WTVP and PBS kick off the 50th anniversary of Masterpiece in January with a fabulous collection of new programs that viewers won’t want to miss. Over the past five decades of Masterpiece, you have come to expect superb writing, inspired acting, lavish costumes and unforgettable stories. The 2021 season does not disappoint, with new shows starring Glenda Jackson, Diana Rigg, Kristin Scott Thomas, Martin Freeman, Tamara Lawrance, Hayley Atwell, Samuel West, Tom Hollander, Kate Phillips, and Kyle MacLachlan. Masterpiece is the longest-running primetime drama series on television.

Masterpiece at 50

• The longest-running primetime series on television.
• 83 Primetime Emmys®
• 18 Peabody Awards
• Seven Golden Globes®
• Two Academy Award® nominations

MASTERPIECE
ELIZABETH IS MISSING
JANUARY 3, 8 PM

Leading off the anniversary season is Glenda Jackson’s award-winning performance as Maud, a woman in the grip of dementia who is searching for her missing friend. When Elizabeth fails to show up as promised, Maud investigates and awakens memories of another disappearance in her own distant past.

Airdates:

• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Sun, 01/03/2021 @ 8:00 PM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Mon, 01/04/2021 @ 12:00 AM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Tue, 01/05/2021 @ 3:00 AM

MASTERPIECE
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL
PREMIERS JANUARY 10, 8 PM

Many viewers will already be familiar with James Herriot’s beloved books about a rural veterinarian and the eccentric characters he encounters in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. This seven-part adaptation features an esteemed ensemble cast led by newcomer Nicholas Ralph as Herriot plus Samuel West (Mr. Selfridge) as Siegried Farnon, Callum Woodhouse (The Durells in Corfu) as Tristan Farnon, Anna Madeley (The Child in Time) as Mrs. Hall, Rachel Shenton (Switched at Birth) as Helen Alderson and Dame Diana Rigg as Mrs. Pumfrey in one of her last appearances.

Airdates:

• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Sun, 01/10/2021 @ 8:00 PM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Mon, 01/11/2021 @ 12:30 AM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Wed, 01/13/2021 @ 3:00 AM

MASTERPIECE MYSTERY
MISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE
PREMIERS JANUARY 17, 7 PM

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

Airdates:

• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Sun, 01/17/2021 @ 7:00 PM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Tue, 01/19/2021 @ 2:00 AM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Tue, 01/05/2021 @ 3:00 AM

MASTERPIECE
THE LONG SONG
PREMIERS JANUARY 31, 9 PM

This three-part miniseries follows July (Tamara Lawrance), an indomitable young slave woman who works on a sugarcane plantation with her detestable mistress, Caroline Mortimer (Hayley Atwell). Their lives change with the arrival of the charming new overseer, Robert Goodwin (Jack Lowden), who sets out to improve the plantation for both the slaves and the mistress.

Airdates:

• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Sun, 01/31/2021 @ 9:00 PM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Mon, 02/01/2021 @ 12:00 AM
• WTVP-HD 47.1 - Mon, 02/01/2021 @ 4:00 AM

MASTERPIECE
ATLANTIC CROSSING

A princess steals the heart of the president of the United States in an epic drama based on the World War II relationship of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Norwegian Crown Princess Martha. Two-time Emmy® nominee Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) stars as Roosevelt, opposite Swedish actress Sofia Helin (The Bridge) as the beautiful, politically astute Martha, who flees the Nazis with her three young children and lives under Roosevelt’s increasingly doting protection. The eight-part series ranges back and forth across the Atlantic as diplomacy, romance and jealousy embroil Norwegians and Americans alike.

Atlantic Crossing is from Cinenordin co-production with Beta Film for NRK and MASTERPIECE.

MASTERPIECE
TALKING HEADS

An ensemble of British actors perform Alan Bennett’s classic dramatic monologues, with stories of ordinary characters whose lives have been disrupted by banal, scandalous, criminal and even miraculous events. “A masterclass in writing and acting … perilously close to magic.” —The Guardian (London)

Talking Heads is a London Theatre Company Production for BBC and MASTERPIECE.

Talking Heads episodes airing on MASTERPIECE in Spring 2021:

MASTERPIECE
Talking Heads: The Hand of God

Kristin Scott Thomas (Fleabag) plays Celia, an antique shop owner who takes pride in keeping her marginal business afloat. Then she lucks into a sale and lands on the evening news.

MASTERPIECE
Talking Heads: A Chip in the Sugar

Martin Freeman (Sherlock) is Graham,a mild-mannered bachelorliving with his widowed mother. One day they run into mom’s old flame,who rekindles a fire that Graham struggles mightily to put out.

MASTERPIECE
Us

In a drama tinged with humor and heartbreak, Tom Hollander (Baptiste, The Night Manager) and Saskia Reeves (Luther) play a couple who embark on a long-planned grand tour of Europe, despite the wife’s wrenching proclamation that she wants to leave the marriage. The four-part series is based on a novel by best-selling author David Nicholls. The Daily Telegraph called it a “brilliantly witty and heartfelt drama about a family on the edge.”

Us is a Drama Republic and Bandstand Productions for BBC and MASTERPIECE.

The 50th season closes out with the return of some of MASTERPIECE’s most popular mysteries. Anticipated titles include Baptiste, Season 2, Grantchester, Season 6, Van der Valk, Season 2, and Unforgotten, Season 4.