Masterpiece Theatre - The Best of Masterpiece Theatre

The Best of Masterpiece Theatre

In March 2007, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the show, PBS aired an entertainment special produced and directed by Darcy Corcoran. The Best of Masterpiece was hosted by Derek Jacobi and featured interviews with Helen Mirren, Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis, Robson Green, Ian Richardson, Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance, Alex Kingston, Anthony Andrews and Jean Marsh. The countdown special was based on more than 20,000 survey responses posted to the Masterpiece and PBS affiliate web sites, the top 12 series were:

• Upstairs, Downstairs
• The Forsyte Saga (2002 adaptation)
• I, Claudius
• Bleak House (2006 adaptation)
• Prime Suspect parts 4–7
• The Jewel in the Crown
• Poldark
• House of Cards
• Reckless
• The Fortunes & Misfortunes of Moll Flanders
• Wives & Daughters
• Jeeves and Wooster

At the end of the program Anthony Andrews thanked the audience for voting the 1981 serial Brideshead Revisited as the seventh favorite series. He then pointed out that it had not aired as a part of Masterpiece Theatre. Rather, it had aired as a part of the PBS series entitled Great Performances.