I have always been a long time supporter and viewer of Public Television. I can't say enough about the quality of it's programming, or count the many hours I spend in awe of it's documentaries, inspiring performances, and hilarious British sitcoms.
My absolute favorites seem to always be the Masterpiece Theatre productions, aired every Sunday evening, ranging from the Classics, Mystery, and Contemporary.
Beginning in January 2009 the following Classics are airing..........
Do make yourself a nice pot of tea, and enjoy !
Oh...and be sure to keep a hankerchief close by ....
Coming in 2009
Masterpiece classic premieres in January, 2009 with two beloved romance tales — Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Wuthering Heights. The Tales of Charles Dickens, a quartet of his greatest works, airs from mid February to early May with new productions of Oliver Twist, Little Dorrit and The Old Curiosity Shop, plus an encore of David Copperfield.
Tess of the d'Urberbvilles Violated by one man, forsaken by another, Tess Durbeyfield is the spirited heroine of Thomas Hardy's novel. Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace) stars as Tess, joined by Hans Matheson (Dr. Zhivago) as her seducer, Alec, and Eddie Redmayne (Elizabeth: The Golden Age) as Angel, the idealistic man she loves.
Wuthering Heights A new adaptation of Emily Bronte's haunting classic, which chronicles the passionate spiritual bond between Heathcliff, a Gypsy boy adopted by the Earnshaw family of Wuthering Heights, and the family's daughter, Cathy. British heartthrob Tom Hardy stars as Heathcliff, and newcomer Charlotte Riley is Cathy.
Oliver Twist This bold adaptation breathes new life into the Dickens story about the young orphan Oliver who is sent to the workhouse where children are raised on a diet of hard work and thin gruel. Starring Timothy Spall as Fagin the cutpurse king, Tom Hardy as Bill Sikes, Fagin's accomplice and Sophie Okonedo as Nancy, Oliver's guardian angel.
David Copperfield Charles Dickens's beloved novel gets all-star treatment in this encore presentation of David Copperfield. An event for the entire family, the cast includes Maggie Smith, Ian McKellen, Bob Hoskins — and an irresistible ten-year-old Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as the young boy against the world.
Little Dorrit One of Dickens' greatest love stories also has the timely theme of financial collapse. Matthew Macfadyen (Pride and Prejudice) stars as hero Arthur Clennam, with Claire Foy as Amy "Little" Dorrit and Tom Courtenay as her father, who has been incarcerated for 25 years for insolvency. Scores of other great actors appear in this moving tale.
The Old Curiosity Shop A teenage girl and her grandfather lose everything to a maniacal moneylender and flee his relentless pursuit. The saga of Little Nell, Grandfather, and their tormentor, Daniel Quilp, is one of Dickens' most heart-rending tales. Derek Jacobi stars as Grandfather, with Sophie Vavasseur (Northanger Abbey) as Nell and Toby Jones (W.) as Quilp.
10 comments:
Thanks Josephine for the reminders!!! We don't watch much public TV but I have some really good friends who love the British comedies.. I'll try to check some of this out.
Thanks,
Betsy
Josephine.........I love British Pieces. We have been watching The Duchess of Duke Street for about two weeks now. I think we have 6 more episodes left. We also loved the Bramwell series and The Forsythe Saga ! I need to do a review on the Porch about them. Love Thomas Hardy films too.
I love Masterpiece Theater. Thanks for the reminder and the update.
I'm not sure what public TV is, maybe someone could enlighten me.
The recent version of Little Dorrit was lovely. I wasn't familiar with the story so it was new to me. Some really good actors in there including Tom Courtenay.
Hope you enjoy them.
Carol, i love the Bramwell series also !
Please do a review on the Porch, it would be so enlightening.
George and Betsy, your welcome ! hope you get to tune it.
Winifred, here's the Wikipedia link, explaining Public Broadcasting Service
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PBS
That looks really interesting. There's a lot of variety there. It must be twenty years since I saw the Duchess of Duke Street. I loved it.
Can you download the programmes free?
I've started using BBC iPlayer if I miss a pogramme. It's great. I missed Larkrise to Candleford tonight so I'll watch it tomorrow on the laptop.
Not sure whether it works abroad from the BBC site but worth a try. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
Winifred, thank you for that link, here's what I got when I tried to download an episode of Eastenders...
"Currently BBC iPlayer TV programmes are available to play in the UK only, but all BBC iPlayer Radio programmes are available to you. Why?
If you are in the UK and see this message please read this advice.
Go to Radio channels home page"
I'll keep checking back !
Hi Josephine, I am so glad to hear your a fan of PBS like me. I can remember when my then young son and I would curl up every Sunday evening to watch Masterpiece Theatre together. And I think Hyacinth Bucket is a friend of mine and The Vicar of Dibley's Dawn French too. Thanks for reminding me that Tess is coming on.
I have already seen Little Dorrit, what a treat it was, I loved it. Tess is also very good. I love Hardy's books, but I always found Tess such a frustrating heroine. I'll look out for the others. Thanks.
That's such a shame. I wonder why only the radio. I knew that people abroad could listen to the radio podcasts. Maybe something to do with the TV broadcasting rights.
I've just had a good laugh at a programme I missed and downloaded. It's the US Presidents' Outtakes, Bush senior & junior, Clinton, Reagan, Obama and some other politicians.
I had seen a few of the Bushisms before but it was really funny. My two favourites were:
"We'll make America what we want it to be, a literate country and a hopefuller country." mmm
and
"It’ll Take Time to Restore Chaos". (after the Iraq War). So that's what's happening over there.
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