Masterpiece Studio

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of *Les Miserables. Screenwriter Andrew Davies has been a true master of modern television adaptations, bringing such iconic works as Middlemarch and *Little Dorit *to the MASTERPIECE screen for decades. Now, as he looks ahead to the end of his critically-acclaimed recent adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Davies also previews his charming new adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished final novel, Sanditon, set to appear on MASTERPIECE in 2020.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of *Les Miserables. Actor Lily Collins tried her best to not lose herself in the devastating role of* Les Misérables*' Fantine. Collins explains how she stayed grounded on set, where she found inspiration for her iconic tragic heroine and why her onscreen injury was all-too painfully real.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of *Les Miserables. In Victor Hugo's landmark epic, Les Miserables, the Inspector Javert is a hard, cold man with a unflinching pursuit of his own personal justice. But in the critically-acclaimed new MASTERPIECE adaptation of the novel, actor and series executive producer David Oyelowo brings a subtle, sophisticated nuance to his performance, adding layers of context to this memorable villain. He joins the podcast for a preview of the villainy still to come in this this critically acclaimed series.

Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Les Miserables. After a career of playing notable villains,  actor Dominic West says he’s ready to turn a new leaf. So his role as the tortured thief, Jean Valjean, in the new MASTERPIECE production of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, Les Misérables, is a helpful bridge to be a better man on screen. In an interview, he talks about what it means to play Valjean, how his character seeks personal redemption and what the rest of the series has in store for the repentant former prisoner 24601.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of *Mrs. Wilson. The story of Alison Wilson’s relationship with British spy novelist and actual spy, Alexander Wilson, almost seems too wild for reality and too bizarre for the author’s own fiction. But the history, beautifully brought to life by Wilson’s granddaughter, Ruth Wilson, was real. It’s a genre-busting journey where series writer Anna Symon always sought to highlight the power of family joy in this rather dark true tale.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Three of *Unforgotten. When writer Chris Lang created the MASTERPIECE Mystery! series *Unforgotten, *he looked to capture the very ordinary extraordinariness of a modern police force. With a new season on the way, Lang explains what viewers should watch out for as Cassie and Sunny unearth another unidentified body beneath a London roadway construction site.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episodes One and Two of *Mrs. Wilson. When actor Ruth Wilson's grandmother, Alison, died, she left her family a surprisingly candid memoir about her relationship with her secret agent husband, the mystery author Alexander Wilson. The truths that Ruth and her extended family came to learn form the backbone of the new series, *Mrs. Wilson. *Ruth explores how it felt to play her own grandmother on screen, and what it means to be a tragedienne in film.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of Season Three of *Victoria. Victoria star Jenna Coleman lead a smashing third season of the series, with her royal character growing in roles both maternal and majestic. As the season wraps up, Coleman explores how the young Queen struggles to keep control of her country and her growing family, and reflects on the highlights of a thrilling eight episodes. sV2WxPFouPY0AOuFawv6

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of Season Three of *Victoria. The scheming Princess Feodora snuck into Buckingham Palace early in the third season of Victoria, surprising her half-sister, the Queen, and continuing to lurk in the background of the main royal drama. Actor Kate Fleetwood credits her just-so German accent for helping her sink into the role, but she also acknowledges she feels a certain kind of sympathy for the dastardly half-sister with few real friends. She talks Feo, Lady Macbeth and birthday cake in a new podcast episode.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Three of *Victoria. Actor Alex Jennings calls himself “a common boy from Essex,” but his career on stage and screen has included at least four different royal roles. Victoria’s scheming King Leopold offers new insight into his role on the series, where he looks for inspiration when playing real-life characters, and why he sees Leopold as both a kingmaker and a puppet master.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Three of *Victoria. Laurence Fox is well known to MASTERPIECE viewers after his eight seasons on the beloved series *Inspector Lewis*, so his appearance on Victoria as the devious UK Foreign Secretary, Lord Palmerston, is a welcome return to the screen. Fox offers hints as to how he and actor Jordan Waller got up to mischief on set, as well as how the cane-twirling Lord Palmerston came to find himself with a cane in the series.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of Season Three of *Victoria. The irascible Nancy Skerrett snuck into her job as a dresser at Buckingham Palace under an assumed name, and came to win Queen Victoria’s heart in the past three seasons of the show. And as part of the audience-favorite couple, “Skerrettelli,” actor Nell Hudson has won viewers’ hearts as well. Hudson tells us why her Nancy Skerrett is an inspiration in her own daily life, and what she’s learned from playing so many period-drama characters in her career.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of Season Three of *Victoria. From the very first episode of MASTERPIECE’s *Victoria, *Lady Emma Portman has been the center of royal intrigue, even if very little of the drama focuses on her. Lady Portman knows who loves who, who spurned who, and what Queen Victoria is really thinking as political favors wax and wane. Actor Anna Wilson-Jones relishes playing the dignified Emma, and has fun dishing the fictional royal gossip. Wilson-Jones charmingly reveals all that she knows on the podcast.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Season Three of *Victoria. Among the many fictional Buckingham Palace servants and staffers on MASTERPIECE's Victoria, Ferdinand Kingsley's Charles Elmé Francatelli is based on an actual royal chef and author. Kingsley's cook is a slight bit younger — and a bit more of a rogue — than the actual Francatelli, but he's convinced his on-screen romantic pursuits are setting the character straight. Kingsley explains here — and *Victoria *creator, head writer and executive producer Daisy Goodwin returns for another round of historical fact or fiction.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Three of *Victoria. Victoria creator, head writer and executive producer Daisy Goodwin already knows the real history of Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s lengthy reign on the throne. But it’s in the intimate perils of the day-to-day where her series finds its true highs and lows. Goodwin joins MASTERPIECE Studio with a special preview of the new third season, and offers some tantalizing hints on the historical drama on the horizon for the young Queen.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season Four of *Poldark. Debbie Horsfield, the executive producer and sole writer of MASTERPIECE’s Poldark, is ready for the fifth and final season of her series. After the drama and sorrow of the series’ fourth season, she offers some hopeful hints about the story still to come.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Eight of Season Four of *Poldark. Elizabeth Warleggan, formerly Poldark and née Chynoweth, is far from the most beloved character on *Poldark. *Her shifting affections, wayward alliances and confusing emotional center could drive even the most devoted fan of the series to hold Elizabeth at a distance. But actor Heida Reed has always seen Elizabeth as a fundamentally good person, with the same flaws that any of us may try to hide. Reed offers her defense in a new interview.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of Season Three of *The Durrells in Corfu. The dashingly charming Spiros Halikiopoulos is based on a real-life friend of the actual Durrell family during their time on the island of Corfu. It's a big help for the cast and viewers alike that actor Alexis Georgoulis finds charm to spare in his portrayal of the unofficial mayor of the island. In an exclusive interview, Georgoulis offers a special behind-the-scenes look at his work on The Durrells in Corfu.

For almost 40 years, the MASTERPIECE Mystery! title sequence has offered viewers an ominous glimpse into the dark unknown. It's a vision made real by the masterful work of illustrator and author Edward Gorey, and his fictional affiliation with the criminal world continues in a special mystery-themed exhibit at the Edward Gorey House in Yarmouth Port, MA. In a special bonus Halloween episode of MASTERPIECE Studio, producer Nick Andersen visits the Edward Gorey House to learn more about the man behind Mystery!'s uncommonly deadly masonry. Edward Gorey House curator Gregory Hischak offers his insight.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Four of *Poldark. In lemon silks and too-tight breeches, the Reverend Osborne Whitworth is the gaudiest member of Poldark’s core cast. With extravagant tastes and a limited budget, the Reverend turns to darker quarters to fulfill his incessant appetites. Actor Christian Brassington, who put on more than 35 pounds to play the hefty Ossie, used careful voicework to find his place in the character — along with a diet of more than 3,500 calories per day. Hear the true story behind one of Poldark’s most reprehensible characters here.