This Month on CPTV
Spring is here, and that means new show premieres highlight the CPTV and CPTV Spirit lineup of exceptional programming. You’ll be entertained, informed and inspired by the latest offerings.
On CPTV
Independent Lens: A Thousand Pines
Monday, April 1 at 10 p.m.
Over the course of a grueling eight months, a crew of Oaxacan guest workers plant trees throughout the United States. This intimate portrait shows how hard it is to balance the physical demands of reforestation and extreme isolation while staying connected to the family back home.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Julius Caesar: The Making of a Dictator
Tuesdays at 9 p.m. beginning April 2
The dramatic story of how nearly five centuries of ancient Roman democracy was overthrown in just 16 years... by one man. This is a three-part saga of a brazen, ambitious power-grab that saw Julius Caesar consolidate the vast power of Rome in his own hands.
SEE A PREVIEW
NOVA: Great American Eclipse
Wednesday, April 3 at 8 p.m.
Explore the spectacular cosmic phenomenon of a total solar eclipse. In April 2024, the Moon’s shadow is sweeping from Texas to Maine, as the U.S. witnesses its last total eclipse until 2044, and scientists scramble to unlock the secrets of our Sun.
SEE A PREVIEW
A Brief History of the Future: Beyond the Now
Wednesdays at 9 p.m. beginning April 3
Join Ari Wallach on his journey to seek the individuals and ideas that can shape a better, more sustainable future in this six-part series. Wallach weaves together history, science and storytelling to expand our understanding of where we find ourselves and what we can do to ensure a better future for the generations to come.
SEE A PREVIEW
The Brokenwood Mysteries | Season 2
Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. beginning April 4
In the popular series, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd, with the assistance of Detective Kristin Sims, investigates a wide range of murder mysteries in Brokenwood, a small town in the countryside of New Zealand.
WATCH NOW WITH PASSPORT
Midsomer Murders | Season 4
Fridays at 8 p.m.
The international hit series MIDSOMER MURDERS, a crime series based on the novels of Caroline Graham, is set in the rural countryside of a fictional county in England. A lush visual style, quirky characters and ubiquitous red herrings recall classic public television British mysteries of the past. At the center of the MIDSOMER MURDERS investigations is Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby, played by actor John Nettles (Bergerac).
YNDI Yoga | Season 3
Sundays at 6:30 a.m. on CPTV and Mondays at 6 a.m. on Spirit
Experience a transformational journey through atmospheric environments and soundscapes to find your yndi ,or bliss. Lana Vogestad, E-RYT 500 and visual artist, leads you through an immersive experience of yoga, meditation and art to improve your mental and physical wellbeing. Each practice is inspired by an archetype of empowerment, such as courage, acceptance, truth, magic, vision and transformation.
WATCH ANYTIME
Call the Midwife | Season 13
Sundays at 8 p.m.
This moving, intimate, funny and true-to-life series, based on the best-selling memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth, tells colorful stories of midwifery and families in London's East End in the 1950s. Jenny Lee, a young woman raised in the wealthy English countryside, has chosen to become a nurse and now, as a newly qualified midwife, has gone to work in the poorest area of the city. Attached to an order of nursing nuns at Nonnatus House, Jenny is part of a team of women who minister to expectant mothers, many of whom give birth at home in appalling conditions. The drama follows Jenny as she meets her patients and learns to love the people who live in the East End. It is now 1969 and more babies are being born in hospital than ever before. Pressure on maternity beds remains extremely high across the country but Poplar is coping better than most due to the work of Nonnatus House and the popularity of home births under the auspices of the Sisters.
WATCH ANYTIME WITH PASSPORT
Mr Bates vs The Post Office
Sundays at 9 p.m. beginning April 7
Based on the infamous British Post Office scandal, the series tells the story of hundreds of people who ran branches of the Post Office across Britain, and who were wrongly accused of theft due to a faulty IT system. For more than a decade, hundreds were accused of stealing and fraud, and many were even sent to prison – leaving lives, marriages and reputations in ruins. But the issue was actually caused by errors in the Post Office’s own computer system – something it denied for years.
SEE A PREVIEW
Alice & Jack
Sundays at 10 p.m.
Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie) and Domhnall Gleeson (The Patient) star in this love story for the ages written by Victor Levin (Mad Men, Mad About You). When Alice (Riseborough) and Jack (Gleeson) first meet they’re bound by a connection so powerful it seems nothing can break it, but will their path lead them to a place of happiness and togetherness? Or will life and their own emotional complexities get in the way? Honest, intimate, and surprisingly funny, the six-part series shows love in all its unexpected, technicolor, kaleidoscopic beauty.
WATCH NOW WITH PASSPORT
RFDS: Royal Flying Doctor Service | Season 2
Sundays at 11 p.m.
Based on remarkable real-life stories, this gripping drama series follows the modern-day heroes of the Royal Flying Doctor Service as they navigate private lives as turbulent and profound as the heart-stopping emergencies they attend to across some of the most beautiful and inhospitable places in the Australian outback.
WATCH NOW WITH PASSPORT
The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song: Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Monday, April 8 at 8 p.m.
The Library of Congress recognizes the incomparable, trail-blazing talents of songwriting duo Elton John and Bernie Taupin with the 2024 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Hosted by Billy Porter, the all-star concert lineup includes artists spanning the generations that followed in Elton's and Bernie's footsteps, including Joni Mitchell, Garth Brooks, Brandi Carlile, Annie Lennox, Metallica, Maren Morris, Charlie Puth and Jacob Lusk of Gabriels, culminating with a showstopping performance from Elton John.
SEE A PREVIEW
Independent Lens - Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s
Monday, April 8 at 11 p.m.
In Matter of Mind: My Parkinson's, three people navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease. An optician pursues deep brain stimulation surgery; a mother raising a pre-teen daughter becomes a boxing coach and an advocate for exercise; and a cartoonist contemplates how he will continue to draw as his motor control declines.
WATCH THE TRAILER
The Invisible Shield: Follow the Data
Tuesday, April 9 at 10 p.m.
Learn how data collection has been an essential public health tool for centuries. Increasing understanding and mitigating the spread of disease, data has helped make sense of the threats to collective health.
SEE A PREVIEW
Nature - Raptors: A Fistful of Daggers
Wednesdays at 8 p.m. beginning April 10
An insightful and spectacular celebration of raptors and what makes them some of the world’s most successful predators. United by a hooked beak, a taste for flesh and a set of razor-sharp talons, these birds of prey have conquered the globe from the African savannah to the high Arctic. Learn more about eagles, hawks, owls, and falcons as well as the lesser-known hunters such as secretary birds, caracaras, seriemas, and others. Explore the question of what the future holds for these remarkable birds in a rapidly changing world due to habitat loss, climate change, persecution, and pollution.
SEE A PREVIEW
Seeds of Change
Monday, April 15 at 9 p.m.
Filmed over the course of two years, this documentary chronicles the work of an organic farmer in Maine who sets out to transform the prison food system. The film features the intersecting stories of lifelong farmer Mark McBrine and several incarcerated men as they grow their own food on a five-acre prison garden unlike any other. In a place where life is routinely defined by shame and despair, good food can be a gateway to meaning, wellness and dignity. Discover the power of using organic agriculture as a means to reform our food systems and change the course of people's lives.
Unforgotten: Connecticut’s Hidden History of Slavery
Tuesday, April 16 at 8 p.m.
As stories of slavery are being uncovered and reclaimed, Connecticut Public explores this hidden history in a special series of stories on radio, TV, podcast and online – featuring historians, experts and descendants of the enslaved.
WATCH, LISTEN AND READ NOW
American Experience - Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal
Monday, April 22 at 9 p.m.
Revisit the story of the 1970s Love Canal disaster, one of the most notorious environmental and public health disasters in US history. The battle for justice, led mostly by women, created the basis for the landmark federal Superfund program.
The Express Way with Dule Hill
Tuesdays at 9 p.m. beginning April 23
This series delves into the power of the arts. Led by renowned actor, dancer and singer Dule Hill, the show captures diverse artists' stories from across America, celebrating community, humanity, and the transformative potential of creative expression.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Independent Lens: One with the Whale
Tuesday, April 23 at 10 p.m.
Hunting whales is a matter of life or death for the residents of St. Lawrence. When a shy Alaska Native teen becomes the youngest person ever to harpoon a whale for his village, his family is blindsided by thousands of keyboard activists brutally attacking him online—without full perspective on the importance of the hunt to his community's well-being.
WATCH THE TRAILER
Changing Planet: Coral Special
Wednesday, April 24 at 8 p.m.
In the third year of this 7-year project examining the issues facing the planet’s most threatened ecosystems, Dr. M. Sanjayan visits the Maldives to take an in-depth look at coral reefs and the urgent efforts to help them survive climate change.
WATCH THE TRAILER
My Life Is Murder
Thursdays at 8 p.m. beginning April 25
Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess, Parks and Recreation) stars as retired cop Alexa Crowe in MY LIFE IS MURDER, a contemporary Australian detective drama. Her old boss (Bernard Curry, Once Upon a Time) regularly asks for her insight on cold cases and a young police data-analyst (Ebony Vagulans) is eager for mentorship. Whether Alexa wants to or not, she can't seem to stop solving crime.
Art Happens Here with John Lithgow
Sunday, April 28 at 7 p.m.
This one-hour special features actor John Lithgow (“Killers of the Flower Moon,” “The Crown,” “Interstellar”) going back to school to demonstrate the transformative power of arts education. He immerses himself with teachers and students to explore four arts disciplines: dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz ensemble. The program celebrates how arts education nurtures and inspires the hearts and minds of students of all ages. Featuring organizations that include Self Help Graphics & Art, The Debbie Allen Dance Academy, the La Canada-Flintridge Community Center and the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA).
GET AN EARLY LOOK
American Masters: Daniel Patrick Moynihan
Monday, April 29 at 10 p.m.
Discover the life of former U.S. Senator and diplomat Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Considered to have one of the broadest public careers in U.S. political history, he served four terms in the Senate under four presidents—two Republicans and two Democrats.
On Spirit
America's Test Kitchen | Season 24
Mondays at 8:30 p.m.
Hosts Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison lead a team of test cooks as they deconstruct recipes and reveal the test kitchen’s secrets to foolproof cooking at home. The 24th season features veteran test cooks Dan Souza, Becky Hays, Elle Simone Scott, Lan Lam, Erin McMurrer, and Keith Dresser, and introduces new test cooks Sam Block, Joe Gitter, Antoinette Johnson, and Erica Turner. This season, we grill up Whole Trout with Marjoram and Lemon; share the secrets to a show stopping Rainbow Cake; stir-fry some Jamaican Pepper Steak, and bring out the multicooker to make Hawaiian Oxtail Soup. We also show you how to expand your frying skills and change the way you approach cooking basics.
WATCH ANYTIME WITH PASSPORT
Joseph Rosendo’s Steppin’ Out
Mondays at 9:30 p.m. beginning April 1
Features the six-time Emmy-winning host in a new travel series that takes viewers to picturesque and ethnically rich destinations, highlighting the people who make our naturally wondrous and culturally diverse planet a better place to live. Rosendo believes a passion for traveling and exploring the world is a part of living well and aging adventurously, and the series reflects this idea. Eight half-hour episodes bring viewers a deep commitment to authentic, responsible and sustainable travel. Rosendo continues to end each episode with the enduring truth of Mark Twain's quote: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness."
Epic Train Journeys From Above
Mondays at 10 p.m.
This six-part series follows some of the world’s most extraordinary railway journeys from above and on the ground, taking the audience on an adventure of a lifetime. We fly above spectacular scenery and explore exceptional engineering; meeting the people who maintain and run these incredible railroads as well as those who live alongside them.
WATCH ANYTIME WITH PASSPORT
Poetry in America
Thursdays at 9:30 p.m. beginning April 4
A 12-part series that draws students of all ages into conversations about poetry. Hosted by Harvard University professor Elisa New, each half-hour episode highlights the work of one distinguished poet (Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks) with a reading by an individual well known for accomplishments outside the humanities (actress and playwright Anna Deavere Smith, Grammy-Award winner Herbie Hancock; former vice president Joe Biden, and rapper/poet Nas), as well as a chorus of others, including: a chorus of pick-up basketball players, young naturalists at the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and students at the Parsons School of Design. The fast-moving, beautifully shot series offers viewers a fully immersive experience in hearing, reading and interpreting a single American poem.
WATCH ANYTIME WITH PASSPORT
Hamish Macbeth
Saturdays at 9:30 p.m.
Hamish Macbeth Based on the popular books from MC Beaton (Agatha Raisin), stars Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting, Angela’s Ashes) in the title role as an unambitious rural policeman. Hamish patrols the lovely Scottish Highland village of Lochdubh with his indispensable canine partner, Wee Jock.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness
Wednesday, April 17 & 24 at 9 p.m.
Hiding in Plain Sight: Youth Mental Illness is a two-part documentary that explores America’s mental health crisis through the eyes of more than twenty young people and the providers, advocates, family, and friends who support them.
WATCH ANYTIME WITH PASSPORT