Often considered the masterpiece of author E.M. Forster, the classic novel Howards End examines class relations through the experiences of two independent and unconventional sisters and the men in their lives seeking love and meaning.
In Howards End on Masterpiece, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan delivers an ingenious take to the beloved drama’s adaptation. Starring Hayley Atwell (Captain America: The First Avenger) as the intelligent, idealistic Margaret Schlegel and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) as the older Henry Wilcox, the four-part series follows the couple’s courtship. Known as a self-made conservative businessman, Henry begins to see Margaret after his wife, Ruth Wilcox (Julia Ormond), dies suddenly, leaving him as the owner of Howards End.
Concurrently, the series also gives focus to Helen Schlegel (Phillippa Coulthard), Margaret’s passionate and capricious younger sister, who becomes concerned with Leonard Bast (Joseph Quinn), a young bank clerk experiencing hard times at work and home with his partner Jacky (Rosalind Eleazer).
No longer having the watchful eyes of their parents, the Schlegel sisters’ interfering but well-intended Aunt Juley (Tracey Ullman) tries to keep the young ladies on the path of propriety and rectitude.
Howards End airs Fridays at 9 p.m., beginning June 11, on WSBE Rhode Island PBS.
WSBE Rhode Island PBS transmits over the air in high definition on digital 36.1; Cox 08 / 1008HD, Verizon FiOS 08 / 508HD, and Full Channel 08; Comcast 819HD and Verizon FiOS 18 / 518HD in MA; DirecTV 36, Dish Network 36. Live stream the full broadcast schedule at watch.ripbs.org/livestream.
