help her see the good she did so she does not feel guilt and unworthy for the next 10 or 15 years of her life.

Funny on my TV I can get captions in Spanish but not in English - there are buttons to hit for several languages but the only one that takes in the one for Spanish. I hope you find a way to show captions on your TV Bellemere.

MaryPage wasn't it Edith Wharton who wrote a couple of novels about rich Americans sending their Daughter's to marry into the English aristocracy? As Callie says, so much of Downton Abby follows what we already know about England during the turn of the 20th century. Maybe that is part of its appeal - few surprises but using what we have read and know about to tell a story with great actors and great scenery and great photography. In many spots the story is predictable but like a romance novel it is candy to watch.

There is only one show I like and watch on commercial TV - what a conflict since it is on the same time as Downton but I selected to watch it online - The Good Wife - my sound on my computer is awful - so low - I got extra speakers but not every site goes through the speakers and so I finally found last week how I can get captions on that CBS site - with all the repeats of Downton Abby available I was tempted to watch The Good Wife and see ...Abby later in the week but come Sunday night and I become too anxious to find out what happens next.

JeanneP · « **Reply #208 on:** February 01, 2012, 08:09:28 PM »

I watch a movie last night that I had not heard about. Came out 2011 . A UK movie

Now if anyone would care to see the parts of the North of England where I am from. this will take you from one end to the other. Beautiful. it was photographed as they went.
Made me so Homesick. Name is "The Trip" just 2 men in it. Steve Coogan and Rob brydon. The box shows them dining. Can be now rented.

Rosemarykaye. Bet you have seen it. I think the North can complete with the south of UK when it come to Scenary etc.

bellemere · « **Reply #209 on:** February 01, 2012, 08:40:47 PM »

I am determined to find the way to captions, and the Grumpy Old Man says he will help but not until after the Super Bowl, in case we do something disastrous in our meandering. So I will suffer ghrough another Downton on my tiny bedroom TV, with the sound up as loud as possible.

Frybabe · « **Reply #210 on:** February 01, 2012, 11:15:01 PM »

Barb, I'm glad your computer is back up and running.

Babi · « **Reply #211 on:** February 02, 2012, 08:41:21 AM »

I must have been distracted at that point in the story, as I don't remember a thing about the badly wounded soldier who asks if he's remembered. I'll have to 'catch up' on the next episode.

I love beautiful scenery, JEANNE, but I assume there was more to the
movie than that. What was the story line, please, so I can decide if I
want to look for it?

Frybabe · « **Reply #212 on:** February 02, 2012, 08:49:03 AM »

Babi, it was part of the trailer for the next episode.

Zulema · « **Reply #213 on:** February 02, 2012, 11:08:52 PM »

I haven't been here for a couple of weeks, but I am totally taken by Downton Abbey. I had to go out to dinner and didn't get back to the second show until about 15 minutes into it. It was a very cold evening. I ran straight to the TV, turned it on and sat staring at it, didn't even take my coat off. It used to be with the old televisions that I would tape the show I didn't want to miss on the VCR, or tape it anyway to watch again. I happen to have a very good VCR still, but with the new HDTV, the recordings come out not just not HD but much weaker, sort of bluish, and the picture is more like it was in the very old days of television. Bummer!

I hope Shirley MacLaine will be restrained in her mugging. The director is very good so I hope he wouldn't let it deteriorate into a farcical situation. And it would be a tragedy if Mary married Murdoch, oops, I meant Richard, like when Julia Flyte married Rex Mottram. But I don't see Downton Abbey as having that kind of heavy weight that Evelyn Waugh saddled Brideshead with, so I am keeping a rosy outlook.

I ran into Lucy at an early music concert in early January. It was so good to see one of you in person. Zulema

marcie · « **Reply #214 on:** February 03, 2012, 01:36:18 AM »

Zulema, I empathize with your not taking the time to take off your coat so you wouldn't miss any of the program!

Yes, we don't want Mary to wed that awful Richard.

Babi · « **Reply #215 on:** February 03, 2012, 08:45:33 AM »

I don't think you need to worry about MacLaine 'mugging'
inappropriately, ZULEMA. She has played straight roles very
well indeed. Did you see her in "Some Came Running"? That gained
her first Academy nomination.

JeanneP · « **Reply #216 on:** February 03, 2012, 01:18:52 PM »

Babi. The Dvd (The Trip). Story line not that big. Two friends making a trip. one is a Writer going to all the Hotel Restaurants as a Food Critic. Other man sort of funny. But for the scenery alone it is worth watching. Think I will buy it if price comes down. At the Moment it $39. Love my grandchildren to see where we came from for one thing.

Frybabe · « **Reply #217 on:** February 03, 2012, 02:34:56 PM »

I got to watch the last episode of DA last night. I was a little less satisfied with it than with the others. This article more or less says how I felt about it. http://entertainment.time.com/2012/01/30/downton-abbey-watch-house-of-despair/?iid=ent-x-tv-recaps-widget I think that packing every know social issue known to man into the show in such close order is getting to me a bit. Strive and drama creeping in, and things are starting to fall apart. boo! The article mentions some kind of chemistry between Lord Grantham and the new maid, Jane. I didn't see any chemistry, did you?

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #218 on:** February 03, 2012, 02:49:09 PM »

I'm with your Frybabe - no sparks that I noticed - he seemed like any CEO presented unexpectedly with a new employee that he would be polite and a bit curious to know who is working in his house.

I'm thinking this may be a history lesson disguised with the pomp of costume, great actors, suspense, indoor and outdoor scenery, and a simple story - it amazes me how little anyone under the age of 35 knows about twentieth century history other than platitudes about the Great Depression and Hitler. This could be a lovely way to document while instructing the many who did not study WWI or England's historical experiences while in school.

MaryPage · « **Reply #219 on:** February 03, 2012, 03:55:11 PM »

I confess to adoring the costume dramas, especially these and the Jane Austens. With Austen I remind myself that those beautiful 18th century people took about one bath per year. With these in the early 20th century, I remember the very rich often took a bath once a week! Such excessive luxury!

I'd rather be me, with my 2 bedroom, 2 full bathroom apartment! I am the one with the luxury! I bathe every day, whether I need it or not!

Babi · « **Reply #220 on:** February 04, 2012, 08:59:08 AM »

Quote

it amazes me how little anyone under the age of 35 knows about twentieth century history

BARB

I know what you mean, BARB. I am constantly surprised at the things
younger people don't know, that I assumed everybody knew. Of
course, my ignorance of the current pop culture would be, I'm sure,
equally amazing to them.
Which reminds me, have any of you seen this news item? I had no
idea our teens were making such good use of their gadgets.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/03/teens-save-life-using-fac_n_1253301.html?

MaryPage · « **Reply #221 on:** February 04, 2012, 09:52:09 AM »

The February 6 - 19 issue of TV GUIDE, a double issue with the Making of SMASH on the front, has an article about Downton Abbey. I get the distinct impression we can expect more terrible things from Mrs. Bates and that the lord will have an affair. Nothing said about the person in the wheel chair, nothing said about any new characters including Shirley McLaine. It does come right out and say Thomas is gay, so I guess that settles that, as the writer of the series is the source of the interview.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #222 on:** February 04, 2012, 11:20:21 AM »

Aww- well even writing about what appears to be a good marriage is showing us that whatever the itch is that men will hurt a partner, it happens - feeling hurt doesn't help, feeling guilt doesn't help and even feeling anger doesn't help - which are the typical responses by the betrayed partner.

As for Mrs. Bates I expected she was like a book worm that does not stop till she reaches her end and the end of every page in life she confronts. I just wish there were clues to the source of all this rage.

Ouch for Thomas - with no love in sight and his last love as unscrupulous as he, with both aware of letters that could be the source of embarrassment and or blackmail, it appears all Thomas has in his life is his campaigns to manipulate himself into a higher order of respectability and hide his secrets.

Sounds like we have still some surprises to learn about tomorrow night...

mabel1015j · « **Reply #223 on:** February 04, 2012, 03:24:13 PM »

I'm watching Shirley Maclaine in Coco Chanel. Some critics panned it, but i'm liking it and Shirley in it. Plus all those lovely clothes! A pleasant afternoon.

Babi · « **Reply #224 on:** February 05, 2012, 08:12:52 AM »

Ignoring the whole thing wouldn't help either, BARB. I would
think anger is a natural response and one an injured partner
would be entitled to express. It's where one goes from there
that should matter. Unless, of course, the partner couldn't
care less. $:-\$

jeriron · « **Reply #225 on:** February 05, 2012, 08:44:45 AM »

Boy did I make a mistake. I went on the local PBS site for the times and day that Dowton Abbey is showing and there was a description of each one and now I know the ending on Feb. 19 which is the Christmas show. I could just kick myself.

Frybabe · « **Reply #226 on:** February 05, 2012, 08:58:16 AM »

I know what you mean Jeriron. I looked at a UK site a while back and caught glimpses of some if not all of what to expect with the future season 2 episodes. It may have colored my opinion of the episodes that are showing now. Suffice it to say, I didn't care for the direction it program is going in for some of the characters. So, spoilers can really spoil.

bellemere · « **Reply #227 on:** February 05, 2012, 03:07:28 PM »

speaking of costumes in Downton, don't you feel a little sympathy for his Lordship , made to shuffle around the house in that beautifully fitted military uniform but not allowed to actually do anything with the army? He is supposed to just "keep spirits up" but I bet a lot of the officer casualties would like to punch his lights out.
As to American women marrying into European aristocracy - I remember when Winston Churchill addressed a joint session of our Congress. He said he felt it was a great honor, but liked to think that if his father had been American and his mother English, he might have made it there on his own.
Mh other favoritws are those big slanted hats! They look great on Maggie Smith and Elizabeth McGovern, don't they?
And how funny to watch how the aristocrats stand still in the middle of the room whiile other people put clothes on them, and take them off!

bellemere · « **Reply #228 on:** February 05, 2012, 03:36:33 PM »

Heads Up! Just discovered long article in the New York times Book Review insert on "books that explore the world behind downton Abbey" Haven't read it yet, looks good.

JeanneP · « **Reply #229 on:** February 05, 2012, 03:39:26 PM »

Today on TV it was showing a recap for tonight on Downton Abbey. A little closer view of the Man in the Wheelchair with face bandaged. Can't figure who that can be. Has to be quite old.
Thinking that maybe it will be the cousin who was supposed to go down on the Titanic. Didn't drown but sort of disapeared and then in army in Uk. (To much like a US soap opera ) Will just have to wait and see. He would have been the Owner of the Abbey.

MaryPage · « **Reply #230 on:** February 05, 2012, 05:21:31 PM »

It has occurred to me that it may well be that officer of the local guards who invited their honorary member, the Earl of Downton, to dinner. Remember? He was the one who disappointed the lord and said that of course he could not go to fight in France with them; he was just a figurehead and they thought it would be a morale booster for him to come to that farewell dinner.

MaryPage · « **Reply #231 on:** February 05, 2012, 09:57:31 PM »

Well, my first wild guess, which I felt to be too far fetched to be possible, turned out to be partially true. That is to say, it was not REALLY Patrick, but it was someone pretending to be.

I am certain in my heart it was not him.

I do hope that young woman with the baby will not commit suicide. Horrors.

What is to happen? We shall see. Meanwhile, I'm having a lovely time watching.

mabel1015j · « **Reply #232 on:** February 05, 2012, 11:41:22 PM »

What is the purpose of Ethel's story in the show? It seems so extraneous.

Jean

MaryPage · « **Reply #233 on:** February 05, 2012, 11:58:24 PM »

Back before the Titanic sank in 1913 (and we are now in 1918), Lady Mary was to marry her cousin Patrick, heir to Downton Abbey. Lady Edith, however, loved him. Was secretly deeply in love with him.

Lady Edith is the middle, forgotten sister. She yearns for love and, so far, we have seen her be willing to take it in the most unsuitable situations: the very rich but very old widowed lord, the married farmer, and now this charlatan pretending to be Patrick on the chance his burned and unrecognizable features would give him the ticket to a fortune

I hope things turn out well for her in the long run.

As for Ethel, we are seeing how there was absolutely no safety net for unwed mothers back then; only the charity of the few willing to help. If there is no one to help, well, I am afraid this story may take a turn to suicide. That so often happened back in those days.

After watching Downton tonight, I watched the 2007 version of A Room With A View. I am going to be totally disloyal here and admit I thought it better than the 1986! Oh, by the way: Elizabeth McGovern was in it, and playing the mother!

But, good as Maggie Smith and Judi Dench and Daniel Day-Lewis and Helena Bonham-Carter were, back in the day, I declare this one to be much, much better.

And now I am feeling rather sacrilegious.

ginny · « **Reply #234 on:** February 06, 2012, 09:05:41 AM »

But "Patrick" does not appear to have a British accent. Should he? I'm sort of weak on the Patrick story?

MaryPage · « **Reply #235 on:** February 06, 2012, 09:06:51 AM »

He is a Canadian.

bellemere · « **Reply #236 on:** February 06, 2012, 09:10:01 AM »

Please help out the hearing ipaired viewer who can't find the captions.
Who is that woman who gets on the bus with a couple of baskets and visits the woman with the baby, who I know is the dismissed maid Ethel. Her mother?
And what is the connection between her situation and the new maid, Jane, if any.
someohe hinted at an affair by his Lordship. Not the maid!!!! Please!!!!
That Patrick had a pretty fishy story. Was he really a pretender? Probably. He left when his Lordship turned the account ofer to the lawyer who probably had resources to uncover the fraud. but still.......
So where and how did Jane come into thepicture and does she or that visiting lady have antything to do with Etherl?
Sir Richard - really scary guy. He accurately assessed Mary's feelings for Matthew and brought Lavinia back into the picture to help forestall any trouble to his coming marrage. A real people-user.

MaryPage · « **Reply #237 on:** February 06, 2012, 09:33:13 AM »

Sir Richard is a true genius. Not at all particular as to how he gets his way, he does figure out correctly how to get it!

It is the Downton Abbey housekeeper, Mrs. Hughes, who takes, I should say took, as she has been told she cannot do it any longer, food to Ethel.

No connection between Ethel and Jane, except that Ethel is unmarried and has a child and will not be given any work, whereas, a brand new concept coming along for acceptance in those days, Jane is MARRIED and has a child and, while previously she would not have been hired, because women with children were not, she just has been. And yes, apparently she and the Earl will have a sexual encounter.

I think the badly burned Canadian officer was indeed Peter Gordon, best buddy of Patrick Crawley. Patrick's British family had emigrated to Canada years previously and he was the closest heir to Downton Abbey, being that it had to be a male. The real Patrick DID die on the Titantic. Gordon hoped his burns made it impossible to prove anything, and the many things Patrick had told him about his annual visits to Downton Abbey would allow him to pull off passing for Patrick with this whopper of a tale. I think it was a worry for Peter Gordon that the Earl passed the problem on to his attorneys to investigate, but I got the sense that the biggest problem was Lady Edith and her big heart and her loving him so hard. I think that situation made him feel more the scoundrel and his guilt made him give it all up and flee.

marcie · « **Reply #238 on:** February 06, 2012, 10:24:16 AM »

Re his Canadian accent, Patrick, in his "pretender" role, says that he's lost his British accent due to living in Canada for the past x years.

It seemed that the Patrick story was kind of tacked on. It came and went rather quickly and didn't seem to serve much purpose. Maybe it was a vehicle for Matthew to say that he thought that Patrick, even with his burned body was a better match for Downton since Patrick would be able to give it heirs. Maybe the idea of heirs needed to be emphasized to see why Matthew and Mary should not marry. Though, now Matthew seems to be feeling something as his wheelchair is being pushed by the butler. Maybe he will no longer be paralyzed and impotent. But now Lavinia is back! And that awful Sir Richard has threatened Mary if she jilts him for Matthew.

It didn't seem to me in keeping with the Earl's character to be initiating conversation with the maid. Maybe he is still miffed at his wife's seeming not to pay attention to him, or even communicate with him much, now that she has a "job" to do.

ginny · « **Reply #239 on:** February 06, 2012, 10:26:44 AM »

Thank you MaryPage, I missed the Canadian Connection!

I am unable to find an actor's credit for this mystery man, but he doesn't have a Canadian accent, either, the actor sounds MidWest, to me. I'm going to be interested to see who he turns out to be, and where he's originally from. Trevor White is it plays a character called Major Patrick Gordon, I have no idea who that is, and he IS Canadian.

I need to watch the rest of the show later today, it was interrupted here by other events.

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Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece Classic 2011-2012 (Read 149972 times)