by Greg Bakun
I'm back for my second article of Brit-Streaming. We broke
everything out into sections so it is easier to read. This week, I
bring you some great news about how Acorn TV is adding more
content to their successful service, I actually sample some of the
goodness they offer. I travel back to the 12th century to visit
Cadfael. Alright, so I don't actually travel back in time but I do
watch an episode from the series Cadfael from the first series.
It's not the best episode from the series but a poorer episode of
Cadfael is still better than the best episodes of a lot of other
series.
Also, as usual, I keep a running list of the programs
currently streaming at Acorn TV.
I wish I can take credit for this news via Brit-Streaming but
seeing as I wrote my first article only 2 weeks ago, it seems
unlikely. Acorn TV has increased its programming available to
subscribers by 200% since the launch of the service. This is
pretty cool! It is now streaming 18 full seasons (up from 6) of
all sorts of wonderful British television. It’s also worth noting
that the if you are reading this article from Canada, Acorn TV is
now available to Canadian subscribers plus a monthly subscription
option of $2.99 has been added. So you can either sign up at
$2.99/month or $29.99/year. It’s a pretty good deal to view up to,
on average, 125 hours of programming a week. To me, it’s
frustrating that I have another job that I have to be at during
the day. Sitting on the couch watching these programs all day
would be quite nice thank you! For more information, go to Acorn
Media for more information: www.acornonline.com
Acorn TV has added these new shows recently:
Trial &
Retribution – Set 3 Vol. 9 Part 1 (ends 11/4/12)
The Making of
the President – (ends 11/4/12)
Upstairs
Downstairs – The 1970s version! Series 2 (ends 11/4/12)
Foyle’s War
– All episodes! (ends 10/28/12)
Rosemary &
Thyme – Series 1(ends 11/11/12)
Cadfael –
Series 1 (ends 11/11/12)
The Last
Detective – Series 1 (ends 11/18/12)
Island at War
– 6 episodes (ends 11/18/12)
Cadfael Series 1
- Monk's Hood
As I am sure many fans of British television can attest to,
sometimes there are good series out there that are worthwhile to
watch but with so many choices, these perfectly wonderful series
may not get the viewing it deserves. The series Cadfael generally
falls into this category quite easily. It has rich locations,
which takes viewers back to the 12th century. Another
piece to the series that I personally love is the combination of
a “monks/holy order” spun in with murder and intrigue. It’s
taking something that should be so pure and add to it something
that can be so evil. That added with the contextually historical
aspect of it makes this irresistible to me. Therefore I am not
so sure why I don’t watch this all that often. I made amends to
this recently.
Going to the
wonderful Acorn TV service, I originally thought about watching
George Gently. I have
never seen it before but I was in the mood for something more
historical and saw Cadfael
was available to view. I started to watch Cadfael but then
thought to myself, “Well, I have never seen any George Gently before
so maybe I should watch that instead.” Finally, my gut instinct
kicked in and I realized that what I really wanted to watch was
Cadfael. I guess my
point here is that I am spoiled for choice here. If you are a
person who has difficulty making simple decisions like myself,
then this could be a wonderful problem. The Acorn TV service is
like having an archive of television programs in my computer.
After much internal debating, I am really happy with my choice
of Cadfael.
I decided for my Cadfael viewing to
take a look at the final episode of the first series, Monk’s Hood. The
original airdate for this series was June 19, 1994 and was, as
all episodes, based off the Ellis Peters book originally
published in 1980. The name Cadfael is Welsh meaning Battle
(cad) and Prince (fael). Unbeknownst to me, the proper way to
pronounce Cadfael is cadvel even though it appears no one on the
series really pronounces it this way. For the record, I don’t
either.
The episode itself,
Monk’s Hood, is a
basically a straightforward murder mystery set in the 12th
century. The book itself sets the period of the story in 1138.
In it Gervase Bonel is to give over his manor home to his
stepson, Edwin. At the beginning of the episode it is not clear
why but there is a massive argument between Edwin and his
stepfather which results in Edwin being thrown out of the house.
To me I thought there was some interesting misdirection as it
looks as though Edwin is ungrateful and perhaps he is the one
causing the argument. We later learn in is not as simple as
that. Gervase is not a nice person. He is rude to many and even
constantly seduces his young female servants. The root of the
argument is Edwin is treating people as equals which Gervase
does not approve. He does not think a Lord of a Manor House
should be socializing with people who work in the trade
profession. Instead of giving the house to his stepson, he
donates the house and his entire estate to the abbey. Of course
this is the same abbey that Brother Cadfael belongs to and as it
happens things are changing in the abbey too.
The church is
reforming and the current head of the Abbey, Abbot Heribert,
needs to leave to be a part of these discussions leaving Prior
Robert in charge. When the Abbot returns, he may no longer be in
charge. There is change in the air at the Abbey and not only
because of a possible change in leadership but because Gervase
and his wife Richildis are now living in a modest cottage on the
Abbey since they gave everything over to the church. Richildis
is able to get her son Edwin to come to the Abbey to try and
make peace with his stepfather but this does not go well. The
two start fighting again, which ends with Edwin being chased out
of the house. While all of this is going on, Prior Robert sends
to the Gervase house a partridge for the household to eat as a
thank you for giving over all of his wealth. The partridge has
poison on it that kills Gervase. The poison is Wolfsbane which
is also known as monkshood. Cadfael recognizes it instantly and
may have come from his own supply.
Obviously the first person who is a suspect is Edwin but Cadfael knows better. It’s too obvious for him to be the murderer. To make matters worse for Cadfael is that he knows Richildis. They were in love many years ago before Cadfael went off to fight in the Crusades. He never returned and Richildis believed he was dead. She lived her life never knowing that Cadfael was still alive. Prior Robert orders Cadfael to stop interfering in the case. Since Cadfael’s friend Deputy Sheriff Hugh Beringar is away, Sergeant Warden is handling the case with all of the tact of a bull in a china shop. Things are not looking so good for Edwin as a full on manhunt for him begins led by Sergeant Warden. Cadfael has a lot at stake in this too. He has given a promise to his one-time love; she is depending on him yet he is ordered by his superiors to not get involved. By the time this is over, Cadfael will face expulsion from the Abbey.
I have dipped in and out of this series over the years and never been too lost by what was going on with it. I have yet to watch this series in order. As I mentioned earlier, the episode can be from any murder mystery series as it follows the formula of a character is not like by many, in this case Gervase, who is murdered. Multiple people have motives for killing him. From there figuring out who killed him is a usual murder mystery. As much as I liked the episode, it is a fairly safe story. Not that Cadfael, as a series, is scandalous but considering the time period the series is set in, there is nothing ambitious about it. If you want to see an excellent episode, a really good start to the series is actually the first episode, One Corpse Too Many, as it really gives a lot of information into Cadfael’s warrior past. That is one of the things I love about the character Cadfael. He is gentle, calm, and intelligent but during the Crusades, he was a warrior who had to do things he will always keep with him. He has taken a vow in the religious order that will never be broken. That makes the scenes between him and Richildis interesting to watch. I think she would take him back immediately if he wanted to be in her life again but he is resolute. The story has nothing to do with whether he will break his vow. It has no bearing on anything. The point of the episode is for him to risk everything to help clear the name of a son to someone he cared very deeply for years ago. In that case the episode is a success.
Most of the action
of the episode takes place at the Abbey with some of it taking
place in Wales and at the manor house. It is gorgeous. A lot of
great outdoor locations. I hope there is a possibility that this
series can have its film rescanned and re-released on Blu Ray. I
think it would look gorgeous.
Sir Derek Jacobi is
Cadfael. He plays the part very well and although he plays it
well here, in this episode Cadfael is more of a victim in many
ways. Cadfael gets a lot of pressure from Prior Robert in this
episode so he is taking a less aggressive role and more of a
secretive one. He sneaks around a lot to get things done and
also gets Brother Oswin to help him with many things. Cadfael
doesn’t have a lot of fire to him in this episode. That is fine
but he does seem a little watered down. Sean Pertwee plays
Hugh Beringar. Once again, there isn’t much to his performance
as he is not in it as much as in other episodes. I have been
watching a lot of Poirot
lately and I think this episode falls in line very closely with
that in terms of the relationship between Cadfael/Beringar and
Poirot/Inspector Japp.
The biggest
surprise for me is that Jonny Lee Miller played the part of
Edwin. Miller is now starring in the new CBS series Elementary. He is
quite young in this and much of his time is on the run or
arguing with Gervase.
Monk’s Hood is an enjoyable
episode of Cadfael but by no means the best. This is a great
episode to watch if you have seen other episodes and enjoy the
premise but this is not a great episode to watch if you have not
seen the series before. As I mentioned above, I don’t feel this
episode has the fire and energy that is representative of the
series but if you enjoy a top-notch murder mystery set in the 12th
century, this is certainly a worthwhile episode to watch.
Next time: I will be spotlighting the series Rosemary & Thyme. It is called a cosy mystery which stars Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris, I can see myself really getting into this on a fall Sunday evening or something. I am really looking forward to this.
Demob
– Episodes 1-6 (ends 10/28/12)
Murder in
Suburbia – Episodes 1-6 (ends 10/28/12)
The Grand
Series - 1
Episodes 1-8/Series 2 Episodes 1-10 (ends 10/28/12)
Blue
Murder – Series 1 (ends 10/21/12)
Murdoch
Mysteries – Series 1 (ends 10/21/12)
Vera –
Series 2 (ends 10/14/12)
Poirot –
Series 1 (ends 10/14/12)
Reggie
Perrin – Series 1 & 2 (ends 10/14/12)
Trial
& Retribution – Set 3 Vol. 9 Part 1 (ends 11/4/12)
The Making
of the President – (ends 11/4/12)
Upstairs
Downstairs – The 1970s version! Series 2 (ends 11/4/12)
Foyle’s
War – All episodes! (ends 10/28/12)
Rosemary
& Thyme – Series 1(ends 11/11/12)
Cadfael
– Series 1(ends 11/11/12)
The Last
Detective – Series 1 (ends 11/18/12)
Island at
War – 6 episodes (ends 11/18/12)
Coming
Soon:
Agatha
Christie’s Poirot – (starts 9/24/12)
The Making
of the President – (starts 10/15/12)
First
Among Equals – (starts 10/15/12)
Agatha
Christie’s Marple – (starts 10/15/12)
Special
Branch – Set 1 – (starts 10/22/12)
Fingersmith
– (starts 10/22/12)
Poldark
– (starts 10/22/12)
Midsomer
Murders – (starts 10/29/12)
Doctor
Zhivago – (starts 10/29/12)
We’ll Meet
Again – (starts 10/29/12)
Pie in the
Sky – (starts 10/29/12)
Like what you see? Hate it? Have questions of comments? Send us an e-mail and tell us what you think!