Masterpiece Studio

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of the Second Season of All Creatures Great and Small*.* In a buzzy new season of All Creatures Great and Small, the sassy divorcée, Diana Brompton, is a breath of fresh air. So, too, is actor Dorothy Atkinson, who brings her peppy charm to the podcast.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of the second season of All Creatures Great and Small. The soothing, gentle nature of All Creatures Great and Small renders the pain and struggles of ordinary life in warm, calming tones. Much of that comes from the series' original author, Alf Wight, but it also comes from executive producer and head writer Ben Vanstone. He explains how he plans each cycle of the show — and his genuine, real life love of animals.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Around the World in 80 Days. The fabulously talented David Tennant is well known to MASTERPIECE viewers — he hosted MASTERPIECE Contemporary more than a decade ago, and has appeared on plenty of MASTERPIECE and MASTERPIECE Mystery! titles throughout the years — but his role in the sweeping new adaptation of Jules Vernes' Around the World in 80 Days is a thrilling return to form. Tennant previews the ongoing series, and looks ahead to the rest of the quest to come in a new conversation. 

There's romance afoot on the Sanditon shores, with five new male characters heading to the resort in the upcoming second season. Who are these new male characters, and where are they looking for love? And what does it mean to be a Man of Sanditon — an Austen romantic hero? We find out in the final Making Sanditon preview podcast.

While we’re all looking forward to the return to Sanditon, there’s no one more excited than than the talented young actor who plays Charlotte Heywood, Rose Williams. Williams returns to the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast to look ahead at the second and third seasons of the series and offer a hint of what’s still to come for the adventurous Charlotte.

You already know that Sanditon is coming back to PBS screens — but just what will happen in the seaside resort when the curtain finally raises after two years of waiting? A few members of the series’ creative team explore the stories still to come on the upcoming second and third seasons in the first of three special preview podcast episodes from MASTERPIECE Studio.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of the Sixth Season of Grantchester. As Grantchester wraps its serialized sixth season, series creator Daisy Coulam is already hard at work on the seventh season. Among other new elements, the upcoming season features a new director at the helm — series star Tom Brittney. Coulam and Brittney preview the new season, and unpack the season that just closed, in a new podcast.

MASTERPIECE Studio and GBH bring you a preview episode of a new podcast and documentary film series: American Veteran. In war and in peace, what veterans have done in America’s name is woven into the fabric of the American story. The new PBS series, American Veteran, illuminates their experiences with a stunning range of veterans’ voices, presented in a nine-part podcast. Each episode of the podcast revolves around the direct testimony of a single veteran - from a Coast Guard gunner’s mate who manned a landing craft at Omaha Beach on D-Day, to an Army cook in Iraq who became the first Black American woman held as a POW; from an Army nurse in Vietnam who struggled to do her part to a satellite technician who served as a gay man during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era. This collection of riveting first-person stories provides a compelling portrait of the veteran experience across multiple generations. The series is hosted by Phil Klay, a Marine Corps veteran featured in the “American Veteran” television series

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of the Sixth Season of Grantchester. The police force in Grantchester is all men — with the notable exception of the sixth season's bright new regular, the sassy secretary, Miss Scott. Melissa Johns' snappy assistant can match wits with the best of them, and the actor and disability advocate reveals how she does it in a new conversation.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of the Second Season of Baptiste. The brilliant Fiona Shaw is already a regular guest on MASTERPIECE programs, but this is her first interview on MASTERPIECE Studio — a format that she takes to with ease, like so much else in her storied career. In the challenging second season of Baptiste, Shaw plays Emma Chambers, the no-nonsense British Ambassador to Hungary, who more than holds her own with inspector Julien Baptiste.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for the third episode of the sixth season of Grantchester. After six seasons in a single role, you might think Al Weaver has fully centered his performance as literary village curate, Leonard Finch. But in this serialized sixth season, there's still emotional and dramatic depth to uncover, which Weaver does with great skill. Weaver explains what he's learned about himself in playing Leonard, and what it felt like to film in the midst of a pandemic.

Warning: This podcast contains spoilers for the first episode of the sixth season of Grantchester. In the six seasons of Grantchester, the action has mainly centered on the titular village, along with crime in nearby Cambridge. For the first episode of series six, executive producer Emma Kingsman-Lloyd and head writer Daisy Coulam shift the action to a nostalgic British holiday camp — with murder and drama to spare.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes Three and Four of the First Season of Guilt. In Guilt, Mark Bonnar’s snide, crafty Max is far from sympathetic. But the veteran actor thinks even Max is redeemable in the end. Bonnar talks Max and making this season — and the next — of Guilt in a new conversation.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes One and Two of the First Season of Guilt. Guilt stars Jamie Sives and Mark Bonnar are old friends from high school, so it isn't hard to imagine them as their bickering on-screen characters. Sives explores the intricacies of the series’ tricky plot and more in a new interview.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of the Fourth Season of Unforgotten. The truly tragic ending of the fourth season of Unforgotten made series creator and head writer Chris Lang tear up as he wrote it. Lang talks through the twisty fourth season of his series, and looks ahead to what's in store for the planned fifth season of his modern day crime drama.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Us. Douglas Petersen is prickly. The biochemist and father of one is picky, nervous and reluctant to change his mind. Tom Hollander sees his job as the actor playing a character like Douglas is, in part, to make him relatable — which he does, of course, in spades. Hollander talks Douglas, Us and how to find the humanity and the humor in a difficult role.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Us. The sun-dappled European exploits of Douglas and Connie Petersen and their son, Albie, in Us mask a shifting truth at the heart of their gradually crumbling marriage. As Connie, MASTERPIECE favorite Saskia Reeves is a joy to behold, and she brings that spark to a new interview.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of Atlantic Crossing. As Atlantic Crossing comes to a close, series creator, co-writer and director Alexander Eik joins lead actors Sofia Helin and Kyle MacLachlan for an intimate exploration of the truth behind the fictionalized historical drama. Though Crown Princess Martha never became Queen, her story still has impact today.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of Atlantic Crossing. The chance to play legendary American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one big reason for Kyle MacLachlan to sign on to Atlantic Crossing. But it was the story of the young Norwegian Royal Family at the heart of the miniseries that made him commit to the role. MacLachlan explores Roosevelt, Agent Dale Cooper and wine with lifelong Twin Peaks fan, MASTERPIECE Studio host Jace Lacob.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Atlantic Crossing. Norwegian Crown Princess Martha was born in Sweden, but Swedish actor Sofia Helin didn't know her story until she signed on to play the quiet Royal in Atlantic Crossing. But after coming on board the miniseries, Helin helped shape the story of the little-known Princess, bringing a surprising light to her powerful story. Helin talks royalty, FDR, and Saga Noren of Broen in a new interview.