Old Masters on View: Great Nights at the 'Theatre'

The recent Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Scoopwas so good it was easy to forget that public television's longest-running drama series has spent most of the past few seasons coasting on its reputation. Now, a reminder of Masterpiece Theatre's earlier glories is at hand — it's an eight-week retrospective that Masterpiece is offering to celebrate the series' 20th anniversary. Starting this week, you can see memorable episodes from old favorites such as Upstairs, Downstairs (Jan. 13), The Flame Trees of Thika(Jan. 20), I, Claudius (Feb. 3), and The Jewel in the Crown (Feb. 24). Watching these, you'll relive fond memories as well as see Alistair Cooke grow younger, then older, then younger, then...