Masterpiece Brings Imelda Staunton's 'Flesh & Blood' To PBS This October

Perhaps it speaks to the mood of 2020 that Masterpiece's Sunday 9 p.m. hour will be given to mysteries and thrillers this fall. September brings the rebooted version of Van Der Valk for audiences to check out. And as soon as that series ends, the next one to follow will be the horror-esquely titled Flesh & Blood, in which an older widow's relationship with a younger man incites suspicion and concern among her family and next-door neighbor.

The four-episode series will run the length of October, ending just before Halloween, so perhaps a little bit of thrill will be just what the doctor ordered. Imelda Staunton (Downton Abbey) and Francesca Annis (Home Fires) lead an all-star ensemble cast that includes Russell Tovey (Years and Years) and Stephen Rea (War & Peace). The story follows the return home of three adult siblings after their father's passing, only to have their mother declare she's fallen in love with a new man, further upending all their lives.

Annis plays Vivien, the mum of the story, who is just turning 70 when retired GP Mark (Rea) sweeps her off her feet. Tovey joins with Claudie Blakley (Manhunt) and Lydia Leonard (Gentleman Jack) as siblings. They are Jake, Helen, and Natalie, and dealing with the shockwave their parents 45-year marriage wasn't the happy one they'd assumed it was. But they're not the only ones digging into Mark, trying to find out who mum's new man is. Imelda Staunton plays Mary, the nosy next-door neighbor who's spent 40 years living next door to Vivien, and perhaps is a little too invested in this sudden redirection of her life.

The mystery begins when Mary teams up with local DI Doug Lineham, played by David Bamber (A Very English Scandal), to discover more about Mark, and they uncover more than they bargained for.