PBS adds to drama line-up at Winter TCA Press Tour!
Probably because I don’t have to attend, I always look forward to this time of year. No, not the Super Bowl, but rather the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour (TCA) in Pasadena, California which is one of two times a year (July being the other) that viewers get a glimpse of what will be headed their way on the telly in the coming year or two. While it would have been fun to be in the room when Benedict Cumberbatch and Amanda Abbington stole the show and turned curmudgeonly telly critics to giggly, over-excited fans during a Sherlock Q&A a couple of years ago, it is nice to just sit back and read the press releases as they are distributed.
Of particular note just yesterday, was the announcement by PBS and WGBH/Boston, the producers of PBS’ Masterpiece series, that not only is the Masterpiece series now the #1 rated series on PBS but also two new additions to the 2015 line-up. You’d think the fact that once the current run of Downton Abbey and Grantchester conclude, followed by new seasons of Call the Midwife and Mr. Selfridge and, after that, fans of drama on PBS have the likes of Wolf Hall, Poldark, Crimson Field, Indian Summer and, of course, a new Sherlock special & series 4 waiting in the wings, there would be no more room at the PBS Drama Inn for awhile. Not so fast, little camper…
Two new series were announced on Monday for later in 2015. First up is Arthur & George, starring a very familiar face to public television fans of Doc Martin, Martin Clunes. Clunes stars as world-famous author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in this three-part adaptation of Julian Barnes’ acclaimed novel follows the separate but intersecting lives of two very different men: a half-Indian son of a vicar who is framed for a crime he may or may not have committed, and Doyle, who investigates the case.
Next up, Home Fires. Starring Masterpiece favorites Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Reckless) as part of a group of women living in a small rural village during World War II who are separated from husbands, fathers, sons and brothers for years at a time, some permanently. The women remarkable group of women find themselves under extraordinary pressures in a rapidly fragmenting world.
Better get that new DVR with the added hard drive capacity. You’re going to need it in 2015 if your a drama fan…
In: Drama
