Masterpiece Classic 2011 Schedule

Can you believe it? The start to the brand-new season of Masterpiece Classic is just around the corner! This year marks the fortieth anniversary of Masterpiece being on the air, and if this schedule is any indication we're in for a stellar 2011.

My Boy Jack (Encore Presentation) - January 2, 2011

In 1914 England, patriotism is high in the early days of WWI, and writer Rudyard Kipling (David Haig, Four Weddings and a Funeral) is one of its most eloquent and passionate voices. John "Jack," (Daniel Radcliffe, Harry Potter films), Kipling's only son, is underage, hopelessly myopic, and eager to join the war effort. Kipling's outspoken American wife Carrie (Kim Cattrall, Sex and the City) remains more sanguine on the course of the war, and the fate of her family. My Boy Jack, based on a true story, tells of a nation at war, and offers an intimate portrait of one family's complex and divided experience in it.

Downton Abbey - January 9, 16, 23, & 30, 2011

A stately country house, a noble family, and a succession crisis are the backdrop for Downton Abbey, an Edwardian spellbinder by Oscar-winning writer Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park). The series that took the UK by storm, Downton Abbey stars Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, and a house full of revered actors in a production that brings a glittering bygone era to life.

The Unseen Alistair Cooke (Encore Presentation) - February 6, 2011

Alistair Cooke filmed his early travels across the United States with an 8mm camera. The footage, discovered only after his death, offers a record of the unseen life behind Cooke's polished words, against a backdrop of an America sparkling with possibilities. The Unseen Alistair Cooke: A Masterpiece Special chronicles Cooke's decades in America, friendships with Hollywood icons, celebrated journalism career and years as host of Masterpiece Theatre. Marking the November 2008 centennial of his birth, The Unseen Alistair Cooke: A Masterpiece Special turns an admiring eye on the master observer.

 Any Human Heart - February 13, 20, & 27, 2011

William Boyd adapts his acclaimed 2002 novel about a man — at various times a writer, lover, prisoner of war, and spy — making his often precarious way through the 20th century. Matthew MacFadyen, Gillian Anderson, Hayley Atwell, Kim Cattrall and Jim Broadbent star.

The 39 Steps (Encore Presentation) - March 27, 2011

Newly returned to England on the eve of World War I, Richard Hannay's (Rupert Penry-Jones, Persuasion) listless London life is about to spiral out of control. When a neighbor bursts in with a top-secret notebook full of cryptic codes and a frantic story of an impending assassination, unlikely patriot Hannay is soon on the run to save himself and his country. He bumps into feisty suffragette Victoria Sinclair (Lydia Leonard), and while their fates may be intertwined, their personalities aren't. But like it or not, they'll together navigate murder, betrayal and near death in order to untangle a plot of national importance, and understand the charms and challenges of human nature. A bracing and romantic thriller, The 39 Steps is based on the novel by John Buchan.

Upstairs Downstairs - April 10, 17, & 24, 2011

Upstairs Downstairs is an updated version of one of the most-loved and most-honored series in television history. The series has a new cast of characters and Jean Marsh reprising her Emmy-winning role as Rose. The cast also includes the original series co-creator Eileen Atkins (Cranford), Keeley Hawes (MI-5), Ed Stoppard, and Art Malik (The Jewel in the Crown) with a script by Emmy-nominee Heidi Thomas (Cranford).

South Riding* - May 1, 8, & 15, 2011

Based on Winifred Holtby’s 1936 novel, South Riding has been adapted to the screen by the venerable Andrew Davies (Pride and Prejudice 1995, Northanger Abbey 2007, and Sense and Sensibility 2008). Directed by Diarmuid Lawrence (Emma 1996), this 20th-century classic is a rich portrait of a Yorkshire community in the 1930’s. In the devastating wake of WWI, unmarried Sarah Burton (Anna Maxwell Martin, Cassandra Austen in Becoming Jane 2007) leaves London and returns home to take up a position as headmistress at a struggling Yorkshire girls school. Robert Carne (David Morrissey, Colonel Brandon in Sense & Sensibility 2008) is also struggling as a gentlemen farmer who is destined to clash with Miss Burton. Among the others in the community are Councilor Mrs. Beddows (Penelope Wilton), school girls Lydia Holly (Charlie Clark) and Midge Carne (Katherine McGolpin), school mistress Miss Sigglesthwaite (Brid Brennan), and Councilor Huggins (John Henshaw). “South Riding is a rich, compassionate and humane story of politics in small places and, in the end, the indestructibility of the human spirit.”

Doesn't this sound like an absolutely AMAZING season?! Which program(s) intrigue you the most? Feel free to sound off in the comments section!

*Thanks to Laurel Ann at Austenprose for the information about South Riding's broadcast.

Framed

Sunday night Masterpiece ended an extraordinary 2010 run with Framed, a charming, heart-warming little comedy that was an unexpected delight. Based on the novel of the same name by Frank Cottrell Boyce (which I am really going to have to read now), Framed was inspired by real-life events from World War II. During the war, Churchill vowed to protect England’s art treasures from potential Nazi looters. During the blitz, the National Gallery was emptied and the paintings were stored in an abandoned slate mine in remote North Wales. One painting per month was sent back to London, and thousands would line up to view it. Framed asks the question what would happen if the National Gallery had to be evacuated again? Here’s the story summary from the PBS website:

When flooding in London's National Gallery precipitates the transfer of its treasured paintings to safety in an abandoned slate mine in the Welsh countryside, curator Quentin Lester (Trevor Eve, David Copperfield), a worshipper of art to the exclusion of people, squires his beloved masterpieces to safety, secretly pleased to have them all to himself. There, he encounters a lineup of quirky inhabitants including the spirited and lovely, if slightly nosey, local schoolteacher, Angharad (Eve Myles, Little Dorrit), and a 10-year-old boy, Dylan Hughes. In a chain of misunderstandings triggered by a wayward chicken, Quentin mistakes Dylan, whose father has just left the family in the face of financial woes, for an art connoisseur and kindred spirit. But when Dylan, in desperation, plans the art heist of the century with his criminal-mastermind-in-training sister Minnie, the results reveal how these paintings on the move have tremendous power to move people. Framed is based on the bestselling book by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

First of all, I just have to say I loved the fact that Framed contains a love story between two mature, older adults. You just don’t get enough of that in films, at least in my experience. I’m not super-familiar with Trevor Eve’s work, especially since it’s been ages since I’ve watched the Masterpiece production of David Copperfield that he appeared in (playing the character of Murdstone). Here Trevor Eve is wholly believable as the shy, retiring type, completely consumed by his work, and has his passions awakened only when he thinks he’s found a kindred spirit or he encounters someone who doesn’t revere art as he thinks they should. Eve’s character, Quentin, is thrown completely out of his element when he follows his beloved paintings to the isolated town of Manod in North Wales. He thinks he’ll get to tend the masterpieces in glorious solitude, but the interest and reaction of the locals throws an unexpected wrench in his plans. Quentin’s awakening throughout the movie, the way the townspeople draw him out of his shell (and vice-versa), is completely believable and a delight to watch unfold. Before he realizes it, Quentin is learning to care about people and their unique and varied responses to the art in his care more than the paintings themselves.

Torchwood’s Eve Myles plays Angharad, the local schoolteacher, one of the townspeople largely responsible of piquing Quentin’s interest in the “outside” world. She’s spirited, a bit nosey, and not at all afraid to push back and challenge Quentin’s – how shall I phrase this – social awkwardness. *wink* I really like Myles’s work – not only is she a fantastic actress, but it’s so refreshing to see a leading lady who is not your typical “cookie cutter” Hollywood beauty. Since Myles’s is probably best-known for her role as alien-fighter extraordinaire Gwen Cooper in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, it was a real treat to see her play a character who is equally spirited but quite a bit “dialed-down” from her most famous role to date. I really adored the way the film develops the love story between Quentin and Angharad. At first blush, you could argue that the two characters couldn’t be more polar opposites of each other – but there is an element of loneliness and solitude to each of their lives that I think plays a role in drawing each to the other. And I just have to say two scenes absolutely made me melt – the first, when Quentin recreates the dinner painted in one of his priceless masterpieces for their first “date,” and the second when he draws Angharad’s silhouette on the wall and makes the comment that art began as someone wanting to tell another person “not to go,” to capture a moment in time forever. Loved it.

But Framed is much more than a love story. The town of Monad is populated with a wonderful assortment of quirky characters that play a role in bringing Quentin out of his shell, and each has a varied and powerful reaction to the power of art. Perhaps my favorite example of this is the character of Mr. Davis, the eccentric, Elvis-loving local butcher, played by Robert Pugh. Pugh should be a familiar face to fans of British film, having appeared in everything from the most recent series of Doctor Who to Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood. Quentin is reluctant to tolerate Davis’s eccentricities, until Angharad reminds him that the “heart knows the reasons why,” and he learns the tragic story of Davis lost his young son to a drowning accident, leading to a complete mental breakdown. Davis’s heart-rending response to one of Monet’s paintings (if I’m remembering this incorrectly, someone please correct me!) is brilliantly played by Pugh, and is a powerful example of the ability of art to transform one’s perspective and, if one allows it, to be a catalyst for emotional healing.

The kids who live in Monad are another highlight of this production. The Hughes family runs Monad’s only petrol station, and most days are lucky to put food on the table. When the father leaves, thinking his family would be better off without him, the children kick into high gear with creative plans to earn money and save their home. The two masterminds are Dylan, played by Sam Davies, and Minnie, played by Mari Ann Bull. Based on their appearances here, I’d venture to say that Davies and Bull both have bright acting futures ahead of them! Dylan’s interaction with Quentin is absolutely hysterical. When the two first meet over a runaway chicken, Dylan thinks their having a conversation about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, while Quentin thinks Dylan is some sort brilliant art connoisseur who appreciates Italian masters like Raphael. This extended misunderstanding had me laughing so hard at one point tears were threatening to come! When the family situation becomes desperate, Dylan and his criminal mastermind in the making sister, Minnie, hatch a brilliant plan to steal one of the National Gallery’s paintings. Their plot goes off shockingly without a hitch, and the hijinks and confusion that ensues are a lot of fun to watch play out.

Framed turned out to be an absolute treasure of a film, and I’m so happy it was included on the Masterpiece Contemporary schedule. It was the perfect ending to my Christmas weekend, managing to hit all the right notes story and character-wise. The love story between Quentin and Angharad is a gem, and the final scene may just bring a tear to your eye it is so wonderfully, beautifully perfect. I also defy you not to look at art a little differently, perhaps a little more personally, after viewing Framed. Art’s ability to transform the individual and then, on a wider scale, a community, is really well portrayed in my opinion. It’s this aspect of the storyline that elevates Framed above the status of a “cutesy” little comedy. One minute the film will have you laughing out loud, the next moment you could be wiping a tear from your eye as a character stops cold and learns to experience life in a different way or on a more intense, personal level.

I hope this post encourages you to make time to watch Framed if you missed the broadcast on Sunday. You can watch the entire film for a limited time on the PBS Masterpiece website, and the DVD will release January 11th.

Star Wars Christmas Special

Sooo...I know I just said my last post would probably the last post for a day or two, but then I logged into my Google Reader and found this. Star Wars geek that I am, this, my friends, had to be shared:



Merry Christmas (again)!! :)

Merry Christmas!

Since my time online is probably going to be pretty limited over the next day or so, I wanted to go ahead and put up a little Christmas greeting on the blog. Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! Thank you so much for all of the friendship, comments, and encouragement this last year - you are the ones who make blogging so much fun. :) At the risk of sounding sappy, I really mean it when I say I thank God for each one of you (yes, even you "quiet" subscribers, it means a lot to know this lil' ol' blog is read *wink*). I pray that wherever you are, whatever you're doing this Christmas, you are healthy, happy, and blessed.

*FYI on the photo: The woman in the picture is actress Paulette Goddard - I thought a little vintage Hollywood was a most appropriate "card" from me, don't you? :)

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob

I love this.

Framed coming Sunday 12/26

Just in time to help you through any post-Christmas "blahs" (*wink*), on Sunday 12/26 Masterpiece Contemporary is premiering Framed, which promises to be a delightfully quirky little film. This is the broadcast I've been looking forward to since the Contemporary schedule was announced. Here's a bit about the story:

Framed premieres Sunday, December 26, 2010, on MASTERPIECE CONTEMPORARY. Art curator Quentin Lester (Trevor Eve) worships art to the exclusion of people. When a flood at London's National Gallery threatens his masterpieces, he squires them away to the Welsh countryside. There he meets a lineup of quirky inhabitants, including the spirited teacher Angharad (Eve Myles), and learns that these paintings on the move have the power to move people.

Digital Nativity!

This is so cute.

Primeval S4 "Prequel" Videos

Well Primeval-wise this day just gets better and better. Here are 5 Series 4 "prequel" videos to help get you ready for the new episodes January 1st! You can also watch the videos here, at the BBC America Primeval site.