Editing Masterpiece (TV series) (section)

== Overview ==
''Masterpiece'' is known for presenting [[Literary adaptation|adaptations of novels]] and [[biography|biographies]], but it also shows original television dramas. The first title to air was ''[[The First Churchills]]'', starring [[Susan Hampshire]] as [[Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough|Sarah Churchill]]. Other programs presented on the series include ''[[The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC TV series)|The Six Wives of Henry VIII]];'' ''[[Elizabeth R]];'' ''[[I, Claudius (TV series)|I, Claudius]];'' ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]];'' ''[[The Duchess of Duke Street]];'' ''[[The Citadel (1983 miniseries)|The Citadel]];'' ''[[The Jewel in the Crown (TV series)|The Jewel in the Crown]];'' ''[[Reckless (TV serial)|Reckless]];'' ''[[House of Cards (British TV series)|House of Cards]];'' ''[[Traffik]],'' and ''[[Jeeves and Wooster]]''. More recent popular titles include ''[[Prime Suspect]],'' ''[[The Forsyte Saga (2002 TV series)|The Forsyte Saga]],'' ''[[Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]],'' and ''[[Downton Abbey]]''.

The theme music played during the opening credits is the [[Fanfare-Rondeau]] from ''[[Suite of Symphonies for brass, strings and timpani No. 1]]'' by French composer [[Jean-Joseph Mouret]]. The theme was performed by Collegium Musicum de Paris. [[Roland Douatte]] was the conductor. It was recorded in 1954 by [[Disques Vogue|Vogue Records]] in Paris, France, and was later remastered in stereo and re-released by [[Nonesuch Records]] in the 1960s.

During the first seasons in the 1970s, the theme music accompanied varying closeup shots of a waving British flag, which panned out into a still image of a British flag on a staff serving as the P in "Masterpiece". In the late 1970s, the opening video switched to views of antique books and other literary artifacts, many of which titles had been dramatized on the program.

In 1980, ''Masterpiece'' gained a sister series, ''[[Mystery!]]'', featuring a mix of contemporary and classic [[United Kingdom|British]] [[detective fiction|detective]] and [[crime fiction|crime series]], such as ''[[The Inspector Lynley Mysteries]]'', ''[[Miss Marple|Agatha Christie's Miss Marple]]'', and ''[[Touching Evil]]''. In 2000, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the show, it presented ''Masterpiece'': ''[[The American Collection]]'', nine works by American writers, including [[Thornton Wilder]]'s ''[[Our Town]]'', starring [[Paul Newman]].