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Schedule

Masterpiece Contemporary

This fall, Masterpiece contemporary presents outstanding British television drama with contemporary themes.




  • October 5-November 2, 2008
    The Last Enemy
    Five episodes; Episode One 90 minutes, all others 60 minutes, TV-PG
    After his brother's death, expatriate Stephen Ezard (Benedict Cumberbatch) returns to England to find a paranoid surveillance society in this five-part thriller.

  • November 9, 2008
    God on Trial
    90 minutes   TV-14
    Faced with the terrors of Auschwitz, prisoners put God on trial for abandoning His chosen people. Antony Sher, Dominic Cooper, and Stellan Skårsgard star in this moving drama.

  • November 16, 2008
    Filth
    90 minutes
    Julie Walters stars as Mary Whitehouse in the true story of a moral watchdog barking at the heels of swinging England in the 1960s. Hugh Bonneville stars as Hugh Greene, head of the BBC.

  • November 23, 2008
    The Unseen Alistair Cooke: A Masterpiece Special
    60 minutes
    Told in his own voice, The Unseen Alistair Cooke marks the November, 2008 centennial of the birth of longtime Masterpiece Theatre host Alistair Cooke.

  • December 21-28, 2008
    Prime Suspect 7: The Final Act
    Two 120-minute episodes
    Drink, loneliness and the grueling life of a crime fighter are finally catching up with Jane Tennison (Helen Mirren). Pushing sixty, Tennison knows it is time to retire, but can she keep her body and soul together for one final case?

Masterpiece mystery! (Aired June-September, 2008)
Secrets, celebrity, sexual politics and homicide — it must Masterpiece mystery! Each summer, turn to the go-to source for the best in British crime thrillers.

June 22-July 6, 2008
Inspector Lewis: Series I
July 13-July 27, 2008
Foyle's War: Series V
August 10-17, 2008
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Series VII
August 24-September 14, 2008
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Series VI
September 21, 2008
The Ruby in the Smoke
September 28, 2008
The Shadow in the North

Masterpiece classic (Aired January-May, 2008)
Each winter and spring, Masterpiece classic will feature signature period dramas. In its inaugural 2008 season, hosted by Gillian Anderson, Masterpiece classic presented ten programs.

January 13, 2008
Persuasion
January 20, 2008
Northanger Abbey
January 27, 2008
Mansfield Park
February 3, 2008
Miss Austen Regrets
February 10, 17 and 24, 2008
Pride and Prejudice*
March 23, 2008
Emma
March 30 and April 6, 2008
Sense and Sensibility
April 13, 2008
A Room With a View
April 20, 2008
My Boy Jack
May 4, 11 and 18, 2008
Cranford

*Pride and Prejudice is a production of BBC Television and BBC Worldwide Americas, Inc. in association with A&E Networks. The Masterpiece Theatre broadcast of Pride and Prejudice is the first in the U.S. other than on A&E Television Networks.