Sir Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael.
Have been enjoying BBC’s Cadfael mystery series for some time. I think I've watched nearly all 13 episodes filmed back in the mid-late 90s. Available in a fantastic DVD boxset from Amazon (which I long to own), you can check them out on Netflix. Many personal websites share insight and information about the main character, Brother Cadfael, and the Shrewsbury setting.
I recognized guest actors from other shows I've enjoyed like Anna Friel (Timeline, Bathory, Pushing Daisies), Natasha McElhone (The Secret of Moonacre), Hermione Morris (BBC Spooks) to name a few. Coincidentally, it was filmed in Budapest on a set used by BBC's Robin Hood - another show I watched with great enthusiasm. Ellis Peters also writes under the pen name Edith Pargeter, whose The Brothers Gwynedd series I enjoyed about 10 years ago. Love Welsh historic fiction!
interesting :) I haven´t any idea bout this series ejejeje!!
ReplyDeletei've seen a handful of these episodes and they were really good :D
ReplyDeleteRuzu - Not sure if they ever aired on BBC America or other networks and discovered them quite by accident - although a happy one!
ReplyDeleteI'm only sorry they didn't do all the books. I think I have my VHS tapes memorized now, need to replace with DVDs one day.
ReplyDeleteThey were shown on PBS here in the States
ReplyDeleteMermaiden - I think they capture the essence of everyday medieval life really well (or as I imagine it to be) without over-romanticizing it.
ReplyDeleteLadyhawthorne - I did not know that - thanks so much for the info!! and wonder how I missed them as I'm an avid PBS viewer. I'm sure the boxed set is well worth every penny.
ReplyDeleteI did catch a few on PBS as well and loved them so much...wish they would re-air them!
ReplyDeleteCan't remember how long ago it was with my terrible sense of time, but really enjoyed the attention to detail.
Jen - Again, I'm wondering how the PBS airing escaped my all-seeing medieval eye:) The details — interiors, simple clothing, everyday objects really helped transport the viewer. Well cast too.
ReplyDeleteThe sets, real buildings, were created in Poland and they are still there though falling into disrepair. It was part of what made it an expensive series to produce and I guess why they stopped less than halfway through the book series. Derek Jacoby really IS Cadfael, I can't imagine anyone else playing him. And Jacoby is excellent in anything he does.
ReplyDeleteI adore the Cadfael mysteries, esp. the television series - they were so lucky to get Derek Jacoby to play Cadfael! What a consummate actor. He makes the show.
ReplyDeleteMargaret - I thought he was excellent too and even though he was a "man of the cloth" I had a wee crush on him:)
ReplyDeleteI definitely need to rent these! Looks great!
ReplyDeleteRobin - Given that we have such similar viewing habits, I think you'd really enjoy. Lots of Welsh references too.
ReplyDeleteI too, love this series. There is another very engrossing novel about an old world "detective" by C.J. Sansom entitled "Dissolution". It takes in a Monastery in a later time period, the 1500's. I found this as a "book on tape" read by Simon Jones,on Amazon. That is the best way to experience it, because the actor reading the book is marvelous.
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