MovieChat Forums > Cadfael (1995) Discussion > The 7 remaining stories...

The 7 remaining stories...


Why were they never filmed? Surely, when they were that close to complete the canon, why didn't they?

Does someone think they might still make them anno 2008?

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I wish I knew--but I have to admit, I doubt it.

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Yeah, it'd be great to see the rest of them, but it's been so long.

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What a waste... all the drivel that gets filmed, and look at what they're passing up.



Sing us a song, you're the piano man.

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Oh, I agree. For a mystery series it was awfully original.

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The BBC (and, by extension, other British tv producers) have a penchant for not finishing series. They did the first two books of the 'Tripods' trilogy about 25 years ago, but never did the third. And they only did four out of the seven Narnia books, and two of *them* they mushed together into one film. <sigh>

We can only hope that they see the error of their ways and finish 'Cadfael'.

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I always kind of wondered about the Narnia thing. After seeing the theatrical films I lean towards the BBC production in terms of pure story telling. But, as you say, they didn't finish it.

I think a large part of it is because the BBC is an extension of the British government. So the budget is drawn from allocated taxes, and not so much based on advertising revenue. Hence no incentive to finish what was started.

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I know that Derek Jacobi was keen to make more but I think the plug was pulled because of the cost. It was a shame, I would have loved to see the others filmed, especially Ellis Peters' last book "Brother Cadfael's Penance".



Cats rule, dogs drool!

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Cadfael wasn't made by the BBC tho . . .

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It was all down to cost, they did the same with Hornblower.

For the same amount of money they can produce around 3 reality shows and get more viewers.

A Naked American Man Stole My Balloons!

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How disheartening. How could the costs have gone up though? I would think all the sets were paid for by the third season.

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Costs in Hungary where the show was shot, did rise as the amount of TV and films shot there increased: it was also harder to guarantee a top crew from a fairly small talent pool there with increasing competition from various productions, which meant below the line salaries increased. Exchange rates became less favorable, the foreign sales and ratings on the show weren't strong enough to make it that profitable anymore and there had always been a lot of difficulties with some crew and cast not wanting to work again with Jacobi throughout the show's run. Ultimately, with ITV in severe financial trouble for several years and the show not attracting enough advertising revenue, it simply was regarded as more trouble than it was worth to continue. Even many of the Poirots have been shelved for more than a year before UK broadcast for financial reasons (because of the way ITV records expenditure, a show doesn't actually appear on their annual budget figures until it has been broadcast, so the more expensive shows sometimes get held back to make the figures balance a bit better in a bad year).


"Security - release the badgers."

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People don't like to work with Jacobi?

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whats the thing about Jacobi? is he difficult to work with, or was he on this show?

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by TrevorAclea (Sun Apr 4 2010 08:54:03)
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Costs in Hungary where the show was shot, did rise as the amount of TV and films shot there increased: it was also harder to guarantee a top crew from a fairly small talent pool there with increasing competition from various productions, which meant below the line salaries increased. Exchange rates became less favorable, the foreign sales and ratings on the show weren't strong enough to make it that profitable anymore and there had always been a lot of difficulties with some crew and cast not wanting to work again with Jacobi throughout the show's run. Ultimately, with ITV in severe financial trouble for several years and the show not attracting enough advertising revenue, it simply was regarded as more trouble than it was worth to continue. Even many of the Poirots have been shelved for more than a year before UK broadcast for financial reasons (because of the way ITV records expenditure, a show doesn't actually appear on their annual budget figures until it has been broadcast, so the more expensive shows sometimes get held back to make the figures balance a bit better in a bad year).

That sounds like complete and utter nonsense. You sound more like a film groupie than someone with any actual insights. The crew was from the UK itself, not from Hungary. I've never heard of a production not being able to hire crew because an actor was difficult to work with. I used to work in production, and a job is a job is a job is a job, regardless of who the scum bags and jerks are on and off the set. If you know your stuff, and are good, you get work. It's that simple.

The show petered out because of ratings and cost, of that there is no doubt, but it had nothing to do with who was working (or wasn't working) on the production itself. Take your fanboy post elsewhere.

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I'm afraid the much more mundane answer is simply that in '98 the companies comprising the ITV network were going through a series of restructurings and a lot of the period sleuth dramas being commissioned by Granada, Carlton or Central were placed firmly on the back burner. Cafael, of course, was one of the casualties, as was Poirot, although that eventually got renewed.

Cadfael wasn't as lucky.

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Seeing as ITV's is actually finishing off the Poirot canon (not looking forward to the final one), it would be great if they could do the same with Cadfael

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*spoilers for non readers*




I've just finished reading An Excellent Mystery, my first Cadfael story not adapted for the screen yet. And I must say I understand why they didn't elect to adapt it. Not only is the mystery pretty thin (it's quite obvious, a few pages in, who Brother Fidelis truly is; his identity is not the mystery, the sacrament of marriage is, so the mystery actually reads like a parable, very distinct from the rest of the Cadfael novels), it would also seem pretty redundant, seeing as we already have a girl dressed as a monk in another episode. Finally, the usual murder happens off-stage, in a faraway city, and is tied to historical events that would be difficult to explain without it being very explanatory and cumbersome - besides, in the other episodes, the context is hardly ever important: it is mentioned of course, but as a faraway backdrop to the microcosmos of Shrewsbury. I'm not saying it would be impossible, they've changed many things from the other novels, and it could be done for this one as well, but I can understand why they chose not to when there was much handier material to deal with first.

"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."

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I think it's time for the return of Cadfael. Even if they have to exhaust the remaining novels and go beyond, I think Jacobi is still spry enough to handle the role, and might even settle better into the role.

Has anyone asked Jacobi if he would do it?

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I was getting bored with the TV series by the end of it. Mostly because I couldn't stand the last Hugh Beringar.

Also Derek Jacobi was finally getting on my nerves as well. I'd been reading the books, and I started having trouble accepting Derek as Cadfael. I was wishing he
'd be a bit more rugged or something.

Which actually was a problem, for me, with the books. Cadfael seemed sometimes to be the creation of a woman of how she wished a man could be. (Similar to the Peter Wimsey books.)

I don't know, I hope I am wrong that a man can't be as honorable and sensitive as Cadfael was. And, I suppose there WERE men throughout history who honestly had a vocation and gave up sexuality for a life dedicated to God. Still, I always felt ambivalent about Cadfael's authenticity.

Not that I didn't love the books. I really, really loved them. Her battle scenes were unbelievably thrilling, in particular, and the settings and philosophies in them.

I agree with whoever said that her last book deserves especially to be filmed. That book was really a masterpiece.

ANYWAY, my point is that I would swoon to see the rest of the books filmed, with a different cast. IF it was really high quality.

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