The Trailer for 'The Great Escaper' Brings a Heartwarming True Story to Life
Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson in 'The Great Escaper'
Masterpiece
It's official: The heartwarming, true-life film The Great Escaper, which originally aired in the U.K. in the Fall of 2024, will finally cross the pond to air on Masterpiece this November.
The film is particularly notable as it is the last onscreen role for the great Glenda Jackson, who passed away in 2023. Jackson was a Masterpiece favorite, whose performance in Elizabeth R was a cornerstone of the franchise when it launched in 1971. Fifty years later, her turn in Elizabeth is Missing helped kick off the anthology series' 50th anniversary season. She costars along Michael Caine, a performer known for roles in everything from The Italian Job and The Cider House Rules to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.
The Great Escaper dramatizes the real-life story of Bernard Jordan (Caine), who made headlines around the world in the summer of 2014 when he staged a "great escape" from his care home to join many of his fellow World War II veterans in France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. His story captured the imagination of the country, whichhailed him as an example of the the "can-do" spirit he and his compatriots were so known for. In addition to depicting Bernie's 48-hour adventure across the English Channel, the film also celebrates his sixty year marriage to wife Irene (Jackson), an ode to the power of enduring love even as the story wrestles with his need to come to terms with the lasting trauma of war.
Masterpiece offiically released the film's trailer this week, and it' targetd like a laser at viewers heartstrings. (When this thing premieres, we're all going to need tissues.)
Here's the film's synopsis.
“The Great Escaper” tells the true story of Bernard Jordan, who made global headlines in the summer of 2014. He staged a “great escape” from his care home to join fellow war veterans on a beach in Normandy, commemorating their fallen comrades at the D-Day Landings 70th anniversary. It was a story that captured the world's imagination as Bernie embodied the defiant, “can-do” spirit of a fast-disappearing generation.
Of course, it wasn’t the whole story. It was an inspirational but sanitized retelling of one man’s need to come to terms with the lasting trauma of war. Bernie’s adventure, spanning a mere 48 hours, also marked the culmination of his 60-year marriage to Rene—“The Great Escaper” celebrates their enduring love but always with an eye to the lessons we might learn from the Greatest Generation.
Alongside Caine and Jackson, Will Fletcher (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) and Laura Marcus (The Devil's Hour) play younger versions of Bernard and Rene in flashbacks that recount the pair's relationship during World War II.
The rest of the ensemble includes John Standing (The Crown), Jackie Clune (Motherland), Danielle Vitalis (I May Destroy You), Brennan Reece (Skins), Wolf Kahler (Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows), Ian Conningham (Outlander), Elliott Norman (Grantchester), Donald Sage Mackay (The Regime), Stephen Leask (Trigger Point), Carlyss Peer (Dalgliesh), and Victor Oshin (Black Ops).
William Ivory penned the script for The Great Escaper, which Oliver Parker directed. Douglas Rae & Robert Bernstein are executive producers, along with Pathé and BBC Films. The film is an Ecosse Film production made in co-production with Film I Väst and Filmgate Films.
The Great Escaper will premiere Sunday, November 23, 2025, at 9 pm ET on Masterpiece.
