- published: 08 Jul 2015
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Masterpiece (formerly known as Masterpiece Theatre) is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 10, 1971, making it America's longest-running weekly prime time drama series. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these are produced by the BBC, but the line-up has also included programs shown on the commercial ITV network and Channel 4.
Masterpiece is best known for presenting adaptations of novels and biographies, but it also shows original television dramas. The first title to air was The First Churchills, starring Susan Hampshire as Sarah Churchill. Other programs presented on the series include The Six Wives of Henry VIII; Elizabeth R; I, Claudius; Upstairs, Downstairs; The Duchess of Duke Street; The Citadel; The Jewel in the Crown; House of Cards; Traffik; and Jeeves and Wooster. More recent popular titles include Prime Suspect and The Forsyte Saga.
The theme music played during the opening credits is the Rondeau from “Symphonies and Fanfares for the King’s Supper” by French composer Jean-Joseph Mouret. The theme was performed by Collegium Musicum de Paris. Roland Douatte was the conductor. It was recorded in 1954 by Vogue Records in Paris, France, and was later remastered in stereo and re-released by Nonesuch records in the 1960s.
Alfred Alistair Cooke KBE (20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British/American journalist, television personality and broadcaster. Outside his journalistic output, which included Letter from America and Alistair Cooke's America, he was well known in the United States as the host of PBS Masterpiece Theater from 1971 to 1992. After holding the job for 22 years, and having worked in television for 42 years, Cooke retired in 1992, although he continued to present Letter from America until shortly before his death. He was the father of author and folk singer John Byrne Cooke.
Born in Salford, Lancashire, England, his father was a lay Methodist preacher and metalsmith by trade; his mother's family were of Irish Protestant origin. Originally named Alfred, he changed his name to Alistair when he was 22. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School, and won a scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge, where he gained an honours degree (2:1) in English. He was heavily involved in the arts, was editor of Granta, and set up The Mummers, Cambridge's first mixed sex theatre group, from which he notably rejected a young James Mason, telling him to stick to architecture.