Did anyone watch Pillars of the Earth?

[MardyBra]

Not as good as the book imo, but quite an enjoyable watch.

Loved the actor who played Jack, and Sarah Parrish and Ian McShane did some great baddy acting. The actress who played Ellen had a very odd accent though.

Also wondered whether the depiction of the cathedral was a little advanced for the 12th century.

I've havent seen the last episode yet but was traumatised at the 'evilness' of the series. Every week something horrible happened and we were left with loathsome William smirking and then shagging his mother.... It was deeply traumatising!
I'm hoping he gets his comeuppance in the last episode.
The bishop was pretty evil too.

As for the cathedral I haven't seen how it looks finished but the Gothic movement started with the Abbey of Saint-Denis (hence Jack's visit there) in the 11th century.
It then spread from there but not straight away in England as far as I know.

It was entertaining hokum, wasn't it? No I do believe that cathedrals were quite impressive then already - although it could take decades to finish them.

I did love the subtle subtext of the Master Builder's son being in love with Jack. It took me a while to realise that when he touched Jack's face as he was dying - his passion and frustration was for him. That's why he hadn't consumated his marriage.

I loved Ian McShane...who looked like an actor enjoying himself...

Missed the programme but loved the book. Is it worth buying on dvd when it comes out?

Actually overall it was pretty good- the acting and the cast was excellent.
I'm not sure how close to the book it is as I haven't read it, but as a stand alone piece of TV it was highly entertaining.

Just finished watching it and I agree that they went a bit OTT on the cathedral at the end. The facade looked more 15th century Gothic than 12th! And someone should have told them that medieval cathedral were painted- the statues and the columns would have been multicoloured to create the effect of heaven on earth.

I take it back about the cathedrals. I hadn't realised just how impressive they were in the 1100s (just been off to google St Denis and others). Amazing that something that elegant can still be standing 900 years later.

Punka - I completely missed that subtext about the son (Alfred?) but iswym. Mind you I mainly watched it while doing the ironing - as DH didn't want to watch "some programme about a bloody cathedral" - so some subtleties may have been lost.

Just looked up the actress who played Ellen and she is German, which accounts for some of the vowel sounds.

I really enjoyed the series, but thought the end was more like EastEnders than anything else. Haven't read the book.

The homoerotic subtext should have been played out a bit more I think.

Wonderful villains though, Sarah Parrish, Ian McShane and William [don't know actor's name] and glad to see their comeuppance.

I love Matthew McFadyan. He is such a brilliant actor.

Very easy on the eye, wasn't he? (In a strange monk way)

The actor who played Jack was also rather tasty.

I didn't fancy Jack at all though.

Were was that homoerotic subtext???
All we saw was a jealous boy- as Alfred said himself he hated Jack because he took his mother, his father and the woman he loved away from him.
And then when he dies he suddenly starts stroking Jack's lips lovingly? That was just odd.

That's why it should have been played out earlier though.

I wished I'd have watched this now. I really enjoyed the book, andd watched the first episode, but it didnt grip me , so I gave up ...

The guy who played William (whom nobody seems to know) did a great job. He was pure evil but played the guilt-I'm-going-to-Hell side of his character really well.
I liked that despite the fact that they all schemed and evil-ed their way through horrible deeds there was a really sense of religious awe to these characters.

I take it Alfred's supposed to be in love with Jack in the book then? If so why did they make such a great job of showing his ongoing unrequited love for Aliena throughout the years? They weren't very subtle with the incestuous relationship between William and his mother and the prior's love for another monk, so why didn't they go there?

Loved it. I would defo buy it on DVD

I loved it too..

The acting was fab (even if it was a bit grim with the old spurty fake blood)

I thought the villains were great and i loved the way jack became more self assured through the seires (I googled it and the actor went to Eton!)

I also loved the last shot that had the cathedral in a modern day setting. Really made the point about hwo these buildings have seen a lot of history go by

Lydwatt - I loved that last shot too!

It took me a while to realise it was a modern day setting.
I thought they'd done a job of rebuilding the priory...

Homoerotic subtext? WTF? Haven't seen it but that was definitely not in the book...

I have mixed feelings, it deviated from the book a bit too much for me. I really enjoyed the penultimate episode but the last one ......OMG, those hair extensions!! I couldn't stop laughing, WTF were they thinking?

It was a bit disconcerting seeing almost the entire cast re-appear the next evening in Any Human Heart too! I kept expecting evil William to pop up and start pillaging .