Masterpiece Classic: Small Island

Saturdays, October 6 and 13 at 11:00 p.m.

Adapted from Andrea Levy’s best-selling, award-winning novel, "Small Island" tells the moving saga of two couples — one Jamaican, one English — whose lives intertwine in both friendship and tragic misunderstanding in post-WWII Britain.

Naomie Harris ("Pirates of the Caribbean") and David Oyelowo ("The Last King of Scotland") star as the Jamaican immigrants, with Ruth Wilson ("Jane Eyre") and Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock") as their English landlords.

The winner of the prestigious Orange and Whitbread prizes for fiction, Small Island also garnered high praise in this beautifully faithful translation to film, which earned accolades from the British press during its recent U.K. broadcast.

The Daily Express called it “perfect Sunday evening drama — intensely acted, skillfully shot, and subtly passionate about subjects no one should ignore.” “Carefully made and engrossing … a haunting story and a great cast,” wrote The Scotsman. And The Belfast Telegraph echoed, “You will not see finer acting on television this year.”

Author Levy agrees. “The cast does a fantastic job,” she says. “They really do embody those characters. I cannot now think of the characters without seeing the actors.”