Setting
On the whole World Without End (WWE) is a decent series and follows on from Pillars Of The Earth (POTE) a century or so later.
We are now in the mid 14th century. King Edward II has just been deposed (Murdered or disappeared?) by his unfaithful and politically ambitious wife; Isabella of France and her lover Roger Mortimer. (The Mortimer family were a powerful dynasty of Welsh Border/March Lords and very influential in the period from Edward I through to Henry V).
Isabella's objective was to depose her husband and co-rule as Queen regnant with Mortimer.
In truth she was only Queen Consort and resigned to Queen mother after the coronation of her son and heir Edward III.
Faithful to the Book Many reviewers are complaining that the series doesn't reflect the book. I never understand why this is an issue, surely if a series directly represents the book then there isn't much point in watching the series or vice versa. I like the fact that some TV series are slightly different from the books because then you have two alternative stories to enjoy. There is no law that every TV show needs to faithfully copy the book. All that matters is that the Historical elements are close to reality.
Horrible history With regards to those complaining about the level of violence and rape. This is historical fiction and these times in history were very violent and bloody. Serfdom (economic slavery) was the primary political structure in Europe during this period and it would be wrong to sugarcoat or cover up the facts. It is unconscionable and anachronistic to attempt to revise history to meet with the expectations of 21st century liberal ethics. Those that find history offensive and too horrible might well be advised to stick to romantic fiction.
On the whole WWE's like POTE's depiction of historical elements are close to actual events with no significant revision or twisting of history apart from the fictional Kingsbridge element.
Continuity With regards to continuity from POTE, given that WWE is a century later in time, I don't think it was necessary to give a recap of POTE at the beginning of the show. Some viewers may come to this as a stand-alone series and references to POTE are not necessarily needed. Those that have seen or read POTE will know exactly where the continuity of Kingsbridge comes in.
Some minor criticisms:
French language. I was happy to finally have some French speakers in the cast. POTE depicted all of the Plantagenet family as native Anglo Saxons which we know is incorrect. All of the royal family were French, together with most of the nobility. Everyone in court and the earls & knights should have had French accents. In WWE however only Isabella has a French accent. Again all of the court and nobility in Kingsbridge should be speaking with a French accent.
Strength of storyline Compared to POTE this is a more rudimentary production and felt a little hastily knocked together. Some of the acting was bordering on cheesy and some of the villains are a little too obvious and comical. The manipulative characters should be noticeable to all so that when a sudden death occurs after the victim has just eaten a dish provided by said character, only the most naïve would not put two and two together. That said the show still has some big-name actors and on the whole they managed to pull it together.
I also had an issue with the bridge. The focus of the story around construction of a new bridge seems a little contrived compared to the construction of the cathedral that was the central theme of POTE. I'm pretty sure there wasn't that much volume of traffic going over one bridge into a 14th century English village. This is the sort of traffic congestion one would have expected on London bridge at that time. And a second bridge over the River Thames in London (Westminster Bridge) wasn't considered until 1750 (some 400 years later) so I very much doubt that a second bridge would have been considered in a smaller English village like Kingsbridge in the 1300's. With POTE one felt that the Kingsbridge fictional story was the central tenament set against the parallel backdrop of the Plantagenet era and the anarchy with believable intertwining between both stories. With WWE one gets the feeling that Follet just took a particular time in history around Edward VIII and Edward III.and threw in a somewhat weaker parallel story of the Kingsbridge residents. The result is a much more contrived and somewhat unbelievable chain of events.
Summary Nevertheless WWE is still a solid production and those that enjoyed POTE will enjoy this. Much of Follet's work, like that of Philippa Gregory provides a very accessible way for people to connect with real English history and all are solid educational tools.
Overall worthy of a 7.0 compared to a 7.3 for POTE.
Faithful to the Book Many reviewers are complaining that the series doesn't reflect the book. I never understand why this is an issue, surely if a series directly represents the book then there isn't much point in watching the series or vice versa. I like the fact that some TV series are slightly different from the books because then you have two alternative stories to enjoy. There is no law that every TV show needs to faithfully copy the book. All that matters is that the Historical elements are close to reality.
Horrible history With regards to those complaining about the level of violence and rape. This is historical fiction and these times in history were very violent and bloody. Serfdom (economic slavery) was the primary political structure in Europe during this period and it would be wrong to sugarcoat or cover up the facts. It is unconscionable and anachronistic to attempt to revise history to meet with the expectations of 21st century liberal ethics. Those that find history offensive and too horrible might well be advised to stick to romantic fiction.
On the whole WWE's like POTE's depiction of historical elements are close to actual events with no significant revision or twisting of history apart from the fictional Kingsbridge element.
Continuity With regards to continuity from POTE, given that WWE is a century later in time, I don't think it was necessary to give a recap of POTE at the beginning of the show. Some viewers may come to this as a stand-alone series and references to POTE are not necessarily needed. Those that have seen or read POTE will know exactly where the continuity of Kingsbridge comes in.
Some minor criticisms:
French language. I was happy to finally have some French speakers in the cast. POTE depicted all of the Plantagenet family as native Anglo Saxons which we know is incorrect. All of the royal family were French, together with most of the nobility. Everyone in court and the earls & knights should have had French accents. In WWE however only Isabella has a French accent. Again all of the court and nobility in Kingsbridge should be speaking with a French accent.
Strength of storyline Compared to POTE this is a more rudimentary production and felt a little hastily knocked together. Some of the acting was bordering on cheesy and some of the villains are a little too obvious and comical. The manipulative characters should be noticeable to all so that when a sudden death occurs after the victim has just eaten a dish provided by said character, only the most naïve would not put two and two together. That said the show still has some big-name actors and on the whole they managed to pull it together.
I also had an issue with the bridge. The focus of the story around construction of a new bridge seems a little contrived compared to the construction of the cathedral that was the central theme of POTE. I'm pretty sure there wasn't that much volume of traffic going over one bridge into a 14th century English village. This is the sort of traffic congestion one would have expected on London bridge at that time. And a second bridge over the River Thames in London (Westminster Bridge) wasn't considered until 1750 (some 400 years later) so I very much doubt that a second bridge would have been considered in a smaller English village like Kingsbridge in the 1300's. With POTE one felt that the Kingsbridge fictional story was the central tenament set against the parallel backdrop of the Plantagenet era and the anarchy with believable intertwining between both stories. With WWE one gets the feeling that Follet just took a particular time in history around Edward VIII and Edward III.and threw in a somewhat weaker parallel story of the Kingsbridge residents. The result is a much more contrived and somewhat unbelievable chain of events.
Summary Nevertheless WWE is still a solid production and those that enjoyed POTE will enjoy this. Much of Follet's work, like that of Philippa Gregory provides a very accessible way for people to connect with real English history and all are solid educational tools.
Overall worthy of a 7.0 compared to a 7.3 for POTE.