Cadfael

I first watched this show believing it would be another dull British detective story, I was wrong it was an excellent show about a medieval monk who uses deductive reasoning to solve murders. The show also gives you a sense of what life was like in the middle ages. A lot of medieval stories concentrate on brutality of the times while this one shows the day to day affairs of normal people, the culture ,the church, the politics and how it affects the murder of the victims.

I have since read the Ellis Peters novels and quite simply this is one case where the TV show is better than the books it was based on. I highly recommend watching this show if you like murder mysteries.

Even those with criticism for the Cadfael series' inaccuracies and inconsistencies can't help but be avid admirers. The writing and performances are superb and Jacobi must surely be one of the most gifted actors alive on stage or screen.

It seems unnecessary that they had to go abroad to film the series. There must surely be a patch of forest left in Wales or the west of England that would have suited a film crew. It is also a shame that more actual Welsh actors had not been engaged for the series, even as extras or cameos. The location is in a traditionally Welsh region of Shropshire, so one should expect to hear Welsh being spoken by the abbey locals, if not the occasional cast member.

It is true some of the episodes did not work well, especially the incredible "Virgin in the Ice". "The Sanctuary Sparrow" is certainly one of the best due to the classical tragedy of the story. The series is accompanied well on American television by forewords and epilogues by Diana Rigg, usually with interesting trivia about the books, filming or historical background.

there's no ballot. I'd give the series a 9-of-10 mark. Jacobi is perfect as the solver of mysteries. I'd like to kick Brother Jerome in the shins, so that actor must have done an excellent job playing his part as well. Of the 3 sheriffs, I prefer the premier season's man. The others don't quite measure up. I have seen 10 of the videos released from the series so far...am still trying to locate those from the 3rd set.

My vote for this series would be an 8 out of 10. It's fairly accurate to the book and I think I actually enjoy the series more. It got rather strange when the actor playing Hugh Beringar kept changing, Sean Pertwee (from the premier season) portrayed him the best. Some of the later episodes fell short of my expectations and sometimes the extras' voices were quite obviously dubbed in, but all in all it was quite an entertaining show.

Cadfael is a medieval detective series set in mid-12th Century Shrewsbury against the backdrop of a devastating civil war. It is based on the entertaining and popular series of novels by Ellis Peters, the pseudonym of Edith Pargeter. The protagonist is a Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael, the crusader-turned-herbalist at the monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul, who finds that the only way to get justice for the corpses that come under his care is to investigate the murders himself.

Many of the intricacies and sub-plots that brought such life to the source material are cut out to fit the stories into 75 minutes. Only 13 episodes of the 20 available books were filmed, which is a shame, although from reading the entire series I would say that arguably the best stories got through. The adaptations are good despite their limitations, but it is noticeable when the original (and superior) dialogue is used. The sets and costumes look great and the Hungarian location is a more than adequate substitute. The authenticity in the series is much higher than in most films set in the era.

The role of Brother Cadfael is played brilliantly by Sir Derek Jacobi, who delivers a performance that really brings out the different facets of the complex character of a former crusader and sailor who settles for a quiet life in a monastery. Though he was not the first choice for the role, it is hard to see how anyone could have improved upon his work except to perhaps bring out more of the Welshman in him. The support is mostly excellent, with actors such as Terence Hardiman, Julian Firth, Michael Culver etc. turning in memorable performances. It is a shame that they could not have had more consistent casting of law man Hugh Beringar and it is not just the actor that changed – he went from being a level-headed and intelligent man in the Sean Pertwee era to someone who believed in testing guilt by throwing the accused in a river during the Anthony Green phase! Unfortunately occasionally there is some unintentional hilarity from the poor dubbing of the Hungarian extras.

Cadfael is worth seeking out if for no other reason than because it is a refreshing change from the CSI-type mysteries that fill our screens, with a different setting and a focus on knowledge of human behaviour rather than forensics (though Cadfael is well ahead of his time in the latter discipline!).