Nightlight Readings: Masterpiece Classic

28 December 2011

A New Year of Classics

I hope everyone enjoyed the 1st Annual 25 Days of Christmas Nightlight Readings. I had so much fun researching the literary history of each posting. There is so much to look forward to in the new year, with weddings (including my own), new historical research and finds, the release of the 1940 census on Ancestry.com (FINALLY!), and so much more! So to start—the schedule for a new season of Masterpiece Classic. I am so looking forward to the 2nd season of Downton Abbey. If you haven't seen it before, I hope you caught up with the 1st season the last couple Sundays. If not, the last episode will be played this Sunday evening at 9. I believe it is available of Netflix as well. So without further ado, I give you the 2012 schedule (and it's a great line-up at that!)...

Masterpiece Classic

This winter and spring, Masterpiece classic returns with signature period dramas, hosted by Laura Linney.

December 18 & 25, 2011; January 1, 2012 at 9pm
(Check local listings)
Downton Abbey, Season One
Episodes 1 & 2 (Dec. 18th - 180 minutes);
Episodes 3-4 (90 minutes); TV-PG
A stately country house, a noble family and a succession crisis are the backdrop for this Primetime Emmy® Award winning drama by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) starring Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern and others.
January 8, 15, 22, 29; February 5, 12 & 19, 2012 at 9pm
(Check local listings)
Downton Abbey, Season Two
Episode 1, 6 & 7 (120 minutes); Episodes 2-5 (60 minutes); TV-PG
Multiple Primetime Emmy® Award winner (including Outstanding Miniseries) Downton Abbey resumes the story of aristocrats and servants in the tumultuous World War I era.
January 15, 22 & 29, 2012 at 10pm
(Limited TV airings; Check local listings)
Sherlock
Three 90-minute episodes
Sherlock Holmes stalks again in this contemporary thriller, starring Benedict Cumberbatch (War Horse) as the go-to consulting detective in modern-day London, with Martin Freeman (The Hobbit) as Dr. John Watson.
February 26, 2012 at 9pm (Check local listings)
The Old Curiosity Shop
One 90-minute episode
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.
April 1 & 8, 2012 at 9pm (Check local listings)
Great Expectations
Episode 1 (60 minutes); Episode 2 (120 minutes)
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. Gillian Anderson (Bleak House), David Suchet (Hercule Poirot) and Ray Winstone star.
April 15, 2012 at 9pm (Check local listings)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
One 120-minute episode
An adaptation and completion of Charles Dickens' last novel left unfinished at his death, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood is a psychological thriller about a provincial choirmaster's obsession with 17-year-old Rosa Bud. Cast includes Matthew Rhys (Brothers & Sisters) and Julia MacKenzie (Miss Marple).
April 22 & 29, 2012 at 9pm (Check local listings)
Birdsong
Two 90-minute episodes
Based on 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) has an enduring effect on him as he fights in the trenches.

02 January 2011

A New Year Means a New Season of Classics

A new season of PBS' Masterpiece Classic begins tonight at 9 p.m. As annual tradition calls, this means a night with my fellow classics fan and dear "schmookums," Heather. The season starts off with "My Boy Jack," which is a WWI drama about the author Rudyard Kipling's only son, who ends up missing on the Western Front during the war. Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe stars as the young Kipling, along side Kim Cattrall who plays his American mother, and Carey Mulligan as the Kipling daughter.

Masterpiece Classic

This winter and spring, Masterpiece classic returns with signature period dramas, hosted by Laura Linney.

January 2, 2011
My Boy Jack
(One 120-minute episode; TV-PG)
Daniel Radcliffe stars in a World War I drama about beloved storyteller Rudyard Kipling's only son, missing on the Western front in 1915. David Haig and Kim Cattrall co-star as the famous author and his American wife, Carrie. (Repeat)
January 9, 16, 23 & 30, 2011 at 9pm
Downton Abbey
(Four 90-minute episodes; TV-PG)
A stately country house, a noble family and a succession crisis are the backdrop for this epic drama by Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park) starring Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern and others.
February 6, 2011
The Unseen Alistair Cooke
(One 60-minute episode; TV-PG)
Told in his own voice and home movies, The Unseen Alistair Cooke shows America as the beloved Masterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke saw it — the raw material for a lifetime of journalism. (Repeat)
February 13, 20 & 27, 2011 at 9pm
Any Human Heart
(Three 90-minute episodes; TV-14, S)
William Boyd adapts his acclaimed 2002 novel about a man making his often precarious way through the 20th century. Matthew Macfadyen, Gillian Anderson, Hayley Atwell, Kim Cattrall and Jim Broadbent star.
March 27, 2011 at 9pm
The 39 Steps
(One 90-minute episode)
Secret agent Richard Hannay battles German spies on the eve of World War I in a riveting and romantic new version of the thriller by John Buchan. Rupert-Penry Jones (Persuasion) stars as Hannay. (Repeat)
April 10, 17 & 24, 2011 at 9pm
Upstairs Downstairs
(Three 60-minute episodes)
Upstairs Downstairs is an updated version of one of the most-loved television series. Jean Marsh reprises her Emmy-winning role as Rose along with series co-creator Eileen Atkins (Cranford). Keeley Hawes, Ed Stoppard and Art Malik (The Jewel in the Crown) also star.

Coming Soon

Coming May 1, 8 & 15, 2011
South Riding
(Three 60-minute episodes)
Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House) and David Morrissey (Sense & Sensibility) lead the cast in Andrew Davies's (Bleak House, Little Dorrit) three-part adaptation of Winifred Holtby's moving love story.