# Holy Crap! They're making Pillars of the Earth into a miniseries! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 17, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474 "2010-04-17T19:07:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/21 "2010-04-22T14:09:42Z")
I’ll watch it. Even though I didn’t really like the book. And I couldn’t bring myself to dig into the sequel … _The Whatever it is of the Something I Can’t Remember._ ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/22 "2010-04-22T14:27:32Z")
Yeah, I found the book just OK. Some parts were great, some not so much. Perhaps it was too much modern sensibilties in the characters that I found out of place, perhaps I found it overly melodramatic, in not a good way. Maybe it’s that some of the characters were simply cardboard. It’s enjoyable enough, and a reasonably fast read, but I couldn’t get interested in anyone enough to do more than skim most of it. But even the gist is enough to understand the story easily. If they do it right, though, a miniseries could be fun. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/23 "2010-04-22T17:36:54Z")
I guess I’m alone in this but I really liked the book. I’ve always liked Gothic cathedrals, for whatever reason, and I found the book to be pretty educational. TV and movies never fail to disappoint when compared to the books. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/24 "2010-04-22T17:47:24Z")
You’re not alone. I really liked the book too. It was good entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2010, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/25 "2010-04-22T17:56:54Z")
I like the book a lot too. I’ve read it several times. I think it could work really well asa mini-series, and Ian McShane as the main baddie can’t hurt anything. I thing the casting of Philip will be important. He’s really the heart of the story. And how often is that you see a protaganist who is a truly dedicated cleric (an abbot in this case) who is uncynically portrayed as a hero with no hypocrisy or corruption? If he’s played right (and I’ve never heard of the actor cast in his role), he can be a very engaging character. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/26 "2010-07-22T02:33:35Z")
I don’t have Starz but DirecTV is showing this on their channel 101. I gotta tell ya, it’s worth having DTV just for this channel. We saw Friday Night Lights (without commercials) before NBC showed it, and they’ve also run Deadwood, Oz, and now The Wire. I wasn’t impressed. It has the right look but no style. There was a lot of exposition, clumsily done – characters whispering (too loudly) about their nefarious plans in a crowd during a coronation, someone slipping away (noticeably) as a king is poisoned at a banquet, plots described in the simplest terms, but without any motivation related to character or history. And Ian McShane’s wig is just awful! I haven’t seen hair that distracting since Anton Chigurh. But Rufus Sewell is in it, so I might watch again. Anyone see it yet? What did you think? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/27 "2010-07-22T03:04:17Z")
> [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](#): > > Heh, for me when I see Pillars of the Earth, I go “I will use my Mason to convert 2 sand into 1 Victory Point” > > There’s a board-game based on this novel, if anyone is wondering about the sentence above. Yeah, I don’t know the novel, but I quite like the game. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/28 "2010-07-22T03:07:51Z")
I saw the first ep on OnDemand last night. Am planning to watch the second tonight. I think it hasn’t been that bad, but it’s seemed a little rushed. Stuff that seems like it took a while in the book just kind of blows by. The casting has been fairly good, though, and it seems to be following the book without any drastic changes so far. They do seem to be playing up any excuse for action or sword fights a little too much. The book is not an action adventure. It has a more leisurely tone that the show is not finding yet. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/29 "2010-07-22T03:23:23Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > They do seem to be playing up any excuse for action or sword fights a little too much. The book is not an action adventure. It has a more leisurely tone that the show is not finding yet. They do need to slow down. I should have felt something when Tom’s wife died, but I didn’t. Except maybe “Dumb bitch, you’d be alive if you hadn’t been afraid of a few herbs.” 🙂 One reviewer said (paraphrasing) that so far, it has no tone. But another reviewer complimented the texture. I’ve always thought that tone and texture are the same thing, when referring to movies and TV. Who’s the woman with the scar? I haven’t read the book since it came out, and I’ve forgotten almost everything. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/30 "2010-07-22T03:50:33Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Who’s the woman with the scar? I haven’t read the book since it came out, and I’ve forgotten almost everything. She’s William Hamleigh’s mother (one of the lead villains). In the book, her face was covered with boils, which she kept hidden with veils. It looks like the show changed it to a birthmark instead. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/31 "2010-07-22T13:23:50Z")
\ I have neither Starz nor OnDemand. Is there any other way I can watch this? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/32 "2010-07-22T13:46:36Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > \ I have neither Starz nor OnDemand. Is there any other way I can watch this? It looks like Starz has the first two episodes posted on their website already. And Netflix will have it posted for streaming on Saturday. I have my DVR set up to record it tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/33 "2010-07-22T14:25:47Z")
> [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](#): > > It looks like Starz has the first two episodes posted on their website already. And Netflix will have it posted for streaming on Saturday. Wuwu! I loooooove my Netflix! ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/34 "2010-07-27T13:15:36Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The casting has been fairly good, though, and it seems to be following the book without any drastic changes so far. Not impressed yet with Prior Philip, just doesn’t seem to have the gravitas I was expecting. Now Natalia Worner as “Ellen” really fills the role out. The scene where she walks on the table and … was quite impressive. Surprised that McShane didn’t have a heart attach. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/35 "2010-07-27T15:39:08Z")
I never read the book on which the miniseries is based (so I hope no one introduces spoilers into the discussion), but I’m watching the miniseries. There’s clearly some mystery involving the fire onboard the White Ship and Ellen’s lover. Presumably that will be cleared up by the end of the series By the way, Tom the Builder suggested that thirty mason could build the cathedral in fifteen years. Is that a realistic schedule? I though medieval cathedrals were built over the course of a century or more? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474/36 "2010-07-27T15:53:30Z")
The really big ones were, but not all of them were so massive, and Tom was talking about small, economical project, not one of the huge, monumental ones. Follet did a ton of research for the book, and goes into minute detail about the architecture of medieval English cathedrals and churches (I guess they were a personal hobbyhorse for him long before he decided to writ e the book), so I trust his knowledge on the timing. He did a lot of homework, and wasn’t just pulling things out of his ass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-crap-theyre-making-pillars-of-the-earth-into-a-miniseries/536474.md?page=1)