| Masterpiece | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Masterpiece Theatre (1971–2008) |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Presented by |
|
| Theme music composer | Jean-Joseph Mouret |
| Opening theme | Sinfonies de Fanfares: Rondeau |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 53 |
| Production | |
| Production company | WGBH |
| Original release | |
| Network | PBS |
| Release | January 10, 1971 (1971-01-10) – present |
Masterpiece, styled asMASTERPIECE (formerly known asMasterpiece Theatre), is a dramaanthology television series produced byWGBH Boston. It premiered onPBS on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these are produced by theBBC, but the lineup has also included programs shown on the UK channelsITV1,Channel 4, andChannel 5.
Masterpiece is known for presentingadaptations of novels andbiographies, but it also shows original television dramas. The first title to air wasThe First Churchills, starringSusan Hampshire asSarah Churchill. Other programs presented on the series includeThe Six Wives of Henry VIII;Elizabeth R;I, Claudius;Upstairs, Downstairs;The Duchess of Duke Street;The Citadel;The Jewel in the Crown;Reckless;House of Cards;Traffik, andJeeves and Wooster. More recent popular titles includePrime Suspect,The Forsyte Saga,Sherlock,Downton Abbey,Endeavour,Victoria andGuilt.
The theme music played during the opening credits is theFanfare-Rondeau fromSuite of Symphonies for brass, strings and timpani No. 1 by French composerJean-Joseph Mouret. The theme was performed by Collegium Musicum de Paris.Roland Douatte was the conductor. It was recorded in 1954 byVogue Records in Paris, France, and was later remastered in stereo and re-released byNonesuch Records in the 1960s.
During the first seasons in the 1970s, the theme music accompanied varying closeup shots of a waving British flag, which panned out into a still image of a British flag on a staff serving as the P in "Masterpiece". In the late 1970s, the opening video switched to views of antique books and other literary artifacts, many of which titles had been dramatized on the program.
In 1980,Masterpiece gained a sister series,Mystery!, featuring a mix of contemporary and classicBritishdetective andcrime series, such asThe Inspector Lynley Mysteries,Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, andTouching Evil. In 2000, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the show, it presentedMasterpiece:The American Collection, nine works by American writers, includingThornton Wilder'sOur Town, starringPaul Newman.
One of television's most honored series, the various shows aired onMasterpiece have won numerousEmmy andPeabody Awards.[1]
In 2013,TV Guide ranked it #3 in its list of the 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time[2] and #16 in its list of the 60 Greatest Shows of All Time.[3]
The success of the broadcast of the 1967 version ofThe Forsyte Saga onNET (the precursor of PBS) led Stanford Calderwood, then serving as president of WGBH, to investigate whether the BBC would sell programs to the station. Suggestions for the series format came from, among others,Frank Gillard in the UK[4] andChristopher Sarson in the US.[5] In looking for an underwriter for the series, Calderwood eventually met withHerb Schmertz ofMobil Corporation. Schmertz was able to gain funding for the show, and with Joan Wilson of WGBH-TV bought the US distribution rights for fifty hours of British dramas for about $1 million per year.[6] He and several other men, including Frank Marshall, met in London and made a selection of programs to be broadcast.[7]
Decisions on the format of the show were finalized and the series premiered on January 10, 1971, with the first episode ofThe First Churchills. The working title for the series had beenThe Best of the BBC, which was changed toMasterpiece Theatre before the first broadcast, with Sarson insisting upon the British spelling forTheatre.[7] The series was hosted by British-American broadcaster and author / journalistAlistair Cooke (1908–2004), who initially had been reluctant to take the role. Cooke appeared for two decades until 1992; nativeBaltimorean,Pulitzer Prize-winning author and longtime columnist forThe New York Times,Russell Baker (1925–2019), was next and hosted for over a decade from 1992 to 2004. From 2004 to 2008, it was broadcast without a host.
The original series producer was Sarson. He was succeeded in 1973 by Joan Wilson. The current series producer,Rebecca Eaton, took over in 1985 after Wilson's death from cancer.[8] Mobil pulled out in 2004.[9] In 2011 Eaton launched the Masterpiece Trust as a fundraising initiative, in collaboration with WGBH Boston. The Trust gives donors the opportunity to support their local PBS station and also "secure the future of superb British drama...invest upfront in the development of new scripts and programs, and grow the[Masterpiece] series both on-air and online".[10] In the same year the series attracted new sponsorsViking River Cruises andRalph Lauren (Ralph Lauren was subsequently replaced byFarmers Insurance).[11] In the first three years the Trust raised $12 million from 45 donors.[9]
The Masterpiece approach has been reported as being to put up about 10% of the production budget, in return for distribution rights and a degree of consultation on casting and content, but not editorial control.[9] Masterpiece licences programs for several years, after which the broadcast rights revert to the original owners, generally the British producer or distributor.[11] Interviewed in 2017, Eaton described her role atMasterpiece as "the person who chooses which British programs will be included in Masterpiece...looking at a lot of shows that are already made, reading scripts, and choosing the ones that would suit this audience."
They're made by British companies and British broadcasters – for the BBC and ITV – and once they're done, we bring them back here. It's also my job is to make sure the whole country knows aboutMasterpiece and knows about whatever show is being produced. There's a great deal of publicity and marketing to be done. I also have to raise money.[12]
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In 2008, the word "Theatre" was dropped, and the show, officially known asMasterpiece, was split into three different sections.Masterpiece Classic was initially hosted byGillian Anderson;[13] the following year,Laura Linney took her place.[14]Masterpiece Mystery! is hosted byAlan Cumming.[15]Masterpiece Contemporary was hosted initially byMatthew Goode,[16] who was replaced byDavid Tennant[17] in 2009.
All three versions received their own opening sequences and theme music with a common signature based upon theFirst Suite in D byMouret[11] (originally chosen by Sarson, who had heard it played at aClub Med resort in Sicily, because it sounded "British and heraldic").[7] In the opening to the "Classic" strand of shows, the word "Theatre" appears for a brief moment, apparently in order to maintain WGBH'strademark registration on the former name[18] (in 2011, the show's 40th anniversary, the opening was altered to show "Classic" briefly before showing "40 years"). The theme music was composed by Man Made Music, Inc; the opening sequences were designed byKyle Cooper of Prologue.[citation needed]
As of 2017's broadcast ofVictoria series 1,Masterpiece Classic no longer aired with a regular host and the series was no longer branded as "Masterpiece Classic" but simply "Masterpiece".
In March 2007, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the show, PBS aired an entertainment special produced and directed by Darcy Corcoran.The Best of Masterpiece was hosted bySir Derek Jacobi and featured interviews withDame Helen Mirren,Hugh Laurie,Damian Lewis,Robson Green,Ian Richardson,Gillian Anderson,Charles Dance,Alex Kingston,Anthony Andrews andJean Marsh. The countdown special was based on more than 20,000 survey responses posted to theMasterpiece and PBS affiliate websites, the top 12 series were:
At the end of the program, Anthony Andrews thanked the audience for voting the 1981 serialBrideshead Revisited as the seventh favorite series. He then pointed out that it had not aired as a part ofMasterpiece Theatre. Rather, it had aired as a part of the PBS series entitledGreat Performances.
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