The Pillars of the Earth

I don't venture into Cult much since A2A ended. Another thanks to the OP for bringing this to our attention, I wonder if the fans of the novel in the Books forum know it is coming up, I haven't seen any discussion there about a series.
 
I did quite like this show so I'll probably stay tuned to it.

The small nitpicks I had about it - the first 30 mins or so there was far too much 'chopping' between scenes. There seemed to be too many very short, less than a 10 secs scenes where people would just say one word or two and then it'll go to something else.

Also, I was unimpressed with Mathew Macfadyen's welsh accent. It was almost as bad as the american/welsh guy in the Robin Hood film that was out this summer - in that I only knew he was welsh because the other cast members kept referring to him as being.

And, the final thing was at the end. So, Tom the Builder found out that his new love is being accused of witch craft and that there's a witness to testify against her. She also tells him that she's really annoyed some very important people - including the new Bishop, by cursing them. And then she hangs around for the night to leave in the morning? Surely if you know you've been accused of that, and you know that it's a death sentence you'd actually just jump on the first horse you can find and get as far away from there as possible?

Actually, talking about the curses - anyone know what they actually were again? I know the first one was the church burning down (which it has now done) so I assume that at some point the other two will happen too? And did they say in the show last night who the guy in the middle was when she did the cursing? Or is that something we find out later?
 
I had never heard of this before ,saw the cast and thought it must be worth a watch ....and it was....a real treat with baddies round every corner being balanced out by goodies of course ;)

Great settings..great acting...great story ... what more could you want on a Saturday night ...well done Channel 4
 
I really enjoyed it too.

I haven't read the book (or even heard of it prior to watching tonight), but I'm quite interested in Medieval English history, so know about the Civil War between those following King Stephen and those following Princess Maude and managed to keep up that way.

A question for fellow fans of Doctor Who - did you notice that King Stephen looked remarkably like Vincent Van Gogh?!!!!
 
On the whole I enjoyed it apart from the usual perfect teeth and Rufus being over groomed.Didn't think Donald Sutherland rang true but not sure why. To me he was just being himself. How did the chap who took the baby from the grave manage to feed it ? Does the book say?
 
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Yes, it goes into some detail. I think his name is Johnny Eightpence (as in 4 pence short of a shilling) - in the book he doesn't find the baby, Philip does if I remember correctly and hanRAB him over to Johnny. They use goats milk and a rag. They saturate the rag in the milk and let the baby suck on it. I'd be interested to know if this was artistic licence or whether that was, in fact, a way of helping an orphaned baby survive in those days.

Also, no one apart from Ellen knows that this is Tom's baby in the book. Last night it was apparent that Jack knew and I haven't worked out yet if Alfred and Martha know or not.
 
Just started watching some of this this morning before work and am hooked already. It was a but predictable though. As soon as I saw Rufus Sewell's wife I knew she would die pretty damn quickly.

I agree with whoever mentioned that everyone had perfect teeth. Most people would probably have rotten or no teeth in those days but I can't imagine America being sold a TV series where the characters don't have white Hollywood veneers!
 
Yes, but Henry I and his family where Norman French, not Saxon. They all spoke French not English in court in those days. So calling her Maud is a bit too familiar for a high born woman for the period. Her father or immediate family and husband(he was French) might have done so. But everyone called her Maud, even the monks.

Little things like this do annoy me.:p
 
Wasn't Stephen's wife named Matilda? Calling one woman Maud and the other Matilda handily distinguishes them. Not a big deal in light of some contemporary sources using "Maud."
 
I've been waiting a couple of months for this after I stumbled upon a trailer on YouTube and it didn't disappoint, I thought it was great. I watched it on Sky+ because it was scheduled against the X-Factor (whose geniuses idea was that?) and was only planning to watch the first episodes worth but was so gripped I watched both and it was over in a blink. I don
 
I watched this over the summer via alternative means and I loved it. I did find that the first episode, for me anyway, jumped about a bit too much, but the later episodes were fantastic. I watched it on a Sunday evening and when I heard that Channel 4 were going to show it, I assumed wrongly that they would do the same. Saturday nights up against the biggest show on TV - who at Channel 4 thought that this was a good idea ?

It looks like a sequel is being prepared

http://www.ken-follett.com/news/index.html

Tandem acquires the rights to World Without End

World Without End, the sequel to The Pillars of the Earth, has been optioned by Tandem Communications for a possible eight-hour television series, in conjunction with Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free Films. Screenwriter John Pielmeier, who scripted The Pillars of the Earth mini-series, will adapt World Without End.

Starz Entertainment is co-funding the writing portion with Tandem.
 
I nearly deleted it after five minutes max - really crass production, dreadful casting of younger characters. The only reason this isn't children's telly is the blood and gore, with sex probably following soon.

A shame for me because I love historical novels of this period-ish.

parthena
 
Had bad thoughts hoping that it wasn't BBC-ified a la Robin Hood meaning everyone is clean and healthy and all the clothers are clearly machine made by Yves Saint Laurent. Anyone know if the sequel is in the pipeline?
 
It annoys me that she's called "Princess" and not "Empress" in this. She certainly seems to have been regarded as a haughty woman at the time and to have referred to herself as "Empress". In fact Henry II was sometimes referred to as "Henry FitzEmpress", or so I have read.

The character with the name "Percy" also annoys me. Surely this name came about much later with reference to and in deference to the Earls/Dukes of Northumberland with that name?
 
I think the stuff about rotten teeth is a bit of a myth really. When watching archeology programs skeletons from that time seem to have pretty good teeth.
They would have likely been crooked (no dental braces!) and a dental abcess was likely to kill, but sugar was a real luxury product until much later on and honey would have been a rare treat for most people.
I recall on one of those 'living like our ancestors' programs that they would use chewed twigs to clean their teeth, perhaps using soot as an abrasive.
 
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