B
y Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Friends of Needham Public Library sponsored a talk by Susanne Simpson, the Executive Producer of GBH’s popular series, Masterpiece. Simpson shared some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories and news about shows being developed. The Community Room was filled with fans of the series, who listened intently to Simpson’s experiences and expressed their love of shows on Masterpiece, as Simpson played clips to illustrate her talk.
Simpson worked as a producer, writer, and director with the show Nova early in her GBH career. As part of this position, she worked on the acclaimed "Shackleton's Voyage of Endurance" film. In 2008, she was asked to join the Masterpiece team. After twelve years on the staff, she became Executive Producer.
In her Masterpiece position, the fortunate Simpson works with British show developers to choose shows for the series, takes a role in the development of some series, and reads extensively to choose books to recommend for future shows. Her three-pronged goal for Masterpiece is to focus on classic, long running shows, mystery shows, and contemporary shows.
In the COVID era, when studios were shutting down, Simpson realized that she had only 14 hours of the 60 hours of programming that she needed for the next year. She called her contacts to find the content she needed, asking if they had any available shows that she could have for Masterpiece. From these phone calls, she gleaned two particularly marvelous shows, “Elizabeth Is Missing” and “Atlantic Crossing,” among others. When the owners tried to take back some of the shows for the streamers, who were also looking for content, she successfully insisted on retaining them for Masterpiece.
Turning to shows that will be back this fall, Simpson said that “Unforgotten” will return, as well as a third installment of the series of murder mystery shows that began with “Magpie Murders” and “Moonflower Murders.” The third season will be based on the book “Marble Hall Murders.” A new “Maigret” series is also on the way for the future, as well as “Miss Austen,” “The Elopement,” “The Gold,” and a new “Forsythe Saga.” Simpson also played some clips from what looks to be a fantastic show, “The Great Escaper,” with Glenda Jackson and Michael Caine in their final roles.
In the question-and-answer period at the end of Simpson’s talk, she explained why Masterpiece works with British shows instead of American ones. When public television was being developed, it was modeled after the BBC, including some shows about science, history, politics, and classics, as the BBC did. They visited BBC show developers and made connections for their new endeavor. In the current time, British writers earn one-fifth of the income that American writers do. It would not be possible for Masterpiece to afford adding expensive American shows.
Simpson also shared that with increasing competition from streamers that present costume dramas, Masterpiece finds that long-running shows lose the attention of the media after the first season. Masterpiece now focuses on adding shorter-duration “tentpole” shows that allow it to keep the series in the news.
There are other challenges ahead. Now that U.S. funding is in peril, Masterpiece will have to find ways to continue. Their major corporate sponsors, Viking and Raymond James, are helping tremendously, and the Masterpiece Trust is able support some shows when needed.
Simpson concluded that her team of twenty-eight people on the Masterpiece staff will continue to focus the show’s original goals of adapting novels for TV that share “emotional truths, ideas, and beliefs—what makes us human.”
