The Pillars of the Earth (2010– )

Set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.

Stars:

Ian McShane, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 4 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Ian McShane	...	Waleran Bigod (8 episodes, 2010)
Matthew Macfadyen	...	Philip (8 episodes, 2010)
Eddie Redmayne	...	Jack (8 episodes, 2010)
Hayley Atwell	...	Aliena (8 episodes, 2010)
Sarah Parish	...	Regan Hamleigh (8 episodes, 2010)
Natalia Wörner	...	Ellen (8 episodes, 2010)
Anatole Taubman	...	Remigius (8 episodes, 2010)
John Pielmeier	...	Cuthbert (8 episodes, 2010)
Robert Bathurst	...	Percy Hamleigh (8 episodes, 2010)
Clive Wood	...	King Henry I (8 episodes, 2010)
Sam Claflin	...	Richard (8 episodes, 2010)
Liam Garrigan	...	Alfred (8 episodes, 2010)
David Oakes	...	William Hamleigh (8 episodes, 2010)
Tony Curran	...	Stephen (8 episodes, 2010)
Donald Sutherland	...	Bartholomew (8 episodes, 2010)
Alison Pill	...	Maud (8 episodes, 2010)
Gordon Pinsent	...	Archbishop (8 episodes, 2010)
László Áron	...	Architect (8 episodes, 2010)
Féodor Atkine	...	Abbot Suger (8 episodes, 2010)
Kelly Endresz-Banlaki	...	Princess (8 episodes, 2010)
Virág Bárány	...	Young Woman Whore (8 episodes, 2010)
David Bark-Jones	...	Francis (8 episodes, 2010)
Tamás Baross	...	Gabriel (8 episodes, 2010)
Oliver Bauer	...	Medieval Child (8 episodes, 2010)
Skye Bennett	...	Martha - young (8 episodes, 2010)
Freddie Boath	...	Henry - 15 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Douglas Booth	...	Eustace - 15 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Ottilia Borbáth	...	Townfolk #3 (8 episodes, 2010)
Jonathan Coy	...	Father Ralph (8 episodes, 2010)
Scott Curtis	...	Peasant (8 episodes, 2010)
Antal Czapkó	...	General (8 episodes, 2010)
Brooke Dean	...	Maud - 6 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Matt Devere	...	Gloucester (8 episodes, 2010)
Kate Dickie	...	Agnes (8 episodes, 2010)
Lara Dzikowski	...	Townfolk #5 (8 episodes, 2010)
Gabriella Fon	...	Townfolk #1 (8 episodes, 2010)
Stu Gamble	...	Lad (8 episodes, 2010)
Kevin Griffiths	...	Lord #1 (8 episodes, 2010)
David Haderer	...	Robin Goodfellow (8 episodes, 2010)
Jody Halse	...	Johnny Eightpence (8 episodes, 2010)
Máté Haumann	...	Messenger #3 (8 episodes, 2010)
Jeremy Haward-Grau	...	Little Henry (8 episodes, 2010)
Emily Holt	...	Martha - older (8 episodes, 2010)
Péter Horkay	...	Steward (8 episodes, 2010)
Ákos Horváth	...	Simon Goodfellow (8 episodes, 2010)
Barna Illyés	...	Labourer (8 episodes, 2010)
Csaba Jakab	...	French Mason (8 episodes, 2010)
Sidney Johnston	...	Jonathan - 4-5 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Mike Kelly	...	Messenger #2 (8 episodes, 2010)
Péter Kertész	...	Stephen's Physician (8 episodes, 2010)
Bernadett Kis	...	Midwife (8 episodes, 2010)
László Konter	...	Bishop (8 episodes, 2010)
Alexis Latham	...	One-armed Wool Man (8 episodes, 2010)
Antal Leisen	...	Townfolk #4 (8 episodes, 2010)
Peter Linka	...	Townsman (8 episodes, 2010)
Skye Lourie	...	Elizabeth (8 episodes, 2010)
Pál Makrai	...	French Master Builder (8 episodes, 2010)
Michael Mehlmann	...	Prior James (8 episodes, 2010)
George Mendel	...	Lord #2 (8 episodes, 2010)
Lisa Millett	...	Kate (8 episodes, 2010)
Piroska Molnár	...	Grandmama (8 episodes, 2010)
Ben O'Brien	...	Winchester Clerk (8 episodes, 2010)
Kende Orbán	...	Eustace - 4-5 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Miklos Pavel	...	Sentry Edgar (8 episodes, 2010)
Mark Phelan	...	Otto (8 episodes, 2010)
Tibor Pintér	...	Shareburg (8 episodes, 2010)
John Rado	...	Sentry (8 episodes, 2010)
Kevin Rees	...	Jonathan - 30 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Barnabás Réti	...	Brother Paul (8 episodes, 2010)
Richard Rifkin	...	Matthew (8 episodes, 2010)
András Sándor	...	Page (8 episodes, 2010)
Nicolas Sipek	...	Stephen's Fake Son - 4 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Tibor Süle	...	Antoine (8 episodes, 2010)
Margaréta Szabó	...	Young Woman (8 episodes, 2010)
Tatiana Szalay	...	Gabriel's Mother (8 episodes, 2010)
Sándor Téri	...	Physician (8 episodes, 2010)
Dorian Thomas	...	Teenage Boy (8 episodes, 2010)
Geoffrey Thomas	...	Earl of Weymouth (8 episodes, 2010)
Zoltan Toth	...	Prince (8 episodes, 2010)
Zsófi Trecskó	...	French Peasant Woman (8 episodes, 2010)
Tamás Varga	...	Townfolk #2 (8 episodes, 2010)
András Várkonyi	...	Captain (8 episodes, 2010)
Zsolt Zágoni	...	Shiring Messenger #1 (8 episodes, 2010)
Marcell Závodi	...	Tommy - 9 years old (8 episodes, 2010)
Bianca Bauer	...	Medieval Child (8 episodes, 2010)
Rufus Sewell	...	Tom Builder (7 episodes, 2010)
Götz Otto	...	Walter (7 episodes, 2010)

Storyline

The Pillars of the Earth is set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart. In that time, there rises a magnificent Cathedral in Kingsbridge. Against the backdrop, love-stories entwine: Tom, the master builder, Aliena, the noblewoman, the sadistic Lord William, Philip, the prior of Kingsbridge, Jack, the artist in stone work and Ellen, the woman from the forest who casts a curse. At once, this is a sensuous and enduring love story and an epic that shines with the fierce spirit of a passionate age. Follett masterfully weaves these stories through political turmoil of 12th century England, creating a relevant and viable world for today's audience and for generations to come.

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Plot Keywords:

cathedral | england | 12th century | king | tv mini series | 

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Taglines:

Nothing is sacred.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Germany Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 July 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Los pilares de la Tierra

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tandem Communications, Muse Entertainment Enterprises, Scott Free Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ken Follett:  The merchant who tells Jack about his father.

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Goofs

Throughout the series, Stephen and Matilda are both referred to as "Majesty". English kings and queens did not use the title "Majesty" until the middle of the 16th century, nearly 400 years after the setting of this series

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Connections

Featured in The Wright Stuff: Episode #14.55 (2010)

User Reviews

Pillories of the Earth

I'll admit that I almost gave up on this series after the first episode. So many plots shown briefly and so many characters! But I had just taken a course on the period so I battled through it. Luckily, they've been doing many repeated showings of the episodes, so I watched the first episode a second time and the series has won me over.

Now if you've read the book, of course, you're going to be a little disappointed. You've spent many hours with these characters and formed your own images and opinions about who they are and what they look like. The author had the luxury to spend as much time on each one and each scene to craft all the details. The series has only 8 hours so many details and subplots will have to be altered just a bit. And many of the reviewers who have been devoted lovers of the book have complained either that it would be impossible to catch every detail or that the series creators left out so-and-so detail but the fact is that you can't satisfy the nit-pickers. After watching the first 4 episodes, I've become entranced by the characters and the epic. Sure you have to invest some effort into figuring things out at the start. Sure some of the historical inaccuracies when it comes to the portrayal of printed books centuries before they could have existed are a bit jarring. But the important facts are that these are small trade-offs when you consider the big picture. They only make me more intrigued about how anyone could become learned in a time when printed information was difficult to come by.

The acting is uniformly fine and I've come to like the good guys and feel my skin crawl when the evil ones make appearances. I really do hope that they do a second series and I'll be at the edge of my seat for the final 4 episodes of this one. It's been ages since an historical mini-series has succeeded as well as this. Let's appreciate it and hope that it lights the spark for many more to come. It's not sitcom pablum and big ideas deserve to be thought about deeply. Put in the effort and this series rewards.