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Classic

Each winter and spring, Masterpiece classic features signature period dramas.


  • Emma and Cranford 2
    on Masterpiece Classic in 2010

    The retelling of a Masterpiece favorite and the sequel of another will premiere in early 2010 on Masterpiece classic. Romola Garai (Atonement, Daniel Deronda), Michael Gambon and Jonny Lee Miller star in an all-new four-hour adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma. Michael Gambon plays Emma's affectionate, neurotic father. Jonny Lee Miller — who stars in Masterpiece's Endgame, premiering in October, 2009 — plays Mr. Knightley, Emma's shrewd and attractive neighbor. Fresh and funny, this perceptive adaptation by Sandy Welch (Our Mutual Friend, Jane Eyre) brings Jane Austen's comic masterpiece to life.

    More great change is set for the small Cheshire town of Cranford in Cranford 2, a 3-hour program featuring many of the beloved original cast including Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Francesca Annis and Julia McKenzie. Cranford 2 picks up the story in 1844. New faces coming to the close-knit town include Jonathan Pryce (Pirates of the Caribbean), Tom Hiddleston (Wallander), and Tim Curry (Spamalot). Based on the novels by Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford 2 is written by Heidi Thomas (I Capture the Castle, Madame Bovary).

    "Our viewers have been clamoring for more Jane Austen and more Judi Dench," said Masterpiece executive producer Rebecca Eaton "These new productions add up to a very strong Masterpiece classic season in 2010."

  • Little Dorrit Receives Record 11 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations

    The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences honored Masterpiece's Little Dorrit with 11 Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, the most ever for a single Masterpiece program. Little Dorrit was nominated in categories including: outstanding miniseries, directing, writing, supporting acting (Tom Courtenay as Mr. Dorrit and Andy Serkis as Rigaud), cinematography, art direction, casting, costumes, hairstyling and music composition. See a complete list of Masterpiece's 2009 Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

Last season on Masterpiece Classic

  • Masterpiece classic premiered 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, aired 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.