The Pillars of the Earth

You are completely right of course!:o

Anyone else think that Imelda Staunton at full throttle would have made a better Regan? (I'm being picky now as it really was good and there weren't even too many adverts (Downton *cough* Abbey) to spoil it!)
 
I know! Me neither! It's a great story with the baddest of baddies. Hope they don't soften him up too much. The casting is interesting for William as he's an ex choir boy from Salisbury Cathedral!
 
After a shaky start (thought it was a little melodramatic for the first 20 odd minutes) it soon recovered and it has managed to become of of the best things I have seen all year. when the characters I remembered from the wonderful book starting appearing in front of me I must admit I started getting a little breathless. I love reading and watching the mediaeval era and this didn't let me down. Here's looking forward to another 7 (that is right isn't it?) to go.

Philip of Gwynedd was probably educated in England which explains his accent (which at times seemd almost South Walian).

I also would have thought that the monk would have employed the use of a wet nurse from Kingsbridge (birth rate, and indeed mortality rates were very high back then) to feed the baby. Not everything neeRAB to be explained on screen after all.
 
Enjoyed that! I'd be interested to know how anyone who hasn't read the book managed to keep up though.

Loving the casting of Waleran (is it just me, or did anyone else pronounce it Wolleran when they read the book?:o) Prior Philip, Remegius and Jack also brilliantly played IMO. In fact, I quite like all the casting but have 2 minor gripes. William ginger??? No way! Jack is the only one allowed to be ginger surely? It kept bugging me........though not as much as the fact that every time I saw Rufus Sewell I got extremely frustrated that he looked like he'd just walked out of Vidal Sasoon.:confused: Surely he should be more dangly and dirty in the hair department?

But the plot's moved on a pretty pace and looking forward to the next one.
 
Ha! Couldnt' quite work that one out - just as Philip of Gwyneth occasionally sounded like Philip of Bucks. :D (Not that it spoilt it whatsoever IMO.)
 
As a huge fan of the book there was the usual trepidation watching this.

Not as good as the book but still damn good.

Not fond of the increased 'court politics' but I suppose it was a way to make the story more direct.

Philip's accent did move around a lot but I can live with that.

All in all, a good start.
 
Tony Curran's been in all sorts, from playing a gay plumber in This Life to tearing the 'good' guys apart in the Underworld sequel.
 
I'm really looking forward to this too - there's been a thread in the Cult section on it and it's already showing in the US. I re-read the book ages ago in anticipation and there's still no sign of it showing here. Channel 4 has bought it and I'm presuming (hoping?) that it will be shown as soon as the silly season's over.

Thanks for starting the thread Freckles.:)
 
I've been looking forward to watching this for ages and I thought last night's episode was excellent! Great acting from all the cast and especially Matthew McFadyen as Prior Philip. Matthew portrays him just like I imagine Prior Philip in the book. He also happens to be one of my all time favourite book characters. I love his goodness. :cool:

Rufus Sewell is also very good as Tom Builder. I was puzzling over a couple of the actors and wondering where I had seen them before; so I went over to IMdB (as you do) and discovered that I have never actually seen Natalia W
 
That was cracking stuff. The characters had depth and the plot moved on - not too fast but it didn't drag either, definitely one to bookmark.
Was it my imagination or did Tom the builder occasionally slip into antipodean?
 
I thought it pretty accurate (agree with previous poster who mentioned that the royal court wasn't such a feature in the book) in that they got in all the main points - though may have changed the order a tad. They kept the characters pretty similar - for me the one who didn't quite ring true was Regan - too pretty - she's supposed to be grotesque with boils all over her face and I definitely don't remember that little scene at the end in the bath with William - or any such reference.:eek::eek: (Think it adRAB to it though.)

I did think they skated a bit over Alfred's jealousy of Jack - that fight did seem to come out of nowhere.
 
Just watched this today. I quite enjoyed it. I saw Ken Follett's name on the acting credits as 'merchant'. Can't say I recognised him though. Ian McShane looks suitably shifty!
 
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