Other programs presented on the series include The Six Wives of Henry VIII; Elizabeth R; I, Claudius; Upstairs, Downstairs; The Duchess of Duke Street; The Citadel; The Jewel in the Crown; Reckless; House of Cards; Traffik, and Jeeves and Wooster.

In the late 1970s, the opening video switched to views of antique books and other literary artifacts, many of which titles had been dramatized on the program.

One of television's most honored series, the various shows aired on Masterpiece have won numerous Emmy and Peabody Awards.

[3] The success of the broadcast of the 1967 version of The Forsyte Saga on NET (the precursor of PBS) led Stanford Calderwood, then serving as president of WGBH, to investigate whether the BBC would sell programs to the station.

Schmertz was able to gain funding for the show, and with Joan Wilson of WGBH-TV bought the US distribution rights for fifty hours of British dramas for about $1 million per year.

The Trust gives donors the opportunity to support their local PBS station and also "secure the future of superb British drama...invest upfront in the development of new scripts and programs, and grow the [Masterpiece] series both on-air and online".

[9] The Masterpiece approach has been reported as being to put up about 10% of the production budget, in return for distribution rights and a degree of consultation on casting and content, but not editorial control.

[9] Masterpiece licences programs for several years, after which the broadcast rights revert to the original owners, generally the British producer or distributor.

All three versions received their own opening sequences and theme music with a common signature based upon the First Suite in D by Mouret[11] (originally chosen by Sarson, who had heard it played at a Club Med resort in Sicily, because it sounded "British and heraldic").

In March 2007, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the show, PBS aired an entertainment special produced and directed by Darcy Corcoran.

The Best of Masterpiece was hosted by Sir Derek Jacobi and featured interviews with Dame Helen Mirren, Hugh Laurie, Damian Lewis, Robson Green, Ian Richardson, Gillian Anderson, Charles Dance, Alex Kingston, Anthony Andrews and Jean Marsh.