For more than 50 years, MASTERPIECE has been delighting audiences with heartwarming and captivating programs. From cozy mysteries and police procedurals to costume dramas and period pieces, MASTERPIECE is committed to offering its audience programs with stellar writing and the highest quality acting. We talked with MASTERPIECE Head of Scripted Content and Executive Producer Susanne Simpson about what viewers can expect for the rest of this year, what makes MASTERPIECE continue to be relevant, and how it can help audiences answer life’s big questions.
On August 24, The Marlow Murder Club will return for its second season. How did this program first get on your radar?
SS: I heard about The Marlow Murder Club through Monumental, a production company in the UK we’ve worked with previously. They had this idea for a cozy mystery based on books by Robert Thorogood, who for many years was the writer of Death in Paradise. I was interested because Robert himself lives in Marlow. I got on a call with Robert and the producers and he talked through the three main characters and what it’s like to live in this small town. Because the town of Marlow was willing to embrace the show, they’re able to film things that actually happen there — yacht races, festivals — which gives a great backdrop to the show.
What has the viewer response been so far?
SS: The audience seems to love it, and our ratings were as high as some of our returning popular shows like Grantchester. It was a big surprise that it would take off in that very first season. The feedback that we’ve also gotten is that audiences love the actress Samantha Bond. She is someone who our audience knows quite well from shows like Home Fires and Downton Abbey.
Why do people love cozy mysteries so much?
SS: It’s much more relaxing to watch a show where you’re not afraid of what you might see on screen. Because you’re not focused on the violence, what you’re really focusing on is the intellectual discovery of the whodunit. I think our audience likes to be challenged in that way with the puzzle. They are often big readers and so having a bit of an intellectual challenge is always fun.
It seems another piece that I see in a lot of MASTERPIECE programs is amateur crime solvers. What is it about that specifically that’s interesting to audiences?
SS: When you look back at MASTERPIECE’s history, we did some of the Agatha Christie murder mysteries, and certainly Miss Marple is the quintessential amateur sleuth. It’s that outsider who just sees things differently, is observant of people, and has an understanding of the human psyche. The amateur sleuth is just, in some ways, a little bit more invisible and able to see things from a different perspective. It’s interesting to watch characters like that.
August will also bring the release of Season Six of Unforgotten. How does a show continue to be successful for so many seasons?
SS: I think the secret to Unforgotten is twofold: the writing and the acting. It’s a very smartly written show and screenwriter Chris Lang does an excellent job in the character development not only of the leads but also of the suspects.
The format is unique. He identifies four characters who each could potentially be the murderer, and then it slowly unfolds over the course of six hours who did it.
The second part of the success is the two actors who lead the show. Our audience loved Nicola Walker in the beginning, and have completely embraced Sinéad Keenan who joined the series after Nicola left. Sanjeev Bhaskar, who plays Sunny, is someone who has become well-known to our audience, and they really love to watch his story unfold as well. We are very fortunate that in all of our shows, we have some of the best actors on television.
It looks like there are some new programs coming this fall that will give viewers something a little different.
SS: Yes. The first is Maigret which is a brand-new detective series for us. It’s a contemporary version of the books by Georges Simenon. I equate it to Endeavour — seeing the makings of a great detective. There are things about Maigret that make him different from all the other detectives in the French crime unit: what he thinks about humanity and his purpose in this job. All of that comes together at the beginning of this Maigret series. And we’re incredibly fortunate to have Benjamin Wainwright take the lead. He’s fantastic in this role.
The other show I’m excited about is called The Gold, based on a true crime, which is something we don’t usually do. In this story, many millions of dollars in gold is stolen and there is a chief inspector, played by Hugh Bonneville (from Downton Abbey, of course), in charge of uncovering what happened to it. The program also features Jack Lowden, who is known for Slow Horses, and Charlotte Spencer from our Sanditon series.
The last new show that we have coming in the fall is The Great Escaper. It features Glenda Jackson and Michael Caine. It was Glenda’s last role before she passed away and Michael’s last role before he retired. It’s based on a true story of a man who left his care home to go to Normandy for the D-Day remembrance events, where he meets fellow veterans. It’s a heartwarming, beautifully acted piece that will air not long after Veterans Day.
Over 50-plus years, there have been a wide range of programs on MASTERPIECE. What is the common link?
SS: We get pitched over 150 new projects a year. Because we have a very literate audience, they must be well-written, whether a costume drama, a period piece, a murder mystery, or even a true story. Our audience expects that from us.
The other qualities have to do with the characters and the situation. All Creatures Great and Small is our most-watched show at the moment. It’s heartwarming. It has humor. It has something to say about kindness in difficult times and about how we rely on community. A show like Wolf Hall is really about power and what power does to people. Miss Austen looks at the role of women, the obstacles they face, and how they persevere and come through. A question we ask about all potential shows is whether they have something to say that people want to hear in this moment.
If you could get one additional season of any MASTERPIECE program, what would you choose?
SS: This is probably too expected of an answer, but Downton Abbey. I loved that series, and it was such an important series for MASTERPIECE and for the whole PBS system.
What are you most proud of in your time with MASTERPIECE?
SS: In the five years of being executive producer, I’ve tried very hard to keep MASTERPIECE’s legacy of quality going in very competitive times. For many years we were reliant on whatever shows were being made by the BBC or ITV. It became apparent that if we wanted shows that were costume dramas or period dramas that MASTERPIECE would have to develop its own shows. That’s probably the biggest change that’s happened during the time I’ve been executive producer.
We’ve now been able to launch The Forsytes, which will be a new costume drama coming out next year. We took the lead in developing and financing Miss Austen. We also took the lead in Magpie Murders, Moonflower Murders, and the third installment that is coming, Marble Hall. It’s been a lot of work because we’re starting from scratch, but it’s given us some new MASTERPIECE shows that are loved by the audience, so I’m proud of that.
Why does MASTERPIECE continue to be important after more than 50 years?
SS: We hope that all of our MASTERPIECE dramas are entertaining with great stories and characters. But we also want our programs to mean something to our audience. For me, drama is about emotional truths — the purpose of life, how to love and be loved, how to deal with loss. Our best stories deal with these larger themes by showing how the characters deal with life’s challenges. Our mission is always to bring that kind of programming to our audience.
Watch MASTERPIECE on GBH 2 on Sundays at 9pm or any time on the PBS App and subscribe to the MASTERPIECE newsletter here. You can also get more drama in our weekly newsletter, The Deep Dive, which offers a special drama edition once each month.
