"Canterbury Tales" (2003) TV mini-series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

11 September 2003 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The Canterbury Tales, retold for our times

Plot:

Clever adaptation of Chaucer's Canterbury to a modern setting. In Episode 1, The Miller's Tale, Nick Zakian attempts to seduce a landlord's wife with promises of a glittering singing career

Plot Keywords:

Modernized Version | TV Mini-Series

Awards:

4 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Nikki Amuka-Bird	...	Constance Musa (1 episode, 2003)
Rob Brown	...	Old Man (1 episode, 2003)
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Paul (1 episode, 2003)
James Nesbitt	...	Nick Zakian (1 episode, 2003)
Indira Varma	...	Meena (1 episode, 2003)
Julie Walters	...	Beth (1 episode, 2003)
Paddy Fletcher	...	Bowles (1 episode, 2003)
Adam Kotz	...	Adam Constable (1 episode, 2003)
Bill Nighy	...	James (1 episode, 2003)
Usha Patel	...	Misha (1 episode, 2003)
Billy Seymour	...	Lad 1 (1 episode, 2003)
Samantha Whittaker	...	Kitty Norman (1 episode, 2003)
Rakie Ayola	...	Nicky Constable (1 episode, 2003)
Rick Bacon	...	Graham (1 episode, 2003)
Joe Halliday	...	Lad 2 (1 episode, 2003)
Indira Joshi	...	Vena (1 episode, 2003)
Jonny Lee Miller	...	Arty (1 episode, 2003)
Stephen Tallett	...	Security Guard (1 episode, 2003)
Ben Bennett	...	Baz (1 episode, 2003)
Pascale Burgess	...	Jessica (1 episode, 2003)
Leena Dhingra	...	Usha (1 episode, 2003)
Keeley Hawes	...	Emily (1 episode, 2003)
Andrew Lincoln	...	Alan King (1 episode, 2003)
Tom Ludlow	...	Lad 3 (1 episode, 2003)
William Beck	...	Colin (1 episode, 2003)
Kika Markham	...	Leila King (1 episode, 2003)
Jane Nash	...	Annie (1 episode, 2003)
Om Puri	...	Jetender (1 episode, 2003)
John Simm	...	Ace (1 episode, 2003)
Dennis Waterman	...	John Crosby (1 episode, 2003)
Barber Ali	...	Gulati (1 episode, 2003)
Leo Bill	...	Terry (1 episode, 2003)
Samantha Bond	...	Jane Barlow (1 episode, 2003)
Steve Chaplin	...	Biff (1 episode, 2003)
Samuel Cocozza	...	Young Man (1 episode, 2003)
Melissa Lloyd	...	Mandy Briggs (1 episode, 2003)
Robert East	...	Mr. Norman (1 episode, 2003)
Nitin Ganatra	...	Pushpinder (1 episode, 2003)
Joseph Kpobie	...	Mick (1 episode, 2003)
Paul Nicholls	...	Jerome (1 episode, 2003)
Billie Piper	...	Alison Crosby (1 episode, 2003)
Leo Wringer	...	Minister (1 episode, 2003)
Jill Baker	...	Mrs. Norman (1 episode, 2003)
Lindelani Buthelezi	...	Embassy Official (1 episode, 2003)
Kenny Doughty	...	Danny Absolon (1 episode, 2003)
Surendra Kochar	...	Romi (1 episode, 2003)
Bill Paterson	...	Theo (1 episode, 2003)
Emma Pike	...	Kirsty (1 episode, 2003)
Mo Amulundun	...	Minister's Wife (1 episode, 2003)
Buffy Davis	...	Jean McIntosh (1 episode, 2003)
Stewart Harwood	...	Blinkers (1 episode, 2003)
Siobhan Hewlett	...	Karen (1 episode, 2003)
Bhasker Patel	...	Dillip (1 episode, 2003)
Joe Prospero	...	Young Arty (1 episode, 2003)
Mark Bazeley	...	Gareth (1 episode, 2003)
Anjali Mya Chadha	...	Sue (1 episode, 2003)
Hakeem Kae-Kazim	...	Yasouf (1 episode, 2003)
Tonya Kerins	...	Mrs. Healey (1 episode, 2003)
Bill Moody	...	Ernie (1 episode, 2003)
Eddie Nestor	...	Dave Tyler (1 episode, 2003)
Lalita Ahmed	...	Rani (1 episode, 2003)
Michele Austin	...	Trish (1 episode, 2003)
Karen Bryson	...	Oonagh (1 episode, 2003)
Ian Burfield	...	Mr. Healey (1 episode, 2003)
Eileen Essell	...	Mrs Jean Smallwood (1 episode, 2003)
Mpho Osei Tutu	...	Man with Gun (1 episode, 2003)
Sonny Brown	...	Really Young Arty (1 episode, 2003)
Charu Bala Chokshi	...	Archana (1 episode, 2003)
Lorna Gayle	...	Noreen (1 episode, 2003)
Tim Hardy	...	Doctor (1 episode, 2003)
Ralph Riach	...	Mr Malcolm Wickens (1 episode, 2003)
Nomsa Xaba	...	Mother (1 episode, 2003)
Jonathan Chan-Pensley	...	Waiter Clive (1 episode, 2003)
Glenn Hanning	...	Heckler (1 episode, 2003)
Annie Julian	...	The Other Woman (1 episode, 2003)
Archie Panjabi	...	Clare (1 episode, 2003)
Vivienne Ritchie	...	Arty's Mother (1 episode, 2003)
Philip Wright	...	Monitoring Officer 1 (1 episode, 2003)
Dylan Charles	...	Jason (1 episode, 2003)
Kevin Golding	...	Policeman (1 episode, 2003)
Richard Hope	...	Arty's Father (1 episode, 2003)
Sello Motloung	...	Big Man (1 episode, 2003)
Osi Okerafor	...	Monitoring Officer 2 (1 episode, 2003)
Abby Simpson	...	Juice Woman (1 episode, 2003)
Kal Aise	...	Ace's Mate (1 episode, 2003)
Paul Bazely	...	Rajan (1 episode, 2003)
Maxine Evans	...	Mrs. Preston (1 episode, 2003)
Philip Hutchinson	...	Customer (1 episode, 2003)
John Kirk	...	Policeman (1 episode, 2003)
Yule Masiteng	...	Priest (1 episode, 2003)
Stephen Aintree	...	Middle Aged Man (1 episode, 2003)
Philip Goldacre	...	Pub Punter (1 episode, 2003)
Sarah Kendall	...	Policewoman (1 episode, 2003)
James Walmsley	...	Security Guard (1 episode, 2003)
James Woolley	...	Prosecution Barrister (1 episode, 2003)
Janet Behan	...	Woman in Cathedral (1 episode, 2003)
Donald Douglas	...	Judge (1 episode, 2003)
Leila Joyce	...	Girl (1 episode, 2003)
Richard Syms	...	The Vicar (1 episode, 2003)
Michael Miller	...	Security Guard (1 episode, 2003)
Jaymie Pennington	...	Chloe Healey (1 episode, 2003)
Carolyn Pickles	...	Judy (1 episode, 2003)
Jack Chissick	...	Uncle Ronald (1 episode, 2003)
Paul Clayden	...	Him (1 episode, 2003)
Bob Mason	...	Ian (1 episode, 2003)
Lucy Brown	...	Her (1 episode, 2003)
Jade Williams	...	Amy Healey (1 episode, 2003)
Mitesh Soni	...	Waiter (1 episode, 2003)
Mark Hesketh	...	Smart Young Man (1 episode, 2003)
Adriane Denia	...	Script Supervisor (1 episode, 2003)
Ray Donn		(1 episode, 2003)

Runtime:

349 min (6 parts)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Ziji Productions

Movie Connections:

Version of I racconti di Canterbury (1972)

Chaucer for chimps

This BBC adaptation of Chaucer's exquisitely bawdy Miller's tale is a truly dispiriting experience. I doubt that Chaucer's name would even be remembered let alone revered as the father of English literature if this shoddy updating is the only evidence that most people had to go on.

Chaucer's original is one of the great stories of the middle-ages; bawdy, irreverent, but ultimate life-affirming. The adaptation has converted this timeless work into contemporary banality. One cannot even call it hackwork, so badly is it done. One of the most important aspects of Chaucer's story was that the cuckolded husband has a bizarre notion that the world is nearing its end (and we don't know many people like that, DO WE, gentle reader?), and in anticipation of the coming flood, has gerry-built a boat in his attic which he has taken to sleeping in on the advise of Nicholas who is tupping his wife. Thus, when Nicholas' arse it burnt by Absolon, and he cries out 'water, water' the tale reaches a great comic climax with the husband waking up and, believing this to be a cry that the flood is coming, cutting the boat loose and falling down the stairs and bashing his head. This is a part of Chaucer's beautifully crafted story (ie one of the main points of it) that is absent from this version. I wonder why, since we hardly lack muttonheaded messianic figures and Nostradamian nincompoops in our own times any more than in Chaucer's. Perhaps the makers worried about offending a religious minority (the minority here being not christians, who are an easy aunt sally for them, but new-agers). Actually, I think that the literarily-lobotomised adapter removed it because it was not realistic (in a soap opera sense) and therefore not relevant to its target audience. It is a strange decision. The real lowpoint of this abysmal work, however, was the dialogue; some of the flattest I've heard. It was like Chaucer re-written for the batwatchviewer, every other line being a reference to some aspect of contemporary pop culture. The actors do what they can with this dreary stuff, but it has been drained of all the life that Chaucer, good man that he was, had taken the trouble to put in there.