#418: cadfael
medieval murder mysteries
cadfael (1994–1998, four seasons, ITV): derek jacobi. what an actor. having starred in everything from day of the jackal to the secret of NIMH to gladiator to being catty with ian mckellen in vicious, he’s a classically-trained actor with incredible range. but his best role, arguably, is not as the titular emperor in i, claudius, but instead as the humble brother cadfael in the aptly named cadfael series, broadcast in the UK in the mid-90s.
based on a series of books by ellis peters (the pen name of edith mary pargeter,) cadfael follows the adventures of a benedictine monk in 12th century england, mere miles from the welsh border during a time called the anarchy, a civil war between the supporters of king stephen and those of his cousin, empress maud, for control of the english throne. with so much violence going around nobody’s going to notice the odd extra body or two… except the worldly cadfael, a former crusader and expert botanist. (funny enough, the idea of a body count being off by one is literally how the plot of the first episode gets started…)
set across four seasons of three episodes each (save the first, which had four) we’re introduced to a small cast of regulars: brother prior, the abbey’s judgmental, haught ysecond in command; brother jerome, the busy-body and toady to the prior, the succession of two abbots who run the place (heribert, who left in 1138, and radolfus, who replaced him,) both of whom are generally reasonable and give cadfael a lot of leeway, as well as brother oswin, cadfael’s bumbling but gentle assistant in his pharmacy, and the rotating cast of actors known as hugh beringer, town sheriff under the authority of king stephen and a close friend and collaborator of cadfael.
there are occasional status quo changes — the first episode, for instance, results in hugh (played in the first season by sean pertwee, the son of jon pertwee of doctor who fame) being named sheriff, while a later episode has the abbey acquiring the bones of a saint (sort of) that in the latter two seasons serves as an occasional plot point. but for the most part, the show’s 13 episodes of about 75 minutes each are all quite self-contained, a typical example of british brevity, especially notable given that there were 20 books. once you get a grasp of the characters you’re good to go for the mystery of the week, for indeed there’s always murder afoot in the town of shrewsbury. murder victims range from innocent young women to utter scumbags, typically nobles or merchants, though the season 3 episode “the raven in the foregate” introduces us to a truly execrable priest whom nobody mourns when he’s found drowned in the same river as a young girl he refused to give absolution to.
through it all, when cadfael is on the case he’s damned hard to shake off, occasionally defying his own superiors to track down the killer. it’s his unwillingness to be reined in by the strict rule of the benedictine order that makes him so fun to watch; the amount of time he spends alone with women would have been terribly scandalous in the 12th century, and he’s perfectly willing to argue with hugh, though he has more trouble with the men working under hugh. the funny thing is that in many ways he seems to invent criminal forensics a good 700 years early, at one point making a wax cast of a footprint in mud, while several times his knowledge of botany often comes up as being key to unraveling a mystery. it’s also fun to watch him bullshit people; he doesn’t do it often, but he really cranks it up in “st. peter’s fair,” where it comes in handy when a bunch of strangers come to town.
a big part of why cadfael, both character and show, are so fun is derek jacobi. he seems to know his character inside and out, bringing a mix of a truly compassionate manner with the worldliness that you could only see in a man who spent most of his youth fighting in the holy land; he’s funny and warm and excellent with building a rapport with other characters, even those who only show up for an episode; but he also plays a shrewd investigator, with a particularly sharp sense of how to get the truth out of someone without ever resorting to violence, often through body language — never threatening, but always intimidating, as if he sees right through people.
the rest of the regular cast are pretty decent, playing their characters well, but i have to note the curious case of the three hugh beringers. sean pertwee was due to reprise his role for season two, when he apparently fell off his horse during filming and was badly injured, forcing a recast. pertwee was undoubtedly the best of the three; his immediate replacement, eoin mccarthy, wasn’t as charismatic, nor did he even look like pertwee, though he did grow into the role a little over time. more mysterious is why he was replaced by anthony green, who got even less screen time and looked like a store brand version of pertwee. (there’s worse things to look like, i suppose.)
cadfael is, like a lot of obscure shows from bygone decades, kind of hard to find… unless you don’t mind watching it on amazon prime. it’s an excellent show for what it is, quirky and original in spite of its core structure as a very standard mystery series — and the ongoing political situation in the background often plays a role just to change things up amidst the spurned lovers and greedy noblemen. but the real reason to watch it, of course, is derek jacobi.
what an actor, i tell ya.
-june❤
