PBS may not be able to boast a lineup of original shows like Netflix and the other streamers, but it’s been America’s gateway for British dramas for decades. Granted, some of these shows will show up on the streamers as well. The key difference is that PBS won’t charge you to watch them, and you can even stream them online if you don’t want to support your local station.
This month’s picks include two returning British dramas, one of which had almost a full decade between seasons. Our other pick is a returning murder mystery show from Sweden, which proves just how universally popular that genre has turned out to be.
There’s still plenty of time to catch the other new shows on PBS in March. You can even go back and revisit the great PBS shows to watch in February as well. For now, here are our recommendations for the three PBS shows you should watch in February.
When you’re done here, check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, the best shows on Hulu, the best new shows on Max, the best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and the best shows on Disney+.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light
It’s been a decade since the first season of Wolf Hall ended with poor Anne Boleyn (Claire Foy) losing her head, courtesy of her husband, King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis). The royal court of 16th century England was rough, to say the least. Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light picks up where season 1 left off, as Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance), the chief minister for King Henry VIII, tries to maintain his power and find his sire a suitable wife.
Unfortunately, Henry is renowned for his cruelty and his tendency to order executions for anyone who stands in the way of what he wants. If Cromwell isn’t careful, it might be his head on the chopping block next. But not before he makes a sweeping attempt to line up an alliance between England and Cleves. Cromwell has real political power, and yet his life is on the line if he ever dares to disappoint his king.
Watch Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light on PBS on March 23.
Murder in Sweden Season 4
If you’re not fluent in Swedish, don’t worry. Murder in Sweden is presented with English subtitles without trying to place a poorly dubbed English language track over the Swedish dialogue. Maria Wern (Eva Röse) is the Deputy Crime Commissioner for a beautiful Swedish island, and she’s made a good life for herself and her family. But there’s always some terrible crimes being committed in the countryside, which forces Maria and her team to look at the uglier side of people who could have easily been their friends and neighbors.
Watch Murder in Sweden on PBS.
Call the Midwife Season 14
Call the Midwife has been going so long that a show once set in the ’50s is now firmly taking place in 1970 as season 14 arrives. The women of Nonnatus House act as midwives for poor and impoverished family in need of their services. And in the season premiere, a woman’s apparent immaculate conception raises some serious questions for the veteran nuns, Sister Julienne (Jenny Aggutter) and Sister Monica Joan (Judy Parfitt).
Inevitably, Nonnatus House faces several social issues of the era, but Nurses Trixie Aylward (Helen George) and Rosalind Clifford (Natalie Quarry) have particularly challenging cases ahead of them. Trixie has to help a mother-to-be who has recently been released from psychiatric care, while Rosalind attends the birth of a child who has “a suspicious spinal lesion.”
Watch Call the Midwife on PBS on March 30.