PBS' 'Masterpiece' marks 50th year with challenges ahead

As PBS' "Masterpiece" marks its 50th anniversary on Jan. 10, the drama and mystery showcase could rest on its reputation built with acclaimed programs including "I, Claudius" and "Elizabeth R" and polished anew by surprising pop-culture hits "Sherlock" and "Downton Abbey."

But "Masterpiece" executive producer Susanne Simpson says it's positioned to thrive as it addresses the challenges posed by a changing media industry and increased calls for diversity.

"Masterpiece' is important to the PBS system. Our viewers expect us to keep finding the best" in TV, Simpson said, even as competition from commercial platforms increases.

With more streaming services and other outlets gobbling up programs, including the British-made dramas that are a "Masterpiece" staple, the public TV program is becoming more aggressive in the marketplace, Simpson said.

She joined the series nearly 14 years ago and became its executive producer in 2019, only the fourth since "Masterpiece" debuted Jan. 10, 1971, with the miniseries "The First Churchills."

"We are investing earlier and we're co-producing earlier on projects, so we're in a position to be able to put development money into scripts," Simpson said. "I have probably 15 projects sitting in my inbox, and I'm going to have to make a decision quickly on one of those because there is so much competition for those projects."

When "Masterpiece" was under executive producer Rebecca Eaton in the mid-1980s, she "used to be able to sit back" and mull her choice of U.K.-produced shows, Simpson said.

As unlikely as it seems in the age of Netflix's celebrated "The Crown" and its new multiethnic sensation "Bridgerton," U.S. networks used to avoid British drama "because the general feeling was nobody...