Flashback: 18 May 1983

May 18 was a Wednesday back in 1983 and here’s what was being broadcast on the then-called UNC Center For Public Television…

Flashback: 2 February 1983

If you’ve been a viewer long enough, you may remember watching us 40 years ago. If so, here’s what you could have seen…

Flashback: 25 August 1982

What was on the schedule 40 years ago? If you’re a longtime viewer (or simply old enough to remember a pre-digital age) you well know that there was only one channel, as opposed to today’s multi-channel, multi-platform, multi-screen landscape. So the then University Of North Carolina Center For Public Television with its eight-station statewide network had the single broadcast signal that was beamed out to transmitters and translators across the Tar Heel State. Were you watching? If so, here’s what you viewed.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

If you’re a MASTERPIECE fan you’ve probably already seen the first two episodes of VAN DER VALK, the newest entry into the MASTERPIECE MYSTERY pantheon. Set in Amsterdam, the new crime drama is a remake of an ITV program than began in 1972 and ran for 32 episodes over five series (spaced out over 20 years). Both are based on the novels on Nicolas Freeling. Barry Foster played the title role in the original series and Marc Warren stars in the 2020 version. Both have appeared in other fare you may have viewed on our airwaves, as have member of the current supporting cast. Let’s see who’s been where.

Barry Foster was the original Commissaris Piet Van Der Valk. He’s not been a major presence on public broadcasting (and may be best known for starring in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1972 film Frenzy) but he did appear as Sir Alexander Reece in The Last Enemy on Inspector Morse and as Dr. Maxim Howarth in Death of An Expert Witness, part of the Inspector Dalgliesh series.

Marc Warren now stars as Commissaris Piet Van Der Valk in the current three-episode series. Earlier this year, Warren was Samuel Parker on Beecham House on Masterpiece. Going back about a quarter century, he played Cpt. Rymer in Sharpe’s Company and DC Andy Dyson in Prime Suspect: The Scent Of Darkness. A few years later, he portrayed Monks on Oliver Twist. And in 2006, he played the titular count in a Masterpiece Theatre presentation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. He also had a very cool guest role on Doctor Who as the ELO-loving Elton Pope in the 2006 “Love & Monsters” episode.