Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson Are Coming to PBS in Their Last Roles, As is 'The Count of Monte Cristo'

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The venerable actors Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson's final roles were both in the film The Great Escaper, which is now coming to WTTW and PBS via Masterpiece. The film tells the true story of 90-year-old World War II veteran Bernard Jordan's unsanctioned escape from his nursing home to attend D-Day commemorations in 2014 in France. Caine plays Jordan, and Jackson stars as his wife Rene.  

Jackson finished filming The Great Escaper less than a year before her death in June, 2023, while the now 92-year-old Caine retired from acting after completing the film. The pair had previously starred alongside each other as another husband-wife couple almost fifty years earlier in the 1975 film The Romantic Englishwoman. Jackson took a break from acting to go into politics in 1992, before returning to the stage as she neared 80, starring in, among other things, Elizabeth is Missing, which also aired on PBS and WTTW. Both actors have numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards each. 

The Great Escaper was directed by Oliver Parker, who directed all episodes of the 1960s-set comedy Funny Woman, whose second season recently aired on PBS and WTTW and is available to recap and stream. 

The Great Escaper will premiere on WTTW and PBS in the fall.

Masterpiece also announced that a new adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' classic The Count of Monte Cristo will be coming to PBS and WTTW in 2026. Starring Sam Claflin, Jeremy Irons, and Ana Girardot, it is directed by the Academy Award and two-time Palme d'Or winner Bille August. (Irons is also decorated, with an Academy Award, Emmys, and a Tony.) The nineteenth century novel, which has been adapted numerous times, tells the story of a sailor who escapes from an island fortress and plans revenge after years of imprisonment under false charges. The Masterpiece adaptation will be in eight parts.