Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind The Scenes at Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! On PBS by Rebecca Eaton

Most people who know me know that I love British TV, and I watch a lot of British period dramas and British dramas in general. I've watched Downton Abbey since the beginning, and I must admit that season 3 was losing me. Then season 4 pretty much sucked me right back in. Rebecca Eaton has served as the producer of PBS's successful and long running Masterpiece series that airs British period, contemporary, and mystery dramas each year. I thought maybe the memoir about her experiences in this position would be an interesting read.

I actually finished this book a while ago, and I'm only now getting around to posting the review. I don't normally read non-fiction. For example, after this book I tried reading The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel, and I got about 60 to 100 pages in before I skipped to the epilogue and then ditched the book because I lost interest. I'll just watch the movie.

Eaton intentionally writes in a conversational tone; despite this conversational tone, there are some passages that become tedious. The chronology of events recounted within some passages can be confusing when she starts at one point in time and then backtracks in the following paragraphs to elaborate on how she ended up hiring a certain consultant, for example.

This is both a personal memoir and a history of the Masterpiece series. Fans of PBS and Masterpiece will enjoy this book.

--Review by Ms. Angie

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