Compelling drama

We finished watching the 2010 miniseries "Pillars of the Earth" on DVD this past week, and quite enjoyed it. Based on Ken Follett's huge novel, the eight hour miniseries of course had to compress or leave out certain parts of the book for television, but according to my daughter who had recently read the book (which I have not), the scriptwriters changed things quite a bit, including several characters and adding new events and changing others. The overarching story, of course, is the building of a cathedral in a small English town after a purposely set fire destroys the old church, set against the backdrop of the England of Maud and Stephen during the 1100's with its endless conflict between them for the throne after the death of Henry I. Historically, King Henry I's son Prince William's drowning in the "White Ship" was an accident (not a planned murder), and Maud and Stephen ended their horrendous battles over the throne after Lincoln, when an uneasy peace was made between the two. Maud's son Henry II did not later have to invade England and fight to claim the throne (and kill his cousin Eustace in battle), as depicted in this series. However, setting those things aside, the storytelling was still interesting, the characters compelling to watch, and the whole depiction of the era was done quite well. It had the hand of Ridley Scott all over it (he's one of the producers)--had the same feel to it as Scott's most recently directed film "Robin Hood" -- that gritty, dirty, blood and guts, smelly, brutal sense of what it must have been to live during that chaotic period. It was such a despairing, confusing, and troublous time that it was said that "Christ and all his saints slept" during this era of English history. Rufus Sewell as Tom the Builder was very watchable, and Ian McShane as the wicked and utterly nasty Waleran was a stupendous villain. Matthew Macfadyen as Prior Philip, with his excellent voice, provided a believable character with great intentions in his service to the church and his almost heroic determination to get the cathedral built. The other actors were all well cast and gave fine performancesin their roles. The different plotlines of the story were interwoven pretty well, although at times it was hard to follow who was doublecrossing who and why, and it was satisfying to see all the characters, good and bad, get their just rewards at the end. An excellent drama, despite the historical inaccuracies and lack of depth with some of the characters; I'd recommend it to those who enjoy this type of miniseries.