WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 26 @ 9:00PM

From ISIS to Ferguson; the midterm elections to the tumult in Ukraine; the rising stock market to falling gas prices…those are just some of the stories that dominated Washington and the world in 2014.

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HOLIDAY SPECIAL

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1 @ 7:30PM & 12:30AM

Rehearsals for the Sunday School Christmas concert are underway, creating inconvenience for the nuns and nurses of Nonnatus House. Two unmarried patients are dispatched to York Lodge, a badly managed home for pregnant women. Chummy takes over running the facility after an outbreak of chicken pox there. Dr. Turner treats a destitute older couple, former residents of a mental hospital closed under the mental health reforms. As residents of Nonnatus welcome the new year, the question on everyone’s mind is, what will 1960 bring?

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WITH BRUCE FEILER

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 23

Jerusalem: At a Glance @ 6:00pm & 11:00pm

The Hebrew Bible instructs all Jews to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem three times a year: in spring for Passover, in summer for Shavuout, and in the fall for Sukkot. But the city is holy to more than just Jews: Christian pilgrims began coming to Jerusalem and the Holy Land within centuries of Jesus’ death, and the Al Aksa Mosque, located inside the walls of the Old City, is considered the third holiest site in Islam after Mecca and Medina.

The Hajj: At a Glance @ 7:00pm & 12:00am

One of the five pillars of Islam is that each believer is called, at least once in their lives, to make the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage that starts and ends in the holy city of Mecca located in today’s Saudi Arabia. The journey recreates Muhammad’s own path as the native son returned to his tribal home as the leader of a vibrant new religion. Unlike other sacred sites, Mecca is closed off to believers of other faiths: only Muslims are permitted on the Hajj.

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DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 4

EPISODE 7

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21 @ 8:00PM

Robert and Thomas return from America, Bates makes a surprise trip to York, Edith prepares to go abroad, and suitors flock to Mary. Branson helps someone move on, and Rose makes her move.

The much-loved cast of Downton Abbey Season 4 includes Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Jim Carter, Joanne Froggatt, Penelope Wilton, and a host of others, with guest stars Shirley MacLaine and Paul Giamatti. Written and created by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey, Season 4 marks the return of one of television’s most beloved and anticipated drama series to MASTERPIECE on MCPTV 26.1.<p>

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 @ 10:00PM

Lucy Worsley gets into bed with past monarchs to uncover the secrets of the royal bedchamber. She reveals that our obsession with royal bedrooms, births and succession is nothing new. In fact, the rise and fall of their magnificent beds reflects the changing fortunes of the monarchy itself. 

This program will reveal that while today some areas are intensely private spheres, the royal bedchamber was once a very public sphere with huge political consequence. Not only was it the site for royal marriage ceremonies, but royal births were also traditionally observed there by a crowd in order to verify the baby’s gender. As Lucy will reveal, since everyone felt that they had a stake in it, the process of creating royal babies also often took place in a semi-public context.

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WITH GWEN IFILL

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19 @ 9:00PM

President Obama’s action to restore diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba was the result of 18-months of secret negotiations with the communist regime that also included a prisoner exchange. Pope Francis played a crucial role in the talks that led to the release of American contractor Alan Gross, who was held in a Cuban prison for five years.

There was substantial push-back, mostly from Republicans to the president’s announcement. Florida Senator Marco Rubio, whose parents emigrated from Cuba, is among a group of bipartisan lawmakers vowing to block the deal and U.S. plans to establish an embassy in Havana.

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CHRISTMAS WITH THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR

FEATURING DEBORAH VOIGT AND JOHN RHYS

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25 @ 11:00PM

Leading dramatic soprano Deborah Voigt and acclaimed British actor and voice artist John Rhys-Davies join the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square in a concert of holiday favorites.

Among the highlights of the concert, conducted by Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy, are Voigt’s performances of the English carol “The Holly and the Ivy” and the light-hearted “The Twelve Days After Christmas” with the choir and orchestra. The program includes a new Mack Wilberg twist on the traditional song “Christmas Is Coming (The Geese Are Getting Fat).” The Bells on Temple Square join the choir and orchestra for an upbeat rendition of “Ring Those Christmas Bells.”

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18 @ 7:00PM

For the millions of devoted viewers eagerly awaiting the debut of the new season of Downton Abbey on MASTERPIECE on January 4, 2015, on PBS, relief is on the way. Downton Abbey Rediscovered offers a tempting sampling of best-loved moments from the past four seasons and a few delectable delights from Season Five. Celebrating the series that The Hollywood Reporter praised as “an absolute pleasure to watch,” the program includes a mix of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with creators and cast members, and video clips of favorite scenes. Tony Award®-winning actress, and huge fan of the series, Bernadette Peters hosts the program.

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22 @ 7:00PM

Having spent most of her adult life in the kitchens of highly-lauded restaurants, Vivian has rarely celebrated the holidays during busy Decembers. This year, she and her husband Ben Knight are determined to give their toddler twins a traditional holiday experience, cooking, laughing, and yes, crying their way through Southern traditions new and old. In this holiday special, Vivian discovers that mistletoe is traditionally shot out of a pecan tree, experiences her first hog killing, and leads a “tacky Christmas sweater” night with the restaurant staff at Chef and the Farmer.

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WITH BRUCE FEILER

LOURDES & SHIKOKU

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16 @ 6:00PM & 11:00PM

LOURDES

In 1858, in an unassuming town in the southwest of France, a 14-year-old peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous claimed she had 18 encounters with the Virgin Mary. Since then, Lourdes has become one of the holiest Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world, visited annually by more than five million people who come in search of healing from its sacred waters. Since the end of World War II, soldiers from around the world have journeyed to Lourdes seeking healing and unity with one another at a week-long gathering known as the International Military Pilgrimage.

Shikoku

The Japanese island of Shikoku is the birthplace of the most revered figure in Japanese Buddhism, the monk and teacher Kobo-Daishi, who brought a populist form of Buddhism to Japan from China in the 9th century. For hundreds of years, a 750-mile pilgrimage route has circled this mountainous island, connecting 88 separate temples and shrines that claim connection to Daishi, also known as the Great Master. Each leg of the journey represents a stage of the path to nirvana: awakening, austerity and discipline, enlightenment, and nirvana.

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