Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece Classic 2012-2013 (Read 125108 times)

marcie · « **on:** September 26, 2012, 12:07:05 PM »

Masterpiece Classic brings back favorite authors and programs and introduces new programs. See the 2013 MASTERPIECE CLASSIC schedule.

NOW DISCUSSING
What's playing on your PBS station? What programs do you continue to enjoy?

ALREADY DISCUSSED

Mr. Selfridge
March 31 - May 19, 2013 at 9pm
Upstart American Harry Selfridge moves heaven and earth to build his visionary department store in London. But opening day is just the start of his retail revolution. Three-time Emmy® winner Jeremy Piven (in his first television appearance since his iconic role as Hollywood agent Ari Gold in Entourage) stars as Harry Gordon Selfridge, the flamboyant entrepreneur and showman seeking to provide London's shoppers with the ultimate merchandise and the ultimate thrill. Mr. Selfridge is created by Emmy® Award-winning writer Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice, Bleak House).

Song of Lunch
March 24,, 2013 at 9pm
One 120-minute episode
A dramatisation of Christopher Reid's narrative poem, telling the story of a book editor who, 15 years after their break-up, meets his former love for a nostalgic lunch at the Soho restaurant they used to frequent. The production is unusual in featuring little spoken dialogue, the action instead being an enactment of incidents described in poetic monologue of the male character. Starring Alan Rickman & Emma Thompson.

Page Eight
February 24,, 2013 at 9pm
One 120-minute episode
Sixty-something MI-5 agent Johnny Worricker has amassed an impressive art collection, an amicable collection of ex-wives, and a droll, unflappable relationship with the work he enjoys alongside his boss and best friend, MI5 chief Benedict Baron. But when Benedict brings to light damning evidence of British complicity with illegal American torture operations, it falls to Johnny to do the right thing.

Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 7
1 95-minute episode — Sunday, February 17, 2013
The Crawleys head to a Scottish hunting lodge, while the downstairs staff stays behind at Downton Abbey. New romances flare up, and a fresh crisis unfolds.

Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 6
1 120-minute episode — Sunday, February 10, 2013
Change arrives in a big way for several key characters at Downton Abbey. A yearly cricket match with the village sees old scores settled and new plots hatched.

Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 5
1 60-minute episode — Sunday, February 3, 2013
Things go badly amiss at Downton Abbey. Robert and Cora are not speaking. The servants are shunning Matthew's mother Isobel. And Matthew and Robert have fallen out. Also, Bates takes a gamble.

Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 4
1 60-minute episode — Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Crawley family faces its severest test yet. Meanwhile, new faces try to fit into the tight-knit circle of servants. And new evidence turns up in a baffling case.

Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 3
1 60-minute episode — Sunday, January 20, 2013
Two social revolutions arrive at Downton Abbey: the Irish civil war and the fight for women's suffrage. A mysterious conspiracy keeps Anna and Bates apart.

Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 2
1 60-minute episode — Sunday, January 13, 2013
The fate of Downton Abbey hinges on a letter from a dead man. Edith and Sir Anthony face their own fateful moment. Mrs. Hughes confronts a crisis.

Downton Abbey: Season 3, Episode 1
1 120-minute episode — Sunday, January 6, 2013
Wedding guests descend on Downton Abbey, where disasters large and small threaten. One is Cora's freewheeling American mother, who tries to loosen up her in-laws.

Downton Abbey Revisited
1 90-minute episode — Sunday, November 25, 2012
Savor highlights from the first two seasons and get a preview of Season 3 in this new PBS special.

Upstairs Downstairs: Season 2, Episode 6
1 90-minute episode — Sunday, November 11, 2012
A chance remark at the Foreign Office alerts Hallam that one of his associates is a German spy—with tragic consequences. As war is declared, life upstairs and downstairs is transformed at Eaton Place.

Upstairs Downstairs: Season 2, Episode 5
1 90-minute episode — Sunday, November 4, 2012
With war looming, romance is in the air—illicit and otherwise. Hallam, Agnes, Landry, and Persie each pursue their heart’s desire in different ways. Harry and Beryl get engaged. And even Pritchard finds a soulmate.

Upstairs Downstairs: Season 2, Episode 4
1 90-minute episode — Sunday, October 28, 2012
All of London sees Agnes’s shapely legs when she models stockings for Landry’s company—offending Hallam. Intent on impressing Beryl, Harry enters the servants’ boxing competition as Johnny’s manager.

Upstairs Downstairs: Season 2, Episode 3
1 90-minute episode — Sunday, October 21, 2012
Hallam’s Aunt Blanche appears in a novel by a former lover, sparking a scandal that threatens the good name of Eaton Place. Meanwhile, Agnes’s demands on the servants bring a social worker to set her straight.

Upstairs Downstairs: Season 2, Episode 2
1 90-minute episode — Sunday, October 14, 2012
Ambassador Kennedy and his dashing son Jack come to dinner at Eaton Place. But Agnes is more entranced by another guest: millionaire Caspar Landry. Before the evening is over, Mrs. Thackeray resigns.

Upstairs Downstairs: Season 2, Episode 1
1 90-minute episode — Sunday, October 7, 2012
Pritchard takes the rap for Johnny in a shocking incident, which leads to a revelation that casts the butler into disgrace. On a diplomatic mission to Germany, Hallam meets Persie, who has a Nazi lover.

Upstairs Downstairs: Season 1 - rebroadcast
3 60-minute episodes — Sunday, Sept. 30, 2012
It's 1936, a tumultuous time in Britain, and within the walls of 165 Eaton Place, characters from an orphanage, a damp Welsh castle, the heart of the British Raj and elsewhere together will face a changing world, not just upstairs and downstairs, but side by side. Written by Heidi Thomas (Cranford, Madame Bovary), Upstairs Downstairs stars co-creators of the original series Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins (Cranford, Bertie and Elizabeth). Also starring are Ed Stoppard (Any Human Heart), Keeley Hawes (Wives and Daughters), and Claire Foy (Little Dorrit). Available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/

Discussion Leaders: JoanP and marcie

marcie · « **Reply #1 on:** September 26, 2012, 12:10:05 PM »

Maggie Smith was winner of the 2012 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Celebrate MASTERPIECE's eight 2012 Primetime Emmy Awards, and watch Maggie Smith's best moments in her award-winning role at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/shorts/masterpiece-2012-emmy-wins/

FlaJean · « **Reply #2 on:** September 26, 2012, 03:09:47 PM »

marcie · « **Reply #3 on:** September 28, 2012, 11:03:41 AM »

Get your TV recorders ready! There will be a Season 1 marathon of all three episodes of Upstairs Downstairs, Season 1, on Sunday, Sept. 30 starting at 9pm ET/CT. Check your local listings.

There is a Q&A with the set designer, Eve Stewart, about recreating the iconic set, at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/upstairsdownstairs/stewart.html

mabel1015j · « **Reply #4 on:** September 28, 2012, 01:28:29 PM »

Argghh! Neither of our PBS stations is showing Upstairs.........

Jean

marcie · « **Reply #5 on:** September 28, 2012, 07:41:22 PM »

Oh, that's too bad, Jean. Maybe the PBS website will show the episodes online after they air.

JeanneP · « **Reply #6 on:** September 29, 2012, 06:05:32 PM »

I still have not found our PBS station showing that it will be showing the Up Stairs. Down Stairs tomorrow night. Maybe it is just the ones that have the Multipal PBSs like Boston and such. Ours go through the Univ of Illinois Station.

marcie · « **Reply #7 on:** September 29, 2012, 08:28:46 PM »

My PBS station will be showing the three episodes of Upstairs Downstairs starting at 9pm. At 8pm they will premiere CALL THE MIDWIFE.

JeanneP · « **Reply #8 on:** September 30, 2012, 03:17:03 PM »

Marcie.

I see that our station will be playing the same tonight. Good 4 hours of TV. I never last that long. Will enjoy US.DS even if repeat from years ago.

MaryPage · « **Reply #9 on:** October 01, 2012, 08:36:25 AM »

I did not watch the Upstairs/Downstairs repeat, as I have already seen it TWICE!

But I did catch the one hour of Call The Midwife, and loved it.

ANNIE · « **Reply #10 on:** October 01, 2012, 09:24:54 AM »

We watched Upstairs Downstairs last night here in downtown Gahanna, Ohio and really enjoyed being caught up again in the story. The new series starts next Sunday and we are looking forward to it.
I read on their website that the new part of Downton Abbey will start in Jan 2013. Ahhhh, something else to put on the calendar.

marcie · « **Reply #11 on:** October 01, 2012, 10:18:27 AM »

For those of you who missed the re-broadcast of Upstairs Downstairs, Season 1, all three episodes are available online during October at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/

marcie · « **Reply #12 on:** October 01, 2012, 10:42:12 AM »

It looks like the first episode of CALL THE MIDWIFE is available online at http://www.pbs.org/programs/call-the-midwife/

JoanK · « **Reply #13 on:** October 01, 2012, 07:23:23 PM »

Glad to see a rerun of the (formerly) new Upstairs downstairs, as I missed parts of it the first time and could never quite get caught up.

And I loved "Call the midwife".

marcie · « **Reply #14 on:** October 05, 2012, 10:56:17 AM »

Episode 1 (of six episodes) of the second season of Upstairs Downstairs will be broadcast on Sunday!

nlhome · « **Reply #15 on:** October 08, 2012, 10:29:21 PM »

I watched it - now I think I need to find the 3rd episode of the first season - I must have missed part of it.

marcie · « **Reply #16 on:** October 08, 2012, 10:48:58 PM »

nlhome, the three episodes of Season One are available online at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/

I very much enjoyed episode 1 from Season Two. I thought it brought a lot of emotion and insight into the situations of several of the characters, especially Sir Hallam Holland and Mr. Pritchard. I was very glad that I'd read "Troublesome Young Men:The Rebels Who Brought Churchill to Power" with a group here on SeniorLearn in 2010. It gave me some background about the trouble that Hallam was having with the negotiations with Hitler.

JoanK · « **Reply #17 on:** October 09, 2012, 03:11:33 PM »

I only saw episode I of the first season, but was able to follow fairly well (although, some things might have blown by me). I agree about the Hitler negotiations.

marcie · « **Reply #18 on:** October 14, 2012, 12:31:37 PM »

John Kennedy makes an appearance in the episode tonight. My computer is too old to use the latest version of Flash but you might be able to see a preview of the episode at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/watch-online/previews/upstairs-downstairs-season-2-episode-2-preview/

marcie · « **Reply #19 on:** October 15, 2012, 10:46:29 AM »

I thought that episode 2 was interesting. I especially enjoyed the scenes that showed the contributions that "Aunt" Blanche (Dr. Mottershead) and Lady Agnes were each able to make to help the Jewish children, together with Mr. Amanjit.

I admire the decision that Sir Hallam makes at the end but he makes it unilaterally. It seems that he and his wife love each other. I wish that they would be able to talk more.

LOL on the appearance of Jack Kennedy. About all we see of him is his upset stomach.

jeriron · « **Reply #20 on:** October 16, 2012, 10:59:34 AM »

I've started watching the Swedish Wallender and I'm liking it better then the English Branagh ones on PBS. To me it looks like they've made Branaghs darker and more somber. Not that the Swedish one is a laugh a minute, he doesn't smile either. and he's kind of weird looking although he seems to shave more often.

marcie · « **Reply #21 on:** October 16, 2012, 11:09:30 AM »

Jeriron, that's an interesting assessment. I searched a bit and found that we can see at least some of the Swedish episodes online. See an episode at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR3Nc5yaY_I. I was confused at first because of the Jim Jones cult footage in the beginning before the credits. The Swedish version made the connection between the religious cult leader more explicit in this episode than the Branagh version.

FlaJean · « **Reply #22 on:** October 16, 2012, 11:25:56 AM »

I watched the whole Swedish Wallender series on Netflix and enjoyed it much better than the one on PBS (after getting used to reading the subtitles). This Wallender might not have smiled but he showed his feelings in a subtle way. Good actor, I thought. I loved the way the series ended with him going off to Stockholm with the possibility of better things to come.

jeriron · « **Reply #23 on:** October 16, 2012, 08:57:44 PM »

I've been trying to watch them on Netflix but they didn't have them on the mail ones so I've started to watch them on streaming. I like them.he has his own house and a dog.

marcie · « **Reply #24 on:** October 21, 2012, 12:38:29 PM »

It sounds like there is a lot of conflict in this week's episode of Upstairs Downstairs.

Hallam’s Aunt Blanche appears in a novel by a former lover, sparking a scandal that threatens the good name of Eaton Place. Meanwhile, Agnes’s demands on the servants bring a social worker to set her straight.

JeanneP · « **Reply #25 on:** October 21, 2012, 01:41:58 PM »

Looking forward to watching both it and "Call the Midwife" on TV tonight. Hardly had it turned on this week.

marcie · « **Reply #26 on:** October 23, 2012, 11:10:28 AM »

Interesting story lines in the last episode. This series seems to want to include as many of the social issues as possible. The plot is getting a bit messy!

After the mistress of the house, Lady Agnes, was reported to the Girls Friendly Society, she did seem genuinely to care about some of the staff, especially in her visit to the Jean Marsh character. LOL regarding Lady Prunella and the Women's League of Health and Beauty. Those were some funny scenes.

MaryPage · « **Reply #27 on:** October 24, 2012, 04:31:17 PM »

I am enjoying the new episodes of Upstairs/Downstairs immensely; but wow, there is a LOT of drama!

marcie · « **Reply #28 on:** October 26, 2012, 10:27:17 AM »

You are right about the drama, MaryPage. And this week promises more!

A boxing championship draws Harry Spargo and Johnny Proude into the ring, while a neglected Lady Agnes finds attention elsewhere. Watch the punches and sparks fly in episode four of Upstairs Downstairs. See a preview of the episode at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/episode/upstairs-downstairs-s2-e4/

marcie · « **Reply #29 on:** October 28, 2012, 09:24:46 PM »

Yikes. It looks like we're in for some conflict between Hallam and Lady Agnes in this episode. "All of London sees Agnes’s shapely legs when she models stockings for Landry’s company—offending Hallam."

MaryPage · « **Reply #30 on:** October 28, 2012, 10:31:07 PM »

I enjoyed tonight's episode, but hate the heartbreak of a marriage going wrong. It is obvious to me that the fault does not lie with Lady Agnes, but with her husband who has had the hots for her younger sister for a long time now. So sad. So very sad.

marcie · « **Reply #31 on:** October 29, 2012, 10:36:11 AM »

Yes, Hallam is offended by Lady Agnes's "unseeming" behavior (prompted by jealousy of Landry?) but he's willing to succumb to her sister who's way-out-there behavior he has criticized before.

JoanK · « **Reply #32 on:** October 30, 2012, 02:57:10 PM »

They aren't making any effort to make Hallam sympathetic at all, are they? he can't take ba minute to listen to his wife, or care about her -- she is just a useful appendage to his diplomacy.

jeriron · « **Reply #33 on:** October 30, 2012, 06:12:56 PM »

And having her sister staying there isn't a help either. She's looking to cause trouble.

marcie · « **Reply #34 on:** October 30, 2012, 08:30:03 PM »

Yes, Persie does seem to have personal problems that are leading her in the wrong direction and she seems to be taking Hallam with her. I thought that Hallam was sympathetic in earlier episodes, especially when standing up, as forcefully as he could, to his superiors to try to make them see the threat of Hitler and Germany. He and Lady Agnes seemed to get along.

It's sort of like a "soap opera" twist for me to see Hallam and Persie together in last night's episode.

JeanneP · « **Reply #35 on:** October 31, 2012, 01:17:30 PM »

Goodness! I am going to have to start watching Upstairs/downstairs again, Sound like a soap opera. I decided on the first one that I wouldn't care for it and so not watched it since. I remember really enjoying the one years ago.

JoanK · « **Reply #36 on:** October 31, 2012, 03:48:21 PM »

I didn't see the one years ago. since everyone says how much better it was, I want to see it now.

This ones ok -- I watch it if I remember, but don't look forward to it, as I did to Downton Abbey. They share too many plot twists, I feel upstairs is just an imitation, hoping to piggyback on DAs popularity.

JeanneP · « **Reply #37 on:** October 31, 2012, 08:30:22 PM »

Joan.

Most libraries had the complete sets of the old Upstairs/downstairs.

marcie · « **Reply #38 on:** November 01, 2012, 11:00:08 AM »

I don't know why I didn't notice this earlier but the next two episodes are the FINAL episodes of the whole series. It didn't get commissioned by the BBC for another season. See an article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/apr/23/upstairs-downstairs-axed

MaryPage · « **Reply #39 on:** November 01, 2012, 04:38:42 PM »

Pity, because I really like it.

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Author Topic: PBS Masterpiece Classic 2012-2013 (Read 125108 times)