This holiday season, grab a cup of hot cocoa and hunker down for a marathon of marathons with some of your favorite characters from past seasons of PBS programs. Marathons include Lucy Worsley, All Creatures Great and Small, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke. Plus, expand your horizons with Ben Franklin: A Film by Ken Burns and The American Buffalo. With WTIU’s lineup, you can stop stressing and start enjoying a month full of nostalgia and familiarity!
Lucy Worsley Mini-Marathon
December 10 – 1:30-6pm
Join the famous royal historian as she explores mysteries all over Britain. In Lucy Worsley’s Royal Palace Secrets, Worsley tours the hidden places within the Tower of London, the glorious Kensington Palace, and other English treasures. In Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas, she discovers the Tudor interpretations of today’s common Christmas traditions. And in Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen, Worsley uncovers the complex woman whose life and work reflected the twentieth century’s many social changes.
All Creatures Great and Small: Season 3
December 10 – 9-11:30pm
December 17 – 9-11:30pm
December 24 – 8-11:30pm
Starting in spring of 1939, season three begins with wedding bells and plenty more animal ailments. As James and Helen adjust to married life, new challenges plague the Yorkshire Dells. James seeks to work with the government’s practice to test for cattle tuberculosis. And Helen struggles to let go of her old life as she tries to find her place in the Skeldale House. Plus, having passed his exams, Tristan becomes a qualified vet and tries to win the approval of his big brother Siegfried. But as war with Germany looms ahead, Siegfried struggles with his own trauma from the First World War.
Ben Franklin: A Film by Ken Burns: Parts 1 and 2
December 17 – 1-6pm
In Part 1, we see Benjamin Franklin leave his Boston childhood home, pursuing a printing empire in Philadelphia. After marrying his wife Deborah, Franklin turns to the world of science, earning worldwide fame through his lightning rod and experiments in electricity. Upon entering politics, Franklin initially spends time in London working to keep America and Britain together. However, in Part 2 he returns to Philadelphia to help Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. After negotiating French support and eventual peace with Britain, he continues to serve his country until his death in 1790.
The American Buffalo
December 30 – 1-6pm
This two-part, four-hour series from Ken Burns takes viewers on a journey through more than 10,000 years of North American history. The documentary traces the animal’s evolution, its significance to indigenous people, and its interaction with the Great Plains. Hear the stories of many Native people, including the Kiowa, Comanche, Lakota, Salish, Kootenai, Mandan-Hidatsa, Cheyenne of the Southern Plains, and Blackfeet from the Northern Plains.
Miss Scarlet and the Duke: Season 3
December 31 – 10:30am-6pm
Eliza Scarlet is the first-ever female detective in Victorian London, working hard to keep her father’s business afloat. Her partner in crime—and in solving crime—is Scotland Yard Detective William Wellington, aka the Duke. In Season 3, find out how Eliza and William’s up-and-down relationship plays out as the two solve a slew of brand-new cases involving magicians, conmen, bombers, and heirs.