Latest in PBS Masterpiece Theater

Sherlock: The Abominable Bride just took the Emmy for Best Television Movie, besting Jay Roach’s LBJ biopic All The Way in one of the night’s big upsets. Memorably, the Masterpiece/PBS series—starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a modern version of the iconic Arthur Conan Doyle character, opposite Fargo star Martin…

Talk about attention to detail. Wolf Hall costume designer Joanna Eatwell and director Peter Kominsky strived for realism in the depiction of the machinations of the Court of Henry VIII. Costumes were designed and re-created authentically using the appropriate materials and handmade skills — lots of intricate…

Downton Abbey's long-awaited fourth season kicked off Sunday night in the UK with a 90-minute episode. Last year's Season 3 debut episode on ITV1 drew 8.6M viewers, and this year's first outing averaged 9.5M in the overnights, peaking at 10.5M viewers. It drew a 39.6% share. The Season 3 start was down 200K viewers…

Hit period drama Downton Abbey kicks off its fourth season Sunday on ITV in the UK. States-bound folk will have to wait until Jaunary 5 for PBS to launch this next go-round in the trials and tribulations of the upstairs/downstairs crowd at the Crawley family estate. The new season starts six months on from the death…

Guinness World Records has awarded Downton Abbey with the accolade of the “Highest critical review ratings for a TV show,” which the record book says means the PBS Masterpiece series created and written by Julian Fellowes is the most “critically well-received show in the world,” snatching the honor from previous…

Masterpiece's Fall kicks off on Sunday, October 3 with the second series of Wallander, the Swedish detective portrayed by Kenneth Branagh, memorably described by one critic as "having the permanent mien of a recently slaughtered halibut". British critics have found series two relentlessly gloomy, although they…

History’s The Kennedys and Starz’s The Pillars of the Earth can’t come soon enough. The miniseries form has been on life-support in the past couple of years, with only one U.S. network, HBO, making consistent efforts in the arena. As a result, the nomination field for best miniseries has developed a familiar pattern…