Rebecca Eaton

An interesting memoir by the longtime producer of the Masterpiece Theatre/Masterpiece/Mystery combine on PBS, with a pleasantly chatty tone. I did find the emphasis on Downton Abbey (which was at its peak when the book came out) a bit odd, considering the number of other shows that could qualify. Some shows don't show up at all, like the House of Cards trilogy, or barely (like the Inspector Morse series). But overall, a good read.

I enjoyed Eaton's memoir of her professional career to date and of her time Making Masterpiece for several reasons.

One would think, given information about my background that I grew up spending my Sunday evenings watching Masterpiece Theatre. You'd be wrong. I didn't discover Austen or the Bronte sisters, or most of the great English novels until long after college. My teenage years were mostly spent without access to a TV (or with really poor antenna reception). If I were to catch anything show more on PBS it was The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, This Old House, NOVA, or Great Performances (but only if it was classical music).

I found Making Masterpiece a quick way to catch up on all the PBS culture I missed without resorting to Wikipedia.

The interconnected story of both the growth of Masterpiece and Eaton's career was enjoyable. I am always fascinated to hear what industries outside the ones I know are like and I think I actually am beginning to understand what being an Executive Producer means.

The parts that drew me in the most were the stories of working with different personalities and I found the descriptions of the differences between British and American acting the most enlightening.

As I work with several small non-profit organizations, I was reassured by the challenges Eaton (and Masterpiece/WGBH/PBS) have faced–my organizations are not alone! I also found that they way they are using the new technologies helpful as well.

I would prefer some tighter writing, but as I read more of the book, I felt I could hear Eaton's voice telling this personal history.

What I like best about Making Masterpiece is that it shows insight into the real people behind the show. They're not perfect. They have doubts along the way. They have moments of anger, sadness, and joy. Together these people have created a very successful series that is part of our history, the present, and hopefully many long years to come.

I received my copy through the GoodReads First Reads program. show less

Eaton was the third and longest serving Executive Director of Masterpiece (formerly Masterpiece Theatre) accumulating 35 years as Executive Producer until stepping down to Executive-Producer-At-Large in 2019. This book, a mixture of Masterpiece history and memoir, was published in 2013 and covers the first 25 years. Kenneth Branagh wrote the Prologue.

This is the third attempt I've made to read the book that I thought as a dedicated Masterpiece fan I would love. I realized as I tried it this show more time that the mix of Masterpiece history and memoir is awkward and offsetting to me and tries to cover too much in detail.

Having said that, I learned a lot about how Masterpiece came about, Masterpiece as a business, how dramas have been selected and how Masterpiece has changed with the times. Downtown Abbey fans will enjoy it's 50 plus pages from concept to influence. I particularly enjoyed the snippets and sometimes more she gave on my favorite actors who have been part of Masterpiece over the years. show less

Rebecca Eaton has had her name in the producer credits of more British TV programmes more than nearly anyone else over the past forty years, but she is an American working in America. This book reflects on her long years of co-operating with British TV organisations to get material for the PBS system in the US. I bought it mainly for an external angle on costume dramas and this the book provides, although the amount devoted to each one varies hugely; lots on 'Downton Abbey', only one show more sentence on 'Daniel Deronda' for example. It flows by pleasntly enough and is a 'light read'; it contain plenty of material on her own family and PBS internal politics which the reader may or may not be interested in. Her grasp of history is occasionally shaky (Queen Victoria came to the throne aged 18, not 16....) but it is a pleasant book in which her Anglophilia shines through (sometimes perhaps too much). Occasional quotes from 'luvvies' may make you flinch. show less