The Trailer for 'The Great Escaper' Brings a Heartwarming True Story to Life

It's official: The heartwarming, true-life film The Great Escaper, which originally aired in the U.K. in the Fall of 2024, will finally cross the pond to air on Masterpiece this November.

The film is particularly notable as it is the last onscreen role for the great Glenda Jackson, who passed away in 2023. Jackson was a Masterpiece favorite, whose performance in Elizabeth R was a cornerstone of the franchise when it launched in 1971. Fifty years later, her turn in Elizabeth is Missing helped kick off the anthology series' 50th anniversary season. She costars along Michael Caine, a performer known for roles in everything from The Italian Job and The Cider House Rules to Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy.

The Great Escaper dramatizes the real-life story of Bernard Jordan (Caine), who made headlines around the world in the summer of 2014 when he staged a "great escape" from his care home to join many of his fellow World War II veterans in France to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. His story captured the imagination of the country, whichhailed him as an example of the the "can-do" spirit he and his compatriots were so known for. In addition to depicting Bernie's 48-hour adventure across the English Channel, the film also celebrates his sixty year marriage to wife Irene (Jackson), an ode to the power of enduring love even as the story wrestles with his need to come to terms with the lasting trauma of war.