Watch a Scene from “Birdsong,” Airing Tonight on Masterpiece!

As the blog’s name suggests, we normally talk telly here at Telly Visions, but today I’d like to share with you a book I’ve been reading that I believe is an appropriate subject for this forum. It chronicles a television program near and dear to my heart and yours, I’m sure.

In Making Masterpiece: My 25 Years behind the Scenes at Masterpiece and Mystery! on PBS Rebecca Eaton, the executive producer of Masterpiece, tells two stories you’ll want to read if you’ve been a fan of the Masterpiece brand in recent years. The history of Masterpiece and Eaton’s personal memoir intertwine to create a compelling narrative about the ups and downs of a cultural institution and the woman who has been at its helm for the past quarter century.

Read on for more details.

Costume drama fans rejoice! You can get your period drama fix once again starting this October on PBS stations nationwide. The new series The Paradise, which adapts Emile Zola’s classic French novel set in a Victorian-era department store premieres on PBS stations nationwide beginning this October.

The Paradise is a rags-to-riches tale set in the first department store in northern England in the late nineteenth century. It follows the story of Denise Lovett, a bright-eyed country girl who finds more than just shop work when she brings her clever ideas and ambition to the glamorous store called, you guessed it, The Paradise. She is plunged headlong into intrigue and romance as she catches the eye of the store’s dashing and enigmatic owner, John Moray, who harbors a dark secret. Drama, predictably, ensues.

Watch the first PBS preview for this new lavish costume series below – and get a sneak peek at a scene from the first episode!

We're getting close to the premiere of new Masterpiece drama Mr. Selfridge. This period drama stars Jeremy Piven as visionary American entrepreneur Harry Gordon Selfridge and chronicles the founding of the famous Oxford Street department store that still bears his name today. I mean, of course it'll still be packed with loads of secondary characters and drama and intrigue and fabulous outfits, but that's the basic central theme of the thing.

Selfridge was particularly successful at restructuring the public's attitude toward shopping in the early 1900s, and turned it into a fun and desirable social activity for high society ladies. It seems like it ought to be pretty fun.

Get a look behind the scenes of this new series - including new footage and some backstage dish from the cast and producers, as they talk about the history of the period, including Selfridge's many accomplishments and rather dramatic personal life. Give it a look below.