World Without End (2012)

Just perfect...

Good concept, poorly executed.

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

The absolute worst! Whoever decided to air this drivel should be drawn and quartered, and yes I read the book and this is a massacre of it! How this ever got aired could only be a case of nepotism or outright sabotage. I am at a loss to come up with words to decry this utter garbage, I feel sorry for the actors who had to put up with this utter crap.

Unlike the first series, "Pillars of the Earth", this series was nothing but a way to hook people into watching it. The plot could really be summed up as "Man reached his goal...almost, but is knocked back down...five times.In other words, this was the TV series version of "clickbait". So manipulative and devoid of any genuine expression or sentiment, I imagined, while watching this, a future where TV shows are nothing more than vehicles for stimulation - emotional, sexual, visual, whatever.Then I realized that's not the future. It is now. All these shows, CSi, Ripper Street, others, all they are is delivery devices for an emotional stimulation - the way porn movies are constructed with some kind of "plot" designed to result in sexual encounters.World Without End was essentially a kind of pornography, except it wasn't selling sex. It was selling rage and violence and injustice.Was anyone buying? Not me.

Firstly, let me say that I didn't read the book. I did watch the Pillars Of The Earth and thought it was terrific. I was therefore looking forward to this sequel. But how I regretted that. It was like they had filmed 40 hours of movie and then cut it back to 4 hours. By committee. There were so many plot threads that lead nowhere, so many pointless scenes that did nothing for the overall plot and countless times I found myself wondering WTF was going on. I apologise for all the upcoming spoilers but take Godwyn for instance. As Prior, he is subject to being voted out of office any time he behaves "ungodly". This is firmly established in Pillars. But he gets to lie, cheat, steal, murder and molest his way right thru the entire series. How is it that the two nuns can walk all the way from England to France to visit the King (and then walk home again) but the King and his army are unable to find a way home. Here's a tip: FOLLOW THE NUNS. Why do they go to all the trouble of setting up a Let's-get-the-young-bloke-to-build-the-new-bridge scenario and then totally abandon that entire sub-plot. They are ordered to stop construction. Next episode the thing's finished and no explanation of how and by whom. How is it that everyone who gets the Plague dies - except Godwyn and his mother, both of whom seem to be able to pass it on to others without dying themselves? Seriously, the screenwriters should be shot. This crap wouldn't pass muster on a B-grade soap opera. Ralph is the big disappointment. I spent all 8 episodes waiting for him to become the hero of the saga and he just never got there. In the beginning they set him up as bold and forthright, but circumstance forces him into some wicked ways. You always feel he's going to change his ways but no, he's a complete prick until he gets killed by a 10 year old with a longbow. Brilliant story line. WTF was the whole Gwenda-Wulfric sub-plot? They spent hours developing a storyline around them and in the end it just fizzled into nothing. Did the writers run out of ideas? Totally pointless. I liked Caris. Especially when she became Prior and then locked up Godwyn in the loony bin. Strong, calm and in control. But the writers' dementia creeps in again. Here's her big chance to get rid of him as he was clearly insane or possessed or both. But cut away to a couple of other scenes and next thing you know, he's the bloody Bishop!!! What...? How...? Who...? Huh...? And in the ending, if the old King is graceful enough to request that none of the Kingsbridge people are harmed, then why didn't he just give himself up in the first place and avoid all the slaughter? Stupid. In it's defence, the evilness of Godwyn and his mother made for some good television. I watched eagerly for someone, anyone, to finally give them their comeuppance. But it eventually just became absurd and I realised that no resolution to this would occur until the last episode. And even then it was lame. I think that if Pillars hadn't been so good then I wouldn't have been so disappointed in World. But it really sux...

It starts in 1327. The old king Edward III loses the civil war to his french Queen Isabella. She installs her son Edward III in as the new king. A knight Sir Thomas escapes after the murdered of the imprisoned former king to the fictional town of Kingsbridge. He seeks sanctuary as a monk. The toad Sir Roland uses his influence with the Queen to take over as Earl of Shiring. He launches a reign of terror condemning Edmund Wooler as well as the old Earl and others to death. Edmund's evil sister Petranilla (Cynthia Nixon) who poisoned Edmund's wife bribes to get Edmund freedom. Edmund's daughter Caris (Charlotte Riley) has the feel for medicine but the backwards world has little use for her except Petranilla is sending her to marry the brutal Elfric Builder. Petranilla's son is the weasel Godwyn (Rupert Evans). Roland spares the lives of the old Earl's sons taking Ralph as his squire while Merthin is given as Elfric Builder's apprentice. There are about twice as many other important characters.It's a maze of characters. This feels like a cheaper version of shows like Game of Thrones without the dragons. It's work to stay on top of every character. Basically the theme is bad things happen to good people. The world is an ugly place and people are ugly, too. It feels very repetitive. The best ugly people has to be Cynthia Nixon and Rupert Evans. That's a crazy mother and son duo. Caris feels a little too modern. She should realize what comes with the world she lives in. She seems to be always shocked at the injustice. Overall, there are good actors in a reasonable mini-series.