Amanda-Rae Prescott has been writing, blogging, and podcasting about expanding diversity onscreen and inside the period drama fandom for the past 8 years.
In 2023, MASTERPIECE has already taken viewers from 1930s Yorkshire, to London in both the 1880s and 1750s, and to the Regency British seaside. For many viewers, All Creatures Great & Small, Sanditon, Tom Jones, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke delivered an escape from the stress of the modern world. But recent conversations outside of this fandom have called for a reexamining of what it means for viewers to escape in period dramas.
The story arcs have touched on issues of class, gender, and especially race which have modern-day implications in the wider media landscape. While all have made significant strides toward featuring more characters of color, MASTERPIECE’s commitment to period dramas that emphasize teaching history through recreation, puts these series at a disadvantage in appealing to BIPOC audiences in comparison to both diverse period dramas with an emphasis on alternate histories, such as Bridgerton and its prequel Queen Charlotte, as well as speculative fiction stories that borrow period aesthetics for their magical worlds, such as The Little Mermaid.
There’s no denying there’s a demand for more diverse period dramas. Despite what critics of these series are claiming, there are two corresponding demands that so far the current 2023 season has not addressed. The first is a desire for diverse period dramas to have Black and POC characters that have conflicts, romances, and life events where racism-related trauma is not a factor in their plot. The second is the desire for more African American representation through characters and story perspectives.
Season 3 of All Creatures Great & Small and Miss Scarlet And The Duke had Black characters, but they are supporting and secondary characters. Job discrimination still plays a role in Moses’ plotline on Miss Scarlet and The Duke. Florence Pandhi was discussing people asking where she’s “really from”. While these references were influential in establishing the historical presence of Black and South Asian Brits before 1948, these references at the same time have the potential to take viewer focus away from suspects’ motives or the conflict between family and duty which is a more universal experience that transcends race. These may seem like small moments for white viewers but have the potential to take Black and POC viewers out of the story.
Georgiana’s story in Sanditon Season 3 ended with the best possible scenario for her character, but the journey to get there is an excellent example of how the concept of escapism affected her character in a way not seen in Charlotte’s arc. The setup for Georgiana’s happy ending rested on a foundation of being forced to confront the slave trade in a way none of the white characters had to. The trial to contest Lockhart’s claim to her inheritance made for great television, but at the cost of Georgiana suffering far more trauma than Charlotte’s grief journey. In addition, Otis’ redemption arc entirely depends on his work in abolition and reuniting families torn apart by slave owners. Sanditon writers course corrected Season 1’s mistakes in regards to sidelining Georgiana and using Otis as a prop for Sidney’s redemption, but this comes at the expense of both Georgiana and Otis having opportunities for character development that did not revolve around their race. There was lost potential for personality conflict, gender, and class conflict stories that did not remind BIPOC fans about slavery and colonialism.
Tom Jones offers a good example of the possibilities of leaning into escapism but some can argue it did not go far enough. Sophia Western was introduced as a young Black heiress whose origins involved slavery, but who grew up with a loving grandfather and relatives sheltering her from the worst of society at the time. She’s not isolated entirely from other Black people, as Honour is her ladies' maid and friend. Their family’s objections to their relationship are purely about Tom’s status as a working-class bastard. Love versus familial duty is the crux of Sophia’s arc and is the impetus behind her decision to run away from Blifil’s marriage proposal. There are snippets of Sophia and Honour experiencing verbal racism as a touch of realism but the focus remains on Sophia encountering the schemes of the villainous Lady Bellaston. Tom’s redemption arc focuses on becoming a man who takes responsibility for his actions and finding out the truth about his family heritage. Tom and Sophia’s happy ending also includes a happy ending for Honour, as she also found her dream man.
The biggest reason why Tom Jones is more successful than the earlier examples is that screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes chose to adapt Fielding’s novel with a modern romantic comedy lens, an approach that reduced the emphasis on historical recreation. This decision aggravated fans of the older movie adaptation of course, but this was key for the miniseries attracting Black and POC viewers as well as younger viewers across the board. In addition, the set design and costumes invoked 1749 — the year of the novel’s publication — but didn’t include any references to real-life events or figures.
What does the desire for escapism in diverse historical stories mean for future projects MASTERPIECE may consider? Moving from the theoretical to a completed series is extremely complicated and involves factors viewers and fans have little control over.
The easier path is for MASTERPIECE to work with more UK screenwriters of color in either producing original stories or adapting recent bestselling historical works for the small screen. Future classic novel adaptations should consider borrowing from the example of Tom Jones in regard to escapism and deemphasizing historical recreation. Another possibility is to take The Hollow Crown, the 1996 Cinderella movie, and Les Miserables miniseries route of completely racebent casting an all-white character classic novel so that the audience focus is on character relationships and conflicts due to other factors.
Addressing the desire for more African-American stories on MASTERPIECE is the trickiest proposition of all. Right now MASTERPIECE’s main source of programming is partnerships with UK and occasionally European networks and studios. These partners have to consider the potential UK viewing audience before American audiences as UK advertising/subscription sales are driving their profitability margins. For more details on why and how this business arrangement exists as is, I suggest reading the book on the 50th anniversary of MASTERPIECE and listening to the official Making Masterpiece podcast. UK investors are highly unlikely at this point in time to greenlight a script that only focuses on American BIPOC characters. Future projects would have to be along the lines of Around the World In 80 Days where the plot is international in focus, but still has UK and American specificity.
PBS was forced to cancel the Civil War drama Mercy Street after two seasons because investors failed to see a profit. Although the main characters in the series were white, the story did give space for Black American characters. In fairness, a story about the Civil War is going to center trauma in a way that was going to turn away some Black viewers. However, the series is the most recent example of what MASTERPIECE executives will be up against if they are considering adopting a Black American novel adaptation or an original script.
One possibility that would take some creativity to pull off would be a partnership with Canada’s CBC on a future story along the lines of The Porter and The Book of Negroes where there are both Black American and Black Canadian characters. Both of these series are not the greatest examples of escapist-focused period dramas, but there’s potential in regard to future novel adaptations or original scripts without the pressure of Hollywood investors prioritizing profits over story quality. Another possibility would be post-WGA strike to go back to the drawing board with Mercy Street, and this time work on developing either an original script by a Black screenwriter or a Black novel adaptation. There’s a lot of potential in adapting Black historical fiction, mystery, or historical romance novels that can cater to both audience demand for escapism and hidden history. The key would be to partner with studios and investors who do not want to wrestle creative control or quality control away.
Diverse period dramas using both racebent and color conscious casting are here to stay, and there’s plenty of room on the small screen for both historical recreation and escapist period dramas. MASTERPIECE is clearly working towards keeping the promises made in 2020, but the key to maintaining this is to consider a wider spectrum of viewer voices in regards to what it means to have an escapist period drama.
