Shoehorning Folletts tome into this shallow, archetypal mini series, is inexcusable. There are a few actors here that shine (Eddie Redmayne, Anatole Taubman and Alison Pill for example) and some that have a history of shining (Donald Sutherland and Ian McShane) who don't and many that pass the screen anonymously (pretty much the rest of them). No one is given any chance whatsoever to unfold and show their character; everything is build-up climax slow-down build-up climax slow-down and so on and so on, underlined by a constant buzz of tympanies and strings to make sure we know that we are watching something dramatic.
Review of The Pillars of the Earth
