Henry David Thoreau
“When I wrote the following pages, or rather the bulk of them, I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond….” So begins Henry David Thoreau’s seminal work, Walden.
Despite the author’s influence on reformers including John Muir, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., there has never been a full-length documentary exploring the life of Henry David Thoreau until now. PBS has remedied this by presenting a new three-part, three-hour film devoted to one of the country’s greatest writers and among the most enduring thinkers of the 19th-century Transcendentalist movement in America.
Viewers will gain a deeper understanding of the intellectual, social, and cultural currents of Thoreau’s time and their lasting impact on American history and thought. Taking advantage of new historical findings, the filmmakers explore concepts at the core of Thoreau’s work including the health of our planet, justice for all human beings, and the importance of standing up for one’s beliefs in the public square. All of these issues have immense sociological significance today.
“He challenged Americans to ask hard questions about who we are and what kind of society we want to build, a challenge that remains as urgent today as it was in his day,” says executive producer Ken Burns. “Perhaps most importantly he asked us to stop and to pay attention to the world around us.”
Narrated by George Clooney, Henry David Thoreau illuminates the vibrant intellectual and political community of Concord, Massachusetts, in the mid-1800s. Thoreau, voiced by Jeff Goldblum, moved among towering figures of American thought such as his mentor Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, Frederick Douglass, the radical abolitionists of Boston, and the even-more-controversial John Brown. This documentary illuminates their ideas, set amid the fight against slavery, the rise of women’s rights, the impact of industrialization on New England’s landscape, and the continued displacement of Native peoples.
Ultimately, Henry David Thoreau presents a portrait of a man both rooted in his time and speaking far beyond it. “This film honors his legacy while asking what it means to live with purpose in the 21st century,” says executive producer Don Henley, founding member and lead singer of the Eagles, a longtime advocate for environmental causes, and founder and chair of the Walden Woods Project, which preserves Thoreau’s legacy.
Premieres Monday, March 30 at 9 p.m. on VPM PBS
Did the 2025 Call the Midwife Holiday Special whet your appetite for a new season of happenings at Nonnatus House? Then, you’ll be happy to know that season 15 of the delightful and dramatic favorite returns to PBS with an eight-episode run beginning this month.
The new season kicks off in 1971 as several of the ladies embrace women’s liberation and burn their bras outside Nonnatus House. Over the year, the team handles challenging cases including premature birth, placenta previa, kidney cancer, tuberculosis, and slavery. The cast includes favorites Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne), Judy Parfitt (Sister Monica Joan), Helen George (Trixie Aylward), Laura Main (Shelagh Turner), Stephen McGann (Patrick Turner), Cliff Parisi (Fred Buckle), Linda Bassett (Phyllis Crane), Georgie Glen (Millicent Higgins), and Zephryn Taitte (Cyril Robinson).
Season 15 premieres on Sunday, March 22 at 8 p.m. on VPM PBS.
From the Desk of … Jayme Swain
Dear Reader, Spring is coming, as well as many exciting projects from VPM. I can’t wait for you to see our film Shenandoah, which captures the stunning ecosystem of Virginia’s treasured national park with footage not seen anywhere else.
For gardenlovers, Peggy Singlemann and Virginia Home Grown will be back with its 26th season, while “Un-Wine’d” host Tassie Pippert launches a new digital YouTube series to more easily share delectable recipes that you can make at home.
Plus, PBS will premiere two long-awaited MASTERPIECE dramas: The Count of Monte Cristo and The Forsytes and deliver the documentary Henry David Thoreau, which is the first full-length film devoted to the naturalist and writer’s life and times.
Importantly, construction at our new headquarters in downtown Richmond is in the final stages. We look forward to having the modern technology and infrastructure necessary to tell stories on broadcast and digital platforms about the communities we serve, from Central Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley.
Your donations make these programs possible and ensure all Virginians have free access to content that educates, entertains, and inspires.
With appreciation,
,
Jayme Swain President and CEO, VPM and the Virginia Foundation for Public Media
Among the many intriguing characters you’ll meet throughout the six-episode series are Danny Griffin as Jolyon’s bohemian son Jo, Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey: A New Era ) as Jo’s status-driven wife Frances, and Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark ) playing Louisa Byrne, a Soho dressmaker and Jo’s first love. Susan Hampshire, CBE, plays Lady Carteret. Fun fact: Hampshire starred as Fleur in the 1967 Forstye Saga, one of the first MASTERPIECE offerings, for which Hampshire won the first of her three Emmys. Airs Sundays, beginning March 22 at 9 p.m. on VPM PBS. SEASON 15 Air dates/times are subject to change. Please check vpm.org/watch/tv-schedule
Desire! Ambition! Betrayal! With a sweeping, romantic storyline based on a Victorian stockbrokering family, The Forsytes has it all and more. This newest MASTERPIECE drama is both a bold reimagining and a prequel to John Galsworthy’s celebrated Forsyte Saga novels.
Planned as a returning series, the first season follows the lives of the well-to-do Forsyte family in 1880s London where money and society dictate the rules. The narrative follows four generations of the wealthy Forsytes as they navigate high-risk investments and the even higher expectations of making the right marital matches. Leading the stellar cast is Francesca Annis as the formidable Forsyte matriarch, Ann. She’s joined by Stephen Moyer as her eldest son
Jolyon and Jack Davenport who plays her younger son James.
If you’ve wished that MASTERPIECE would present a faithful adaption of the Alexandre Dumas epic, your wait is nearly over. Starting on March 1, you’ll follow the tale of young sailor Edmond Dantès as he’s betrayed and thrown into prison in the nightmarish Château d’If. When fortune favors the patient Dantès, he escapes and claims a hidden treasure that makes him one of the richest men in the world. Under the guise of the enigmatic count, he begins his campaign of revenge.
Can Dantès reclaim justice — or love? You’ll have to tune in to find out. If the plot seems over the top, you’ll be surprised to know Dumas’ novel
was based on two true stories. One centers around Francois “Pierre” Picaud, who was wrongly imprisoned after accusations of treason. The other is based on the imprisonment of Dumas’ own father, a French general.
This lush eight-part series was filmed in Italy, Malta, and France, starring Sam Claflin as Dantès — the enigmatic Count of Monte Cristo. Claflin is joined by Jeremy Irons as fellow prisoner Abbé Faria, Ana Girardot as Mercedes, and Blake Ritson as Danglars.
Airs Sundays, beginning March 22 at 10 p.m. on VPM PBS.
Did you find yourself thinking, “I know that voice” while watching The American Revolution? Ken Burns is famous for using star-studded voiceovers in his films. Now you can test your skills and learn more about the connection between Hollywood’s royalty and the landmark documentary. If you haven’t seen The American Revolution yet or want to watch it again, it’s streaming on PBS Passport.
1. This American actor voiced George Washington. He also starred in No Country for Old Men and Men in Black 3. Who is he?
2. Did the words of master sailmaker, entrepreneur, and veteran James Forten have a familiar ring? Guess the name of this Hollywood icon who was also on PBS’s The Electric Company
3. This actor did not play King George III in the film, but he did on Broadway. Who was the voice of Princeton mayor Erkuries Beatty?
4. Once part of the Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood stage crew, this actor portrayed notorious traitor Benedict Arnold.
5. This woman was the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. She voiced Phyllis Wheatley, one of the best-known poets of her time. Who is she?
6. This actor has played John Adams twice. He also appeared in Downton Abbey Guess his name.
7. Having taken a key role in other Ken Burns documentaries and having starred in a host of beloved films, this renowned actor embodied the words of Andrew Eliot, Josiah Bartlett, Isaac Bangs, David Griffith, Thomas Jones, Ezra Tilden, Albigence Waldo, and Ebenezer Denny.
8. Triple Oscar winner, she’s another Ken Burns regular. Known for her skill in accents, she interprets the words of activist poet and pamphleteer Mercy Otis Warren.
9. Former longtime host of Masterpiece Classic, she voiced five different women in the film — Sarah Fisher, Sarah Mifflin, Ann Hulton, Eliza Wilkinson, and Eliza Lucas Pinckney.
10. He voices King George III, while he’s also played an equally mercurial king, Henry VIII, on MASTERPIECE ’s Wolf Hall. Further, he speaks the words of Nicholas Cresswell, John André, and Bartholomew James.
April 18, 2026, marks the centenary of the first performance by the Martha Graham Dance Company — the oldest and the longest running dance company in America. Coming to PBS in April, this two-part, three-hour documentary tells the story of Martha Graham, the visionary artist and choreographer who forged the path for the future of modern dance.
Recognized as one of America’s primal artistic forces of the 20th century — alongside such iconic innovators as Ernest Hemingway, Maya Angelou, Frank Lloyd Wright, Duke Ellington, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Bob Dylan — Graham is known for freeing the art of dance by providing a new dance language and new concepts. She revolutionized dance, lighting, stage designing, costuming, and music with her creative perfectionism.
Viewers will see her genius in action throughout the film. Directors Peter Schnall and Cyndee Readdean use extended dance segments from rehearsals and performances, as well as interviews with many generations of Graham dancers, to reveal how the fire, drive, and passion of this towering figure continue to inspire today.
Premieres Friday, March 27 at 9 p.m. on VPM PBS.
Experience the Wonder of Shenandoah
Experience Shenandoah National Park through this mesmerizing, grand, and personal documentar y. In 2019, Shenandoah National Park granted Virginia’s Orange Frame Productions exclusive access to film anywhere within the park. The production team scuba dived into mountain caves to film the elusive American eel, climbed cliff faces to witness a peregrine falcon’s first flight, and ventured far off the beaten path to discover the endangered Shenandoah salamander. With stunning cinematography from two renowned National Geographic filmmakers, this film also explores the history of the park, chronicling how the physical landscape and its cultural impact have shifted over time. Watch the broadcast premiere of Shenandoah Thursday, April 23 at 8 p.m. on VPM PBS.
Virginia Home Grown Returns for Season 26
Virginia Home Grown returns with new episodes on VPM PBS, starting Tuesday, March 31 at 8 p.m. Join us for our 26th season as we highlight the unique richness of gardens, growing sites, and natural ecosystems throughout the Commonwealth to learn sustainable growing tips and discover why gardening is for everyone. While you’re waiting for the new season to get started, you can catch up on past episodes and articles at VPM.org/VHG.
