Even during strike, PBS and others deliver drama

Facing the bleak prospect of an unscripted TV season, viewers have some solace:
Yes, there are still some other countries in the world. Many of them speak English, just like we do (or even better). And yes, especially, there’s PBS.
The latest news is the fall line-up of “Masterpiece” mysteries, which fill PBS’ Sundays. It will include the second seasons of “World on Fire” (shown here in the first season) and “Annika,” the third of “Van der Valk” and the fifth of “Unforgotten.” If the past is any hint, these will be smart and involving, if a tad drab.
Hollywood has braced for a long Writers Guild strike, but with different impact. Movies, streamers and premium-cable networks work far in advance, but networks and basic-cable don’t. For them, a long strike can be disastrous.
ABC has already announced a fall schedule with no scripted shows. CBS has delayed its summer reality shows, to continue into fall; others may scramble.
One semi-solution involves shows that have already been made in other countries. Examples include:
— CW, under new ownership, had already started purging its fantasy shows. It’s going with lower-cost ones this summer and fall, with shows from Canada (mostly), England and Australia.
— The Ovation cable network has long had a spot (7 and 8 p.m. ET Saturdays) for imported dramas. Most, led by “Murdoch Mysteries,” are Canadian and low-key. Now, however, the network is using that spot for all four seasons (40 episodes) of “Shakespeare & Hathaway,” a clever show about mismatched detectives, filmed in Stratford-on-Avon.
— Others have occasional imports. This summer, TNT has “The Lazarus Project” (9 p.m. Sundays), a smart show about a device that can wind back time, to prevent world-ending disasters.
— And PBS has been importing dramas since “Masterpiece” began, 52 years ago.
Currently, it has the first season of “Ridley” and the last of “Endeavour,” an “Inspector Morse” prequel.
Alex Ridley (played by Adrian Dunbar, 64) is a retired cop; Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans, 43) is still fairly early in his career. Both are alone and despondent: Ridley’s wife and daughter were killed; Morse’s only romance (with a colleague’s daughter) crumbled.
Both have movie-length mysteries, with a difference: “Ridley” (8 p.m. Sundays) has four stories, each split over two weeks and extending into August. “Endeavour” (9 p.m.) has only three, each told in one gulp, concluding July 2.
After that, “Grantchester” takes over the 9 p.m. spot. It’s a six-week story that takes a powerful detour at the end of the first hour. The show still solves a crime each week, but also takes Will (the crimesolving vicar) on a dark emotional journey.
That leads to PBS’ newly announced fall line-up. It has:
— Sept. 3: “Van der Volk,” a British show filmed in Amsterdam, with Marc Warren as the crimesolver.
— Sept. 3: “Unforgotten,” which each season manages to wind a complex “cold case” through six episodes. The first four seasons starred Nicola Walker; in this fifth one, Sinead Keenan, an Irish actress, takes over. Sanjeev Bhaskar remains as the colleague.
— Oct. 15: “Annika,” which is Walker’s new project. She plays a Scottish detective (with Norwegian roots) at the Marine Homicide Unit in Glasgow.
— Oct. 15: “World on Fire.” In the first season, a young translator (played by Jonah Hauer-King, the prince in the “Little Mermaid” movie) was enmeshed in World War II chaos. As the season ended, he and Kasia (Zofia Wichlacz), a member of the Polish Resistance, were fleeing from gunfire.
The shows have emerged slowly … partly because of the pandemic and partly because British TV is rarely rushed. “Annika” has made two seasons in three years, “World on Fire” made two in four years, “Van der Valk” made three in four years and “Unforgotten” made five in eight.