Tag: Masterpiece

Primetime DVD Review: “Masterpiece: The Long Song”

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

DVD Review!

"The Long Song" DVD cover

“Masterpiece: The Long Song” Review by Suzanne 2/10/21

This is a gripping drama, but it also has some humor in it. The characters are rich and interesting. We’ve all seen many movies, TV series and miniseries about slavery. This one is about a particular young woman, July (Tamara Lawrance), who grows up on a British sugar plantation in Jamaica. The 3-part series shows not only her hardships, but those of the rest of her family, including her mother, her boyfriend, and her son. There is an uprising, but just as in real life, the rebelling slaves did not live a happy life or get the freedom they wanted.

There are many moments of love, joy and friendship. July is a happy soul when she’s younger because although she’s the slave of a ditsy woman (Hayley Atwell), she is able to do a lot that other slaves aren’t. Eventually, her situation changes, and terrible things happen.  July never loses her strength or her fighting spirit, and she passes those traits on to her son. This is worth watching for the emotions it stirs up and the peek into this world in an area with which most Americans aren’t very familiar. We should never forget the terrible pain that slaves endured as well as the effect slavery had on world history.

Buy this DVD

MORE INFORMATION:

THREE NEW DRAMAS FROM MASTERPIECE 
ON DVD & BLU-RAY THIS FEBRUARY 
FROM PBS DISTRIBUTION
Below is a listing of the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray releases from PBS Distribution slated for February.Every purchase helps support public television for all.

  • MASTERPIECE: The Long Song – 2/16/21

Genre: Historical Drama
Run Time: 180 min. on 1 disc – DVD
SRP: $24.99

“The Long Song,” an adaptation of the award-winning novel by Andrea Levy set during the final days of slavery in 19th century Jamaica. The story follows the strong-willed, young slave July on a sugar plantation owned by her odious mistress Caroline Mortimer. When a charming new arrival to the island, Robert Goodwin, becomes the new overseer, July and Caroline are both intrigued by his seemingly revolutionary determination to improve the plantation for the slaves and mistress alike.

A tale of hope and endurance based on the bestselling novel by Andrea Levyon MASTERPIECE Sundays, January 31 – February 14, 2021 on PBS

Tamara Lawrance (King Charles III) stars as an indomitable house slave in Jamaica during the era of emancipation, with Hayley Atwell (The Avengers) as her demanding, capricious mistress, in The Long Song. Based on the award-winning novel by Andrea Levy, the miniseries airs in three parts on MASTERPIECE, Sundays, January 31 – February 14, 2021 at 10/9c on PBS.

The British press applauded the UK broadcast of The Long Song, with The Guardian calling it “a beautiful, moving, horrifying adaptation of Levy’s unsimple tale, that honors the source and its subject.” The Radio Times judged it “so finely-tuned and carefully-balanced that it’ll break your heart—and make you laugh at the same time.” And The Times opined, “What can a period slavery drama tell us that we don’t already know? Quite a bit.”

Scripted by Sarah Williams (Flesh and Blood), who previously adapted Levy’s International Emmy® Award–winning Small Island for MASTERPIECE, The Long Song also stars Jack Lowden (Mary Queen of Scots), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Rogue One), Jordan Bolger (Peaky Blinders), Ayesha Antoine (Doctor Who), Gordon Brown (Only God Forgives), Leo Bill (The Living and the Dead), Madeleine Mantock (Into the Badlands), and the acclaimed comic, actor, and activist Sir Lenny Henry (Broadchurch).

Andrea Levy, who died in 2019, was born in London to Jamaican parents and spent her writing career probing her heritage. Her numerous literary awards included the Walter Scott Prize for The Long Song (published in 2010), which was also a finalist for the English language’s most prestigious book award: the Man Booker Prize.

The Long Song is framed by the reminiscences of July (played as a young woman by Lawrance), who grew up as a slave on a sugar plantation in Jamaica and is now looking back on her life. In extended flashbacks, she recounts her tumultuous story, which has been shaped by villains, heroes, and well-meaning people who are an unsettled mix of the two.

First there are July’s parents: Her mother, Kitty (Duncan-Brewster), is a stoic field slave. Her father is the brutal Scottish overseer of the plantation, Tam Dewar (Brown), who regularly rapes Kitty.

As a young girl, July is callously taken from her mother at the whim of Caroline (Atwell), the sister of the plantation owner, John Howarth (Bill). Caroline wants July for a lady’s maid and bestows on her a more genteel name, Marguerite. July grows up catering to Caroline’s impulses, surrounded by other slaves, including the canny Godfrey (Henry), the spiteful Molly (Antoine), and the haughty Clara (Mantock). There is also the debonaire Nimrod (Bolger), who has bought his freedom and fancies July, promising her a fairy-tale life with him.

A moment of truth arrives with the Christmas Rebellion of 1831, a slave uprising that heralds the end of official slavery in Jamaica and other English colonies—but at a great cost in lives, including some who are near and dear to July. In the aftermath, a handsome new overseer, Robert Goodwin (Lowden), rides into the story. He will set hearts aflutter, establish an enlightened tone with the emancipated slaves, and play a tragic role in the fates of all.

The Long Song is a Heyday Television Production for BBC. It is based on the novel by Andrea Levy. The Executive Producers are David Heyman, Rosie Alison, Andrea Levy, Sarah Williams, and Tom Coan. Ben Irving is the Executive Producer for the BBC. The Producer is Roopesh Parekh. The writer is Sarah Williams. The Director is Mahalia Belo.

About MASTERPIECE

Winner of 83 Primetime Emmys® and 18 Peabody Awards, MASTERPIECE has been essential Sunday night viewing for millions of fans since 1971. Susanne Simpson is the executive producer and Rebecca Eaton is the executive producer-at-large for the series. Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust. Produced for PBS by GBH Boston, MASTERPIECE is known for recent hits such as Sherlock, Downton Abbey and Victoria, and beloved classics such as Upstairs Downstairs, Prime Suspect, The Forsyte Saga and Poldark.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.

"Masterpiece: The Long Song"

Primetime DVD Review: “Masterpiece Mystery!: Miss Scarlet and the Duke”

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

DVD Review!

"Masterpiece Mystery!: Miss Scarlet and the Duke" DVD cover

“Masterpiece Mystery!: Miss Scarlet and the Duke” Review by Suzanne 2/10/21

I love this show! I watched every episode when it aired on PBS and just loved it. It has a “Sherlock Holmes” type of feel to it, but it’s a “lady detective” instead of a man. Unlike so many series nowadays, it’s completely original. It’s not based on a book series or anything like that.

Miss Eliza Scarlet’s father was a detective, and he taught her everything he knew about detective work, until he died. She has to fend for herself (with very little money) in a man’s world without having to marry someone she doesn’t love just to satisfy society’s rules.  She has a love-hate relationship with a police detective, William Wellington, who was a friend of her father’s. Her father was his mentor, so he feels a certain amount of responsibility for Eliza. He tries to keep her out of detective work, but she ignores his efforts. There is a lot of chemistry between the two of them, of course.

Aiding them is “Moses,” who has criminal connections. They get off to a bad start, but then he helps Eliza for a fee, and even William eventually comes around to trusting him.

The DVD has some great features, including a Behind the Scenes bonus video and more. This would make a great gift for anyone who likes period dramas or detective shows.

Buy this DVD

MORE INFORMATION:

THREE NEW DRAMAS FROM MASTERPIECE 
ON DVD & BLU-RAY THIS FEBRUARY 
FROM PBS DISTRIBUTION
Below is a listing of the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray releases from PBS Distribution slated for February.Every purchase helps support public television for all.

  • MASTERPIECE MYSTERY!: Miss Scarlet & The Duke – 2/16/21

Genre: Mystery, Drama
Run Time: 270 min. on 2 discs – DVD
SRP: $34.99

Kate Phillips (Peaky Blinders) stars in a six-part mystery as the headstrong, first-ever female detective in Victorian London. Stuart Martin (Jamestown) plays her childhood friend, professional colleague, and potential love interest, Scotland Yard Detective Inspector William Wellington, a.k.a., The Duke.

Miss Scarlet in the parlor with the dead manMiss Scarlet & The DukeKate Phillips and Stuart Martin star in a new Victorian mystery serieson MASTERPIECESundays, January 17 – February 21, 2021 on PBS
Before Marple and Tennison, there was Scarlet—Miss Eliza Scarlet, private detective. Kate Phillips (Wolf Hall) stars as Victorian London’s brilliant, beautiful, and first-ever female sleuth, with Stuart Martin (Jamestown) as her friend and associate, Detective Inspector William “The Duke” Wellington. Celebrating MASTERPIECE’s 50th anniversary in 2021, Miss Scarlet & The Duke premieres with six thrilling episodes, Sundays, January 17 – February 21, 2021 at 8/7c on PBS.
Lighthearted yet gripping, the series features Kevin Doyle (Downton Abbey) as Eliza’s father, Henry Scarlet, who is also her mentor in crime-solving. Danny Midwinter (Casualty) plays the Duke’s profane but proficient sergeant, Frank Jenkins. And Ansu Kabia (World on Fire) is the shadowy underworld figure, Moses, whose motives keep the police guessing.
Also appearing are Andrew Gower (Poldark) as the companionable aristocrat Rupert Parker, who is living a double life; Cathy Belton (Philomena) as Eliza’s devoted housekeeper and former nursemaid, Ivy; and Nick Dunning (The Tudors) as the Duke’s insufferable boss, Superintendent Stirling.
Miss Scarlet & The Duke is set in London at the start of the Sherlock Holmes era, circa 1880. Eliza’s father, Henry, is a widowed retired police officer, currently a private detective running up bills and drinking through his occasional earnings. Nonetheless, he is a talented investigator, and he has taught his only child, Eliza, the trade since she was a girl. She is now determined to break into this male-only profession.
Fortunately, Eliza’s childhood friend happens to be a detective inspector at Scotland Yard: William “The Duke” Wellington. He gets his nickname from the most famous Englishman of the 19th century: the Duke of Wellington, victor over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. Like that other Wellington, the Duke is cool and decisive in a scrape. And he is also a ladies’ man, which leads to interesting complications with Eliza.
Sometimes working together—but often at odds—Eliza and the Duke tackle a series of fascinating cases. On launching her business, Eliza’s initial chal–lenge is not criminals or clients so much as getting society to take a female detective seriously, even one who has mastered wounds, poisons, motives, and red herrings. But she forges ahead and sees her first commission—a simple search for an older gentleman’s lost niece—turn into something very sinister, which she resolves with the Duke’s help.

And with that her career, if not her income, is off and running. Eliza’s exploits range from an open-and-shut murder case that only she realizes is not so clear-cut, to a dastardly plot that will make history if it succeeds, to a client being harassed from beyond the grave. In her final investigation of the season, spanning Episodes 5 and 6, Eliza is pursuing the mystery of her father’s demise when she unwittingly lures the Duke into a deathtrap. Naturally, the ordeal is a bonding experience for the two quarrelsome but secretly affectionate crime-solvers.

Miss Scarlet & The Duke is an A+E NETWORKS INTERNATIONAL and ELEMENT 8 ENTERTAINMENT production co-produced with MASTERPIECE in association with Eighty Seven Films and Bandidos Yanquis. The writers are Rachael New (Episodes 1-3 & 6) and Ben Edwards (Episodes 4 & 5). The director is Declan O’Dwyer. The Executive Producers for A+E NETWORKS INTERNATIONAL are Melissa Madden, Moshe Laniado-Peleg, Hannah Dal Pozzo, Zalika Webley and Matthew Zagha. pbs.org/masterpiecePress ContactsEllen Dockser:

About MASTERPIECE

Winner of 83 Primetime Emmys® and 18 Peabody Awards, MASTERPIECE has been essential Sunday night viewing for millions of fans since 1971. Susanne Simpson is the executive producer and Rebecca Eaton is the executive producer-at-large for the series. Funding for MASTERPIECE is provided by Viking and Raymond James with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust. Produced for PBS by GBH Boston, MASTERPIECE is known for recent hits such as Sherlock, Downton Abbey and Victoria, and beloved classics such as Upstairs Downstairs, Prime Suspect, The Forsyte Saga and Poldark.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.

The Duke, Miss Scarlet and Moses

Primetime DVD Review: “Masterpiece: All Creatures Great And Small”

Posted on by TvMegasite Admin

DVD Review!

"Masterpiece: All Creatures Great And Small" DVD cover

“Masterpiece: All Creatures Great And Small – Season One” Review by Suzanne 2/1/21

I loved this series when it aired, so I was happy to get the DVD as well. I can’t wait for season 2!

The series is based on autobiographical books written by a British veterinarian, Alf Wright (who went by the pen name James Herriot), in the 1930’s. He started practicing in a rural area called Yorkshire Downs. They made a film of his books, and then a TV series in the late 70’s, which lasted, off and on, for a decade.  That was a successful series, and this is a version for modern audiences (yet still based on the books and set in the same world).

Nicholas Ralph plays the main character, a shy young vet (named James here), who goes to work for an odd fellow, a vet named Siegfried Farnon (Samuel West). Siegfried has a younger brother who’s also studying to be a vet. Callum Woodhouse plays the younger brother, Tristan, who seems more interested, at first, in chasing girls and drinking than in work. Anna Madeley plays Mrs. Hall, the housekeeper. She’s a mother figure to all of them, but there’s definitely some sexual tension between her and Siegfried. The late Diana Rigg plays an eccentric old rich lady with a fat dog. Her scenes are great.

James develops a huge crush on a woman named Helen (Rachel Shenton), who has a boyfriend that doesn’t seem worthy of her.  Most of the stories are about how James learns to be a good vet and prove himself to Siegfried and the local farmers, and then Tristan has to do the same thing (as well as redeem himself in his brother’s eyes). It’s a gentle but entertaining sort of story. It really seems to capture the pace of rural life well, and it gives us beautiful film of the English countryside as well.  This is definitely a show the whole family can watch.

Buy this DVD!

MORE INFORMATION:

THREE NEW DRAMAS FROM MASTERPIECE 
ON DVD & BLU-RAY THIS FEBRUARY 
FROM PBS DISTRIBUTION
Below is a listing of the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray releases from PBS Distribution slated for February.Every purchase helps support public television for all.

  • MASTERPIECE: All Creatures Great and Small – 2/9/21

Genre: Drama
Run Time: 400 min. on 2 discs – DVD and Blu-Ray
SRP: $49.99 / $59.99 (Blu-Ray)

 

About PBS DISTRIBUTION
PBS Distribution is a leading distributor of public media content around the world, reaching audiences through multiple platforms and formats. The company operates five streaming channels —PBS MASTERPIECE, PBS KIDS, PBS LIVING, PBS DOCUMENTARIES, and PBS America (U.K.). Other services include transactional video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand licensing, physical products on DVD and Blu-ray, theatrical releasing, educational, non-theatrical, inflight, and international program sales and co-productions.

PBS Distribution offers consumers and educators the highest quality factual, scripted, and children’s programming including films from Ken Burns, hit series from MASTERPIECE and foreign language dramas from Walter Presents, entertaining and educational PBS KIDS series, and award-winning documentaries from NOVA, FRONTLINE, AMERICAN MASTERS, NATURE, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE, and many independent producers. For over 10 years, the company has extended the reach of programming beyond broadcast while generating revenue for the public television system, stations, and producers. 

Follow PBS Distribution on Facebook and Twitter.

“ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL,” STARRING THE LATE DAME DIANA RIGG, AND “MISS SCARLET & THE DUKE” STARRING KATE PHILLIPS AND STUART MARTIN AMONG PROGRAMS STREAMING ON THE
PBS MASTERPIECE PRIME VIDEO CHANNEL
THIS JANUARY

January 2021 Marks the 50th Anniversary of the Iconic PBS drama series MASTERPIECE, that Sparked America’s Infatuation with British Television
Arlington, VA – January 19, 2021 – This January, four new MASTERPIECE programs are streaming on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel including an all-new adaptation of “All Creatures Great and Small,” starring Dame Diana Rigg in one of her last appearances, the newest MASTERPIECE MYSTERY! installment “Miss Scarlet & the Duke,” “Elizabeth Is Missing” based on the acclaimed novel starring Oscar winning Glenda Jackson, and “The Long Song” based on the award-winning novel by Andrea Levy about the end of slavery in Jamaica.

The subscription rate for the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel is $5.99/month with an Amazon Prime or Prime Video subscription. Every purchase helps support public television for all.

MASTERPIECE: All Creatures Great and Small
Premiere Date: January 10, 2021
Episodes: 7
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Based on the beloved autobiographical books by James Herriot, “All Creatures Great and Small” tells the exciting adventures of a veterinarian in 1930s Yorkshire. The series takes place in 1937, when James Herriot, fresh out of Glasgow Veterinary College, follows his dream to become a vet in the magnificent Yorkshire Dales, one of England’s most beloved and beautiful landscapes.

He soon discovers that treating the animals is as much about treating their owners, and the Dales’ farmers are a tough crowd to please. At Skeldale House, James gets to know his newly formed dysfunctional family: his chaotic and erratic boss Siegfried Farnon, his wayward brother Tristan and the shrewd Mrs. Hall, who is endlessly steering the ship. When local beauty Helen Alderson attracts James’s attention, he finds another, more enduring reason to stay in the Dales.

Exciting newcomer Nicholas Ralph will make his television debut as the iconic vet who became renowned for his inspiring humor, compassion and love of life. Samuel West (Mr. Selfridge, On Chesil Beach) plays Siegfried Farnon, the wonderfully eccentric veterinary surgeon and proprietor of Skeldale House, who reluctantly hires the recently qualified Herriot into his rural practice. Mrs. Hall, the resident housekeeper and matriarch of Skeldale House, is played by Anna Madeley (The Child in Time, Patrick Melrose). Siegfried’s errant and charismatic younger brother, Tristan, is played by Callum Woodhouse (The Durrells in Corfu). Rachel Shenton (Switched at Birth, White Gold) takes the role of Helen Alderson, an independent local farmer’s daughter who helps her father manage the family farm and care for her younger sister. Dame Diana Rigg (Victoria, Game of Thrones) plays Mrs. Pumphrey, the delightfully eccentric owner of the overly indulged Pekingese Tricki Woo, while Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter, Ripper Street) plays Hugh Hulton, a wealthy landowner and rival to James for Helen’s affections.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.

Masterpiece: All Creatures Great And Small cast