Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at Sherlock, Downton Abbey, Prime Suspect, Cranford, Upstairs Downstairs and Other Great Shows

(Paperback)

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British television has never been more popular worldwide, with American interest in Downton Abbey (ITV) more voracious than at home and fans worldwide fawning over Sherlock (BBC). American audiences can get their fix of UK TV on Masterpiece, a show that broadcasts UK shows such as Upstairs Downstairs (BBC), The Forsythe Saga (ITV) and more in the US. Producer Rebecca Eaton has worked behind the scenes for over 25 years and consequently has many fascinating behind-the-scenes anecdotes and interviews with famous actors and directors to share.

Reviews

[An] anecdote-filled memoirRebecca Eaton looks back on 25 fascinating years at Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! at PBS.USA Today

Eaton weaves an absorbing tale of what began as just a young girls Anglophilia but would eventually change the viewing habits of AmericansThough the books most compelling moments are culled from the battles Eaton waged as producer, she manages to put everything in perspective as a highly successful working mother who had plenty to fight for at home as well. In the end, Eaton looks back with unflagging fondness at her lifes work and the spectrum of experiences it has brought her.Hollywood Reporter

Eaton recounts these tales with zest.McClatchy Tribune

[An] engaging new memoir.Bay Area Newsgroup

A treasure house of anecdote and insight, observation and object lessons, Making Masterpiece is quietly electrifying.Shelf Awareness

In addition to these sometimes charming, sometimes bawdy anecdotes, Eaton brings a strong personal element to the narrativeshe is able to humanize what is sometimes seen as an impersonal area of the showbiz worldA pleasing blend of memoir and retrospective with a wide audience appeal. Recommended for readers interested in the history of television and the business aspects of the creative process and, of course, PBS devotees.Library Journal

A delightful trek into the world of TV production and a substantive treat for the truly addicted PBS fan.Kirkus

In the world of TV drama, names and faces appear and disappear with bewildering speed; Rebecca Eaton is immortal and immutableShe has made an enormous contribution to the cultural life of America, and, more than that, she is one of the most fun people I know.
Andrew Davies, Vanity Fair

Rebecca has been the executive producer of Masterpiece for 25 of its 40 years. We Americans are fortunate to have Rebecca at the helm: someone committed to bringing great television drama to the widest possible audience, week after week.Gillian Anderson, The 2011 Time 100

Author Bio

Rebecca Eaton regards her decades-long stewardship of Masterpiece as the ideal job for the daughter of an English professor and an actress. She has been the executive producer of the show for twenty-eight of its forty-two years on the air. Awards on her watch include forty-three prime-time Emmy awards, fifteen Peabody awards, two Golden Globes, and two Academy Award nominations. At Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! she extended the programs' reach with contemporary dramas; initiated co-productions with the BBC (Middlemarch, The Buccaneers); co-produced feature films such as Jane Austen's Persuasion and Mrs. Brown starring Dame Judi Dench; and oversaw the rebranding of the series in 2008. Queen Elizabeth II awarded her an honorary OBE (Officer, Order of the British Empire) in 2003. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and spends time at the family house in Kennebunkport, Maine.