Sounds Familiar

“There are between 80 and 100 babies born each month in Poplar. Soon as one vacates its pram, another one takes its place. And thus it was and ever shall be, until such time as they invent a magic potion to put a stop to it.” – Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt), CALL THE MIDWIFE

Monday Montage

What’s happening, what’s on and what’s interesting this week …

The midwives of Nonnatus House are back for a Christmas Day tradition. Don’t miss the CALL THE MIDWIFE HOLIDAY SPECIAL – tonight at 8 on PBS NC.

Ken Burns (American Buffalo) talks about the “complicated narrative” of his upcoming Revolutionary War project.

Henry Louis Gates, Jr. explores the roots of African American religion beginning on THE BLACK CHURCH – Thursday at 7pm on the Explorer Channel.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

The MASTERPIECE crime drama UNFORGOTTEN is back for a fifth season with a new face in one of the prime positions. Old favorites return as well but you can’t recognize the players without a score card so let’s see who’s who on this hit series.

Sanjeev Bhaskar stars as DI Sunny Khan, co-leader of a team investigating cold cases. He’s guested on Midsomer Murders, Indian Summers and Inspector Lewis but he may be best known for playing Dr. Prem Sharma on The Indian Doctor (currently Saturdays at 6pm).

Sinéad Keenan co-stars as DCI Jess James, the new team co-leader (replacing Nicola Walker’s DCI Cassie Stuart for obvious reasons if you’ve viewed the first four series). Sadly, she has not been a major player in anything we’ve broadcast yet. She did pop up as a secretary named Nora Brent on an episode of Poirot (“The Clocks”) and appeared as Nina on Being Human, a cool series that we unfortunately never aired but you may have seen it elsewhere on US television.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

Since CALL THE MIDWIFE is back for a twelfth year, I thought I’d take a quick look at who’s who in the cast. I think I’ve done this series before but some of the actors have come and gone in twelve seasons, so it’s a good time for a refresher.

As you may know, CALL THE MIDWIFE is a BBC period drama about a group of nurse midwives working during the 1950s and 1960s. Set at the a nursing convent Nonnatus House, the midwives tackle issues of the day and cope with medical problems in the deprived Poplar district of London’s desperately poor East End. Note: I’m dealing with actors on the current series, so anyone who appears on earlier seasons may not be listed.

To start, Vanessa Redgrave appears as the voice of Mature Jenny. An acclaimed actor, Redgrave has appeared on stage and screen in dozens of roles during her 65-year career. Surprisingly, not a ton of work that’s been seen on PBS. However, she did play Flora Berryman in Man In An Orange Shirt and Sarah Cloyce in the PBS anthology series American Playhouse.

Linda Bassett is Phyllis Crane. She’s been seen as Malka Rosen in Spies of Warsaw, Queenie in Lark Rise to Candleford, Mrs. Jennings in Sense & Sensibility and Rachel Lithgow in Traffik.

Wednesday Trivia Question

What PBS series is known internally by the abbreviation AMDO?

Okay, we’re going deep into the sausage this week but it’s always been a bit of trivia I’ve personally found fascinating.

Those who work behind the scenes at PBS stations know that each item you see on your screen has to be entered into a database and from that database we produce a broadcast log which instructs technical staff what bits to air when. It’s more complicated than that, as you might imagine, but there’s the gist of it.

So each program we air is given a identifier. Each PBS series is given a four character code taken from the series name. For instance, FRONTLINE is FRON, Nova is NOVA, AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is AMEX and CALL THE MIDWIFE is CMID. The rest of the code will be a number, usually the program’s episode number. This week’s MASTERPIECE with the season premiere of SANDITON was MAST 5314, 5314 being the number of that particular episode and MAST the program code. A one-off special, something without an episode, might consist of zeros, such as SECRETS OF THE TOWER OF LONDON which is SETL 000000.

With that explanation out of the way, I’m asking a specific question about a specific series, one whose code doesn’t seem to flow logically from its title. The code is AMDO. The series has been around since the 1980s and that’s quite a while. The show, like much PBS fare, has won numerous awards, including Emmy Awards, Peabody Awards and Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Awards, among others.

It’s a prime time series and it’s featured critically-acclaimed fare by extremely well known and talented creators. I could give more clues but I’m kind of deliberately making this vague to enhance the reveal.

So what is it? What long-running PBS series is known internally by the code AMDO?

Monday Montage

What’s happening, what’s on and what’s interesting this week …

Join the beloved British home cook and some special friends as they prepare the a grand yule feast with all the trimmings. You’re invited to MARY BERRY’S ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS – tonight at 9 on PBS NC.

Congrats to Bill Nighy (Page Eight), Lesley Manville (Magpie Murders), Emma Thompson (Fortunes Of War), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Miniaturist), Olivia Colman (Broadchurch), Sarah Polley (Ramona) and the many other actors, writers and directors with PBS connections who were just nominated for a Golden Globe!

John Cinnamon and Ann Craig-Cinnamon take viewers on a travel adventure from Moscow to Beijing on the world’s longest train ride. Climb aboard for JOURNEY ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY – Tuesday at 9pm on the Explorer Channel.

Monday Montage

What’s happening, what’s on and what’s interesting this week …

Celebrate North Carolina pottery history and explore one-of-a-kind pottery from a Seagrove craftsman. Don’t miss the twentieth anniversary of POTTERY LIVE WITH BEN OWEN III – tonight at 8 on PBS NC.

Real-life husband and wife Matthew Macfadyen (MI-5) and Keeley Hawes (The Durrells In Corfu) are set to play husband and wife in a new ITV drama.

Before the new season debuts in April, catch up on the most recent episodes of a fan favorite. Rewatch series ten of CALL THE MIDWIFE – beginning Friday night at 9 on the Explorer Channel.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

When a ghost village reopens, death cannot be far behind. And so was the premise of “The Village That Rose From The Dead” – for my money, the saddest MIDSOMER MURDERS story EVER (R.I.P. Sykes). However, once my eyes dried up, I noticed ten – count ’em, TEN! – guest stars from other British fare. Let’s meet them all.

While technically not a guest star, this episode did introduce a new Detective Sergeant for Barnaby (adios, Nelson). Nick Hendrix plays DS Winter and he really hasn’t appeared in much else we’ve shown. There was a guest role on Call The Midwife and Foyle’s War but that’s really it.

Catherine Steadman was eco-village proponent Corina Craven. She may be best known as Mabel Lane Fox, Viscountess Gillingham, in series five of Downton Abbey. She was also Angela Wilson in Breathless and Julia Bertram in Mansfield Park.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

If you’re a fan of BAPTISTE, you know this thrilling drama series just wrapped up series two on MASTERPIECE (series one aired early last year). Along the way, you may have spotted some familiar faces from other public broadcasting programs we’ve aired. So while MIDSOMER MURDERS is taking a break for pledge, let’s see who’s who on BAPTISTE.

Tchéky Karyo starred in the title role of detective Julien Baptiste. He’s a French actor (born in Turkey) so sadly he’s not appeared really in any British import shows or Masterpiece offerings so there’s not a lot to focus on. About 40 years back, Karyo did have a role as Augustin in the French film The Return Of Martin Guerre and, as it happens, we did air that movie a while back (thinking late 80s/early 90s) so you may have seen him there.

Where Do I Know That Actor?

MIDSOMER MURDERS continues to impress with a two-parter full of guest stars. “Wild Harvest” found Barnaby and company investigating the death of a farmer amidst the world of haute cuisine. But long before our DCI found his killer, viewers found a quartet of familiar names and faces.

To start, Sharon Small was celebrity chef Ruth Cameron. While it’s true this Scottish actress has appeared in guest roles of Downtown Abbey, Death in Paradise and Call the Midwife, PBS NC viewers should recognize her as Sergeant Barbara Havers from The Inspector Lynley Mysteries. More recently, Small was Stella in the Masterpiece series Flesh And Blood.