Masterful

A couple of good tales from Rebecca Eaton, producer of PBS Masterpiece Theatre, the longest running weekly drama slot on US primetime, showcasing BBC and ITV stuff.

On Italian cop drama Zen, starring Rufus Sewell, commissioned by the BBC. “We would have done endless ‘Zens.’ But a new head of drama came into the BBC — a new broom sweeps clean — and said, ‘That was the previous head of drama’s idea. I want to do something new’ and cancelled the show. We were devastated. He would have been one of our detectives with legs.”

On the career of Daniel Radclifee. "‘Masterpiece’ ... has made the careers of many people. In the early days, that’s how casting directors and producers in this country would see the work of some of these people. Ralph Fiennes was in an episode of ‘Prime Suspect.’ So many actors have gone on to be big movie stars. Probably the biggest of all would be little Daniel Radcliffe who was in ‘David Copperfield.’ It was Maggie Smith who said to the director of ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Look at that little boy, you should look at him.’ And off he went.”

On Alistair Cooke. "‘Masterpiece’ was 15 years old when I became the executive producer. Alistair had been doing it from the beginning. I was terrified when I first met him. He was his wintry self. He had a way of being slightly dismissive, partly because many people would come up to him and say, ‘You’re Alistair Cooke.’ He developed a way of deflecting that … by actually denying it and saying he was someone else.”

Rebecca recounted a tale of Cooke attending the San Francisco wedding of former Secretary of State George Shultz. Another guest, “a tiny, elegant lady,” got out of a limo, climbed the church’s stairs and approached Cooke.

“She looked up at him and said, ‘Are you Alistair Cooke?’

"He said, ‘No. I’m Bob Hope.’

And she said, ‘Oh, I’m Mrs. Bob Hope.’ That’s the last time he did that.”