The Durrells found bliss. So will you. The Durrells in Corfu, Season 2 Starring Keeley Hawes in an all-new season on MASTERPIECE Sundays, October 15 – November 19, 2017 on PBS
It was a dark and stormy night—in Corfu, of all places! A spooky séance in wild weather is just one of the many adventures, along with otter breeding, a cricket showdown, and the multi-generational search for romance, on The Durrells in Corfu, Season 2, airing on MASTERPIECE in six endearing new episodes starring Keeley Hawes (Wives and Daughters, The Hollow Crown), Sundays October 15 – November 19, 2017 on PBS at the special time of 8pm ET.
Season 1 enchanted critics, with USA Today discovering “wit and charm in abundance,” The LA Daily News marveling at “an unpredictable, amusing family dynamic most shows would kill for,” and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette calling the series “as warm and pleasant as its picturesque setting.”
The new season has already garnered lavish praise. During the recent UK broadcast, The Telegraph (London) was delighted to find that “Corfu was still sun-drenched, the titular family of lovable eccentrics remained in perpetual chaos and … the tone was, as before, one of warm nostalgia and deep, abiding silliness.” And The Guardian (London) hailed Season 2 as “sweet, and charming, and pretty, and funny…. [It’s] that rather nice thing: Sunday night family drama entertainment.”
Inspired by the beloved memoirs of Gerald Durrell, The Durrells in Corfu features Hawes as Louisa Durrell, the harried widowed mother of a brood of recalcitrant children (this season ages 12 to 22). Louisa moves the floundering family from England to Corfu in the mid 1930s to recharge their lives—hers included.
Milo Parker plays Gerry, the wildlife-obsessed youngest, who later penned his reminiscences of the family’s unusual exploits. Daisy Waterstone is the man-mad teen, Margo, this season trying to kindle romance with a monk. Callum Woodhouse is the hunter-turned-distiller-turned-fashion-photographer, Leslie. And Josh O'Connor is literary Larry, who in real life went on to make a name for himself as the bohemian novelist Lawrence Durrell.
Also back this season is the family’s guardian angel on the island, the ever- resourceful Spiro, played by Alexis Georgoulis. Yorgos Karamihos returns as Gerry’s fellow fauna fanatic, Dr. Theo Stephanides. And screen legend Leslie Caron (An American in Paris, Gigi) reprises her cameo role as the island’s redoubtable Countess Mavrodaki.
The Durrells in Corfu, Season 2 finds the family in dire financial straits, as usual. They have a new landlady, Vasilia, an island beauty who holds a mysterious grudge against Louisa and insists on prompt payment of the rent. Desperate to come up – more – The Durrells in Corfu, Season 2 Press Release Page 2
with the cash, Louisa embarks on a bold strategy: sell homemade British delicacies at the village market. The locals are just beginning to develop a taste for scotch eggs and spotted dick, when Vasilia engineers a public health crisis.
Meanwhile, Louisa is being courted by handsome British ex-pat Hugh (Daniel Lapaine, Zero Dark Thirty), who has an olive press, drives a red MG, and wants to sweep her back to England. Margo and Larry also get romantic partners, as do Gerry’s otters. The plot thickens when Louisa’s dead husband gets back in touch, and an international incident threatens when the expats and Greeks organize a “friendly” cricket match.
And then there’s Leslie, who makes a very special delivery.
The Durrells in Corfu, Season 2 is a Sid Gentle Films Ltd/MASTERPIECE coproduction, based on the Corfu Trilogy by Gerald Durrell. It is written by Simon Nye, directed by Steve Barron and Edward Hall and produced by Christopher Hall. The executive producers are Sally Woodward Gentle, Lee Morris, and Simon Nye for Sid Gentle Films Ltd and Rebecca Eaton for MASTERPIECE on PBS.
About MASTERPIECE The top-rated primetime show on PBS, MASTERPIECE celebrated its 45th anniversary in 2016. MASTERPIECE is presented on PBS by WGBH Boston. Rebecca Eaton is executive producer. Funding for the series is provided by Viking Cruises and Farmers Insurance® with additional support from public television viewers and contributors to The MASTERPIECE Trust. MASTERPIECE is known for presenting iconic shows such as Upstairs Downstairs, Prime Suspect, The Forsyte Saga, Poldark, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, and Victoria. pbs.org/masterpiece
MASTERPIECE Press Contacts Ellen Dockser, [email protected], 617-300-5338 Laura Garvey, [email protected], 617-300-5342
August 2017
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