THE WORRICKER TRILOGY: Masterpiece PBS

MI5 agent Worricker returns this Sunday and next (November 9 and 16) with Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield (parts 2 and 3 of the Worricker Trilogy):

Page Eight (shown in 2011), Turks & Caicos, and Salting the Battlefield form The Worricker Trilogy—three gripping films that follow the exploits of the intensely private and scrupulous Worricker—from MI5 headquarters in London to exile on a Caribbean island to life on the run with his former lover and fellow agent Margot Tyrrell (Helena Bonham Carter). A spy who prefers the black-and-white certainties of the Cold War, Worricker (Bill Nighy) finds himself increasingly out of his element as the distinction between ally and enemy dissolves into the amorphous alliances of the 21st century.

Writer-director David Hare has done it again. The all-star cast includes Oscar winner Christopher Walken, and Oscar® nominees Winona Ryder, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, and Judy Davis. Also starring are Rupert Graves, Saskia Reeves, and Ewen Bremner.

Although it would be good to view Page Eight, it's not essential. I did find Page Eight on Netflix.

 

Fall Masterpiece Mystery! Line-Up

Having just posted a few of the MASTERPIECE programs coming this summer on PBS, I decided to see what's up for the Fall. Glad I did, because there's a great Mystery! line-up, including Death Comes to Pemberley, an adaptation of P.D. James’ novel, starring Matthew Rhys (The Americans) and Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House). Bill Nighy (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel reprises his role as MI5 spy Johnny Worricker —first seen in 2011’s acclaimed Page Eight — in two new Worricker stories: Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield. Also, Julia McKenzie returns as Miss Marple, and Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox reprise their roles in a new season of Inspector Lewis. 
 
Miss Marple

Acclaimed British actress Julia McKenzie (Cranford) returns as spinster sleuth Miss Marple in three new episodes of the popular Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series – A Caribbean Mystery, Greenshaw’s Folly and Endless Night. Sundays, September 21 and 28, 2014

Inspector Lewis, Season 7

Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox return for a seventh season of the beloved Inspector Lewis series. Hathaway has been promoted to Inspector after an extended break from the force, and Lewis is enjoying retired life until he’s asked to team up with his old colleague again. With their partnership renewed under altered circumstances, the duo continues to solve crime in the seemingly perfect academic haven of Oxford.  Sundays, October 5-19, 2014, 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET

Death Comes to Pemberley

An adaptation of P.D. James’ witty and inventive continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice picks up the story six years after the marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy. As preparations are being made for a ball at their Pemberley home, the discovery of a corpse brings an abrupt and shocking halt to the proceedings — and a threat to all that the Darcys hold dear. Sundays, October 26-November 2, 2014, 9:00-10:30 p.m. ET

Worricker: Turks & Caicos

Bill Nighy reprises his role as MI5 spy Johnny Worricker in a follow-up to the acclaimed  Page Eight (MASTERPIECE, 2011). Worricker, who has just left his job at MI5, escapes to the distant islands of Turks & Caicos, where an order from the CIA puts him back to work. The top-tier cast also includes Christopher Walken, Winona Ryder, Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes. Written and directed by David Hare. Sunday, November 9, 2014, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET

Worricker: Salting the Battlefield

The Worricker trilogy concludes with Johnny (Bill Nighy) and Margot (Helena Bonham Carter) managing to stay ahead of an international dragnet all across Europe. British Prime Minister Alec Beasley (Ralph Fiennes) and old MI5 colleague Jill Tankard (Judy Davis) desperately want Johnny back —but for different reasons. Who will win this frenzied game of spy versus spy? Written and directed by David Hare.  Sunday, November 16, 2014, 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET