Masterpiece Studio

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Little Women. For actors Maya Hawke and Jonah Hauer-King — *Little Women’*s Jo March and Laurie Lawrence, respectively — watching a reel of outtakes from shooting became a reminder of how much they make each other laugh. Hawke and Hauer-King bring that infectious spirit to a joint interview on the MASTERPIECE Studio podcast.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Little Women. Dame Angela Lansbury has been an acting icon for more than 70 years, bringing character and charm to stage and screen alike. The brand new MASTERPIECE adaptation of Little Women, where she plays the peppery Aunt March, is her first appearance with our program. She takes us through highlights of her prodigious career, reveals what she learned on the *Little Women *set, and gives a preview of her role in the upcoming film, Mary Poppins Returns.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of *Little Women. Writer Heidi Thomas is already plenty busy with the upcoming eighth and ninth seasons of her smash-hit series, Call the Midwife — but she knew she couldn’t say no when Louisa May Alcott came knocking. Adapting the author’s classic novel, Little Women, into a new television series would be a big challenge for Thomas, or any writer. It’s one the longtime fan of Jo, Beth, Amy and Meg March knew she could handle. Thomas explains what she had to cut from the novel and just how icy her Amy’s frozen pond adventure really was.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season Two of *Unforgotten By his own estimation, Sanjeev Bhaskar started acting relatively late in life.  He gives a telling preview of the stunning second season of Unforgotten still to come, and explains how his zany breakout comedy, The Kumars at No. 42 played better in the United States than it did in his native UK.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *The Child in Time. Benedict Cumberbatch heads the cast of The Child in Time — and his new production company took the lead behind the scenes, as well. It's not Cumberbatch's first experience with author Ian McEwan's work — he appeared in the 2007 feature film, *Atonement. *Like so many readers, Cumberbatch appreciates the 'cinematic' qualities of McEwan's novels. The busy actor stopped by for a chat about time, trauma and the subtle beauties of the everyday.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Season One of *Unforgotten. Nicola Walker leads the crime-fighting duo on the new MASTERPIECE Mystery! drama, Unforgotten. But the series’ complicated cold-case investigations surprise even her as they unfold week after week. Walker shares stories of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Broadway and why she could never be counted on to keep a criminal secret.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for *The Child In Time In her role as the bereaved mother Julie in the new MASTERPIECE drama, The Child In Time, actor Kelly Macdonald admits a certain distance from the emotional tension of the part. Her acting partner and executive producer, Benedict Cumberbatch, worked hard to make the set a happy place for all involved, Macdonald says. She takes us behind the scenes of The Child in Time, Gosford Park, and so much more.

For six years and six seasons of television, screenwriter Heidi Thomas has explored the challenges of 1950s-era British midwifery. Now, as the seventh season of her PBS drama Call the Midwife heads to air just ahead of her upcoming MASTERPIECE adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Thomas explores how a charming midwife’s memoirs became an unlikely global success story.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Nine of Season Two of *Victoria. At the end of another season of Victoria, we couldn't help but dip back in to our collection of conversations with the cast and creative talent behind the series to offer some highlights that didn't make it through in our original podcast episodes. Hear from Jenna Coleman, Tom Hughes, Rufus Sewell, David Oakes, Jordan Waller and Daisy Goodwin about life, death and behind-the-scenes scoops from Victoria, season two.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Seven of Season Two of *Victoria. The Christmas finale of Victoria's second season is as joyful to watch as it was to film, the series' lead actors reveal. And show creator Daisy Goodwin hints at the all too true origins of many modern Christmas traditions — Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Christmas cards — that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert helped to popularize.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Two of *Victoria. Homosexual romances no doubt existed in Queen Victoria’s court — but perhaps not in the way as depicted in this season’s dramatic storyline involving Lord Alfred Paget and Edward Drummond. The term ‘homosexual’ wasn’t in use in the common dialogue, and actor Jordan Waller thinks that nameless love makes his depiction of Lord Alfred all the more complicated.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Two of *Victoria. Series creator Daisy Goodwin moves between historical fact and dramatic fiction when she and her team write each episode of Victoria. For this week’s on-screen quest to Scotland, Goodwin relied heavily on Queen Victoria’s actual diary entries from a 1844 royal visit to Scotland’s Blair Castle. Goodwin —and Victoria stars Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes  — reflect on the magical episode.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Four of Season Two of *Victoria. Ernest, the charming royal German rogue of Victoria, has a reputation for being a kind of happy-go-lucky courtier. But his personal journey this season — from his dying father to his catastrophic medical condition — leaves actor David Oakes wishing somebody else in court would take the time to ask how Ernest is feeling. Oakes explains why he sees Ernest as the Jiminy Cricket to Prince Albert's Pinocchio, and offers his previews of the closing half of this second season of Victoria.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Three of Season Two of *Victoria. Prince Albert is purely logical — which makes Tom Hughes’ search for emotional depths all the more challenging in this second season of *Victoria. *The actor keeps a close eye on his character's historical experiences, all the while digging for the motivating forces that help push his character through challenging new crises.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Season Two of *Victoria. Rufus Sewell has relished the opportunity to play Lord Melbourne in the last two seasons of Victoria. As he bids farewell to the character, he explains how Lord M’s complicated relationship with Queen Victoria changed during the young Queen’s heady early years on the throne, and why viewers took so strongly to his portrayal of the famed prime minister.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Two of Season Two of *Victoria. Daisy Goodwin may be the creator and head writer of Victoria, but she can’t help but sound like an ardent fan when she talks about the resurgent popularity of her version of Lord Melbourne. “Obviously, I would like Lord M to be in every single episode,” Goodwin said. She explains how and where she looks for historical storylines for her Queen Victoria, and what we all should look forward to in this second season of her series.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode One of Season Two of *Victoria. Queen Victoria is a proud new mother — but so far, she’s anything but pleased. As Prince Albert manages the daily stresses of the royal boxes, Victoria finds herself longing for both marital clarity and professional order. Actor Jenna Coleman warns — this is just the rocky beginning of a particularly dramatic new season of Victoria. Coleman, and Victoria creator Daisy Goodwin, explore the season still to come.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Six of Season Two of *The Durrells in Corfu. Louisa Durrell let another love interest pass her by at the end of The Durrells In Corfu’s season two. Along the way, however, she might have been reminded where her true loyalty lies: with her family. Actor Keely Hawes says “the Durrells are very good at change,” and she looks ahead to the upcoming third season in a special bonus episode of the podcast.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Nine of Season Three of *Poldark Demelza Poldark ended her third season of Poldark with a stunning act of defiance. Actor Eleanor Tomlinson doesn’t feel like she could have made the same choices, but she has been pleasantly surprised by the way fans have supported her character’s heartbreaking decision. “If Ross is going to go and do what he wants to do, why shouldn’t she go and have some fun?,” she tells us.

*Warning: This episode contains spoilers for Episode Five of Season Two of *The Durrells in Corfu. Actor Daniel Lapaine has made a career playing rakishly charming characters — He’s ‘a Smiling Devil,’ as one director told him. Lapaine’s role as Hugh on this season of The Durrells in Corfu is more of the same, but he explains how the allure of the Durrell family is all too real for this Australian actor. Will Louisa head back to England with Hugh? Lapaine isn’t saying.