Page "Masterpiece (TV series)" Paragraph 5

The success of the broadcast of the 1967 version of The Forsyte Saga on NET ( the precursor of PBS ) led Stanford Calderwood, then serving as president of WGBH, to investigate whether the BBC would sell programs to the station.

Suggestions for the series format came from, among others, Frank Gillard in England and Christopher Sarson in the US.

In looking for an underwriter for the series, Calderwood eventually met with Herb Schmertz of Mobil Corporation.

Schmertz was able to gain funding for the show and he and several other men, including Frank Marshall, met in London and made a selection of programs to be broadcast.