PBS MASTERPIECE has brought a poignant British gem to American audiences with The Great Escaper (2023), the final film starring screen legends Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson in their last on-screen appearances together. Directed by Oliver Parker and inspired by a true story, this heartfelt drama celebrates courage, enduring love, and the spirit of adventure in later life.

Caine, 90 at the time of filming, plays Bernie Jordan, a 89-year-old Royal Navy veteran living in a care home in 2014. Frustrated by bureaucracy preventing him from attending the 70th anniversary D-Day commemorations in Normandy, Bernie makes a daring escape — slipping out to travel alone to France, sparking a nationwide manhunt and media frenzy back home.

Glenda Jackson, in her final role before her death in 2023 at age 87, portrays Bernie’s devoted wife Irene with warmth and quiet strength. Their tender, lived-in chemistry — forged over decades of mutual respect — forms the emotional core. Flashbacks to their younger days (played by Will Fletcher and Laura Marcus) show how their love weathered war and hardship, making the present-day separation even more moving.

The film balances gentle humour with profound emotion. Bernie’s journey becomes a media sensation, with John Standing as his care home friend Arthur and Danielle Vitalis as a kind French stranger adding charm. Parker’s direction captures the beauty of Normandy beaches while contrasting them with the couple’s quiet English life.

Based on the real Bernard Jordan’s 2014 escapade — he travelled by ferry without telling staff — the story honours unsung veterans while exploring themes of aging, autonomy, and legacy. Caine’s Bernie is stubborn yet vulnerable, Jackson’s Irene fierce yet fragile — performances critics called “career-capping triumphs.”

Reviews praised its restraint: The Guardian awarded four stars, calling it “a fitting swan song for two greats,” while Variety noted its “tear-jerking without sentimentality.” Audiences have embraced its message: life’s adventures don’t end with age.

Broadcast on PBS MASTERPIECE in late 2025, The Great Escaper offers perfect Sunday-night viewing — uplifting, bittersweet, and profoundly human. As Caine and Jackson bid farewell to the screen, their final collaboration reminds us: sometimes the greatest escapes are those of the heart.

For fans of gentle British dramas like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, this is essential viewing — a tribute to love that endures, and lives lived fully to the end.