A thoughtfully written and brilliantly acted limited series, Maryland, stars Suranne Jones as the younger sister to Eve Best, the eldest sister who star as the leads, two siblings Becca and Rosaline, who with the first episode (of three) learn their mother has unexpected died on the Isle of Man. Filmed entirely in Ireland, the two sisters pack up their carry-ons for what they think will be a short trip to bring them mother, Maryland’s body back to the mainland for a proper burial, but there is much more waiting for them to learn about their mother and the life she loved living there when they arrive.

Stockard Channing is cast as their mother’s eccentric to the onlooker, but incredibly loving, kind and intentional best friend to their mother, Maureen. The series debuted last year in Britain on iTV and just recently premiered here in the states – May 5th – on PBS Masterpiece. Having PBS’s Passport access, I watched all three episodes in one evening as I was too intrigued and quickly drawn to the connection between the sisters as they tried to figure out how to honor their mother’s wishes – to be buried on the Isle of Man and not where her husband (their father), who lived on the mainland wanted, as well as watching the sisters who are now in their mid-forties, early fifties, reconnect and come to learn more about their childhood through the other’s experience rather than just their own.

Suranne Jones co-created the series with writer Anne Marie O’Connor, and she shared in this interview with PBS Masterpiece the inspiration for the story which many have described as very similar to an engaging novel that draws you further and further into the story with each chapter, a love-story of sorts between sisters as they reconnect and are reminded of their love for another. Sharing that both “she (Jones) and O’Connor are from the north, [they] wanted to get back to [their] roots and tell a story that was small and about real people, and about a relationship that you don’t really ever see, the sibling relationship—usually it’s marriages or child-to-mother, child-to-father, so [they] felt quite strongly about that. [Jones] has a brother, [O’Connor] has a sister and a brother, and we could pull on lots of experiences”. She goes on to share that as both writers had or were experiencing a parental figure battle Alzheimer’s or dementia, they were able to draw on those personal emotions as well. I encourage you to read the full interview.

Have a look at the trailer for the series below, and look for it on PBS Masterpiece. I do think you will enjoy.

Maryland was the Petit Plaisir for episode #382 of The Simple Sophisticate podcast, Antique & Vintage Shopping in Barnard Castle, England + 5 Ways I Decorate with these Treasures, shared during British Week.

~Explore all of TSLL’s Petit Plaisirs here.