Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind The Scenes At Masterpiece and Mystery! On PBS

Rebecca Eaton: Executive Producer of Masterpiece “Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind The Scenes At Masterpiece and Mystery! On PBS,”  Thornbike Press (large print), 2013, 457 pp. 

As our time to leave Naples winds down, there just wasn’t time to put wanted books on hold at the library; so I took to wandering the Large Print aisle and, voila, this book is one of the results.  I am amazed at how many Masterpiece Theatre productions I have missed over the years.  This leaves something to investigate and see if I can get them on DVD’s or whatever.  This book does cover a lot about the production of Downton Abbey; a production I, like most others, thoroughly enjoyed.

The author, Rebecca Eaton, has presided over PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, now Masterpiece, for more than twenty-five years, the longest running weekly prime time drama series in American history. From the runaway hits Upstairs, Downstairs and The Buccaneers, to the hugely popular Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect, and Downton Abbey, Masterpiece Theatre and its sibling series Mystery

In the book, Eaton interviews many of the writers, directors, producers, and other contributors and shares personal anecdotes about her decades-spanning career. She reveals what went on behind the scenes during such triumphs as Cranford and the multiple, highly-rated programs made from Jane Austen’s novels, as well as her aggressive campaign to attract younger viewers via social media and online streaming. Along the way she shares stories about actors and other luminaries such as Alistair Cooke, Maggie Smith, and Diana Rigg.

My Notes:

Pg. 270:  The BBC in England (comparable to our PBS) is financed directly by the viewers.  Every household in the country with a television set pays the equivalent of about $233 annually, just under $5 billion, into the system each year.  The viewers get a phenomenal amount for that money.  One of the legal mandates the BBC is subject to for receiving this money, is to address aspects of British culture, past and present.  This, of course, often translated into historical drama – biopics, and adaptations of beloved British books.  So PBS, born in the late 1960s, is a public broadcaster too: why can’t we do the same thing?  Remember, in 1968 network television only had three networks – NBC, ABC, and CBS.  Although all gave lip service to a fourth educational network, they really did not want the competition.  Then Nixon elected in 1968 and his long history of bad experiences with the media was hardly in favor.  In fact he sent Spiro Agnew out with messages about the ‘nattering nabobs of negativism.’  So, even now only about 15 percent of PBS funding comes from the federal government, the remainder must come from the public and foundations.  Of course, we now have new hope with a new president.