Sisterhood On-Screen: Stream Stories of Female Alliance
Sometimes, we just prefer the company of women. When that’s the case, there are some pretty marvelous ladies to spend quality time with on MASTERPIECE. Female characters featured in shows like Sanditon, Home Fires, Little Women and MaryLand share both secrets and belly laughs, commiserate with each other’s concerns, and find ways to pull together, all while dodging unsolicited advice. Grab a gal pal to stream one of these titles and celebrate heroines’ voices together. You can watch them all with PBS Passport, an added member benefit.
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Home Fires | Two Seasons
How does a satisfyingly feminist take on war strike you? This heartening period drama showcases women rising to the challenge of living with limited resources in an English village at the onset of WWII. With their husbands, sons, and brothers occupied by the war, ladies from disparate walks of life find their role on the home front by forming a local chapter of the Women’s Institute, discovering a resilience that ultimately unites them. Of course, the entangling plot also provides personal narratives for each woman, following a maid, teacher, bookkeeper, upper crust snob, and an abused wife who’s finally finding her voice. “It’s precisely this approach, telling lots of little stories whose war connections differ widely, that gives Home Fires a ring of truth,” says The Huffington Post.
Samantha Bond (The Marlow Murder Club, Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Flesh and Blood, Cranford) star. They are joined by Ruth Gemmell (Bridgerton), Claire Rushbrook (Magpie Murders), Clare Calbraith (Downton Abbey), Frances Grey (Vanity Fair), and Mark Bonnar (World on Fire, Guilt), among others.
Watch Home Fires Seasons 1 and 2 when you watch with PBS Passport.
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Little Women | Three Episodes
Thirsting for a classic female coming-of-age story? Look no further than Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, a story exploring themes of family, ambition, and the struggles of womanhood, which has touched readers and viewers across generations. Siblings Jo, Meg, Beth, and Amy March evoke emotions from joy and triumph to longing and heartache as they journey to adulthood. No wonder this title has never been out of print since publication and has inspired respectively beloved screen adaptations. Newsday calls the MASTERPIECE version “luminous, with [actor] Maya Hawke as one more memorable “Jo” in a long and glorious line of them.”
Relish this early TV performance by Maya Hawke (Stranger Things) as troublemaker Jo March, and a cast rich with luminaries like Academy Award® nominee Emily Watson (Gosford Park) as devoted mother Marmee; Michael Gambon (Churchill’s Secret, Harry Potter films) as Mr. Laurence; Academy Award® winner Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote) as family matriarch, Aunt March; and, Jonah Hauer-King (World on Fire, The Little Mermaid) as friendly neighbor Laurie.
Check out our Little Women Viewer’s Guide, then stream all three episodes with PBS Passport.
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MaryLand | Three Episodes
If you like your sisterhood to be fiercely relatable—and by that we mean siblings with a rocky relationship—MaryLand is the series for you. Across three episodes, estranged sisters Becca (Suranne Jones) and Rosaline (Eve Best) poignantly open up to each other as they work out the truth behind their mum’s untimely death and her secret life on the Isle of Man. Will these two grown women refashion their connection or part ways for good? MaryLand is “a chamber piece about family dynamics, female identity and ways of finding freedom before it is too late,” says The Guardian (UK). “It is a joy.”
Suranne Jones (Vigil) co-created MaryLand. Jones and Eve Best (House of the Dragon) play the convincing sisters Becca and Rosaline. American actor Stockard Channing (The West Wing) makes a welcome appearance as their mother’s enigmatic best friend, among other cast.
Hear co-stars Suranne Jones and Eve Best introduce their characters in this video short, then stream MaryLand’s three episodes with PBS Passport.
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Sanditon | Three Seasons
What audience turns down the chance to enjoy female characters created by Jane Austen? This TV adaptation of Austen’s last, unfinished novel serves up engaging leading ladies who navigate love and ambition while striving to shape their own destinies. Key among them is the ambitious and resourceful Charlotte Heywood, who comes to the new seaside resort of Sanditon on a journey of self-discovery, as well as the Jamaican heiress Georgianna Lambe, who faces racial prejudices that complicate her social interactions and romantic prospects. These young women have had their fill of being told what is and isn’t appropriate; you’ll love their spirit.
The cast includes Rose Williams (Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris) as Charlotte Heywood, whom TIME Magazine calls “a plucky heroine;” Crystal Clarke (Ordeal by Innocence) as heiress Georgianna Lambe; Anne Reid (Last Tango in Halifax) as haughty Lady Denham; Jack Fox (Riviera) as conniving Edward Denham; Charlotte Spencer (Misbehavior) as Esther Denham; Kris Marshall (Death in Paradise) as determined entrepreneur Tom Parker; Kate Ashfield (Shaun of the Dead) as Mary Parker; Turlough Convery (Killing Eve) as Arthur Parker; Theo James (White Lotus, Downton Abbey) as Rose’s first love; Leo Suter (Victoria, Beecham House,) as laborer Young Stringer; and, Ben Lloyd-Hughes (The Crown) as brooding Alexander Colbourne, among others.
Stream full episodes of Sanditon Seasons 1-3 when you watch with PBS Passport and find out if Charlotte and Georgianna get their happily-ever-after.
