Looking for some great shows to dig into this month? GBH Passport is where you should be looking, and below are some top selections from Ron Bachman, Senior Director of Programming, and Devin Karambelas, Programming Manager. The member benefit that provides you with extended access to an on-demand library of quality public television programming, GBH Passport features current and past seasons of PBS and GBH shows — including drama, science, history, and the arts. Watch anytime on GBH.org or on the PBS App.
A Chef's Life
Fans of Chef Vivian Howard, rejoice! All five seasons of A Chef’s Life, the series that followed Howard and her husband Ben Knight’s move to small-town North Carolina to open their restaurant Chef & The Farmer, have returned to Passport. Savor the Emmy award-winning series before making your way to Howard’s more recent PBS series, South by Somewhere, which is also available to stream. —Devin
Watch the series preview:
Stream A Chef's Life now on GBH Passport
Miss Scarlet & The Duke
(Available on GBH Passport on January 17) When Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips) is left penniless upon her father’s death, her only option for financial security in Victorian London is to marry — until she decides instead to take over her late father’s detective agency. But to operate in the male-dominated world of crime-solving, she needs a male partner. Enter Detective Inspector William Wellington (Stuart Martin), a childhood friend and notorious womanizer nicknamed “the Duke,” who becomes the front man for her agency. (Anyone else having flashbacks to Remington Steele?) Adventures — and sparks — ensue in this six-part series that premieres a new episode each Sunday night on both TV and streaming, beginning on this date. And there’s more to come, as it’s already been renewed for a second season! —Ron
Watch a clip: What is Miss Scarlett And The Duke?
And be sure to join GBH Drama Club on Facebook and Twitter immediately after the show for hot tea and hotter takes with Drama After Dark!
Modus Seasons 1 & 2
(Streaming in Passport until February 12) If you’re a fellow fan of Nordic noir, now is the time to binge Modus Seasons 1 and 2 before they leave Passport on February 12. Loosely adapted from the best-selling Vik/Stubo series by Norwegian author and lawyer Anne Holt, the Swedish series about psychologist and ex-FBI criminal profiler Inger Johanne Vik (Melinda Kinnaman) is an icy breath of fresh air in the thriller genre. In Season 1, Inger gets drawn into a series of disturbing attacks during the Christmas season in Sweden when her daughter is the unwitting witness to a murder. At the center of Season 2 is the state visit of newly-elected American President Helen Tyler (Kim Cattrall) which goes unpredictably, terribly wrong. —Devin
Watch a preview of Modus Season 1:
Stream Modus now on GBH Passport
American Experience: The Codebreaker
Elizebeth Smith Friedman was a suburban housewife and mother who led a secret double life that only came to light decades after her death: She was a groundbreaking cryptanalyst, whose painstaking work decoding thousands of messages for the US government would send infamous gangsters like Al Capone to prison and bring down a massive, near-invisible Nazi spy ring in World War II. Along with her husband, the legendary cryptologist William Friedman, she helped develop the methods that led to the creation of the powerful new science of cryptology and laid the foundation for modern codebreaking today. You may have never heard of her, but she had a tremendous influence on US history — and now her declassified story can be told in this documentary that premieres on both TV and GBH Passport on this date. —Ron
Watch the extended trailer:
Stream The Codebreaker now on GBH Passport
Finding Your Roots
(Stream Seasons 2 through 6 with Passport; Season 7 premieres January 19 at 8pm on GBH 2) Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is back with all-new episodes of Finding Your Roots to help a new season’s worth of leading luminaries unlock the family secrets in their DNA. Among them are Glenn Close, John Lithgow, Pharrell Williams, John Waters, Audra McDonald, Tony Shalhoub and Andy Cohen — and I’m just scratching the surface here. As usual, the range of characters in each guest’s family history is staggering: we meet ancestors who were war heroes and bootleggers, immigrants and businessmen and those who prospered while others were persecuted. Season 7 also features the contributions of new lead genealogist Nick Sheedy, who carries on the work of founding series genealogist Johni Cerny, who sadly passed away in early 2020. —Devin
Watch the Season 7 preview:
Stream Finding Your Roots Seasons 2-6 now on GBH Passport
View more selections for January and beyond in the GBH Passport collection.