The Pillars of the Earth Review: Eight Hours of Stone, Six Worth It

The Pillars of the Earth is a big, noisy, ambitious TV adaptation of Ken Follett’s 1989 novel, and it mostly earns its ambition. The 2010 miniseries, created by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan and broadcast on STARZ, packs eight hours of medieval English drama into a story about a cathedral being built during a civil war called The Anarchy.

The show follows Tom Builder, played by Rufus Sewell, a builder who vows to build a great stone church after losing his family in a storm. Around him circle a dozen other figures, each with their own hunger for power: Prior Phillip, played by Matthew Macfadyen; Waleran Bigod, played by Ian McShane; and the Hamleigh siblings, led by William Hamleigh, played by David Oakes.

The Cathedral as Stage

The series is at its best when it focuses on the physical act of building. Watching stone being laid and scaffolding rise is genuinely absorbing, and the show knows how to make labor feel urgent. The cathedral stands in for the whole world of the story — a symbol of faith, wealth, and human will.

A Cast That Carries It

The performances hold the sprawling plot together. Donald Sutherland anchors the early episodes as Earl Bartholomew, a lord who cares more about land than loyalty. Hayley Atwell plays Aliena, a merchant’s daughter whose sharp mind earns her enemies. Eddie Redmayne appears as Jack Jackson, the young boy who watches the stones rise and falls in love with the craft.

Ian McShane deserves particular credit. His Waleran Bigod is a villain with a smile and a moral code that bends to convenience. He is the kind of antagonist who makes the audience cheer when he loses.

What Falls Short

Not everything lands. The pacing drags in the middle episodes, and some subplots get lost in the shuffle. The show also leans heavily on violence and sex to generate tension, sometimes more than the story needs.

The series was nominated for three awards at the 68th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Miniseries or Television Film, while Ian McShane and Hayley Atwell received acting nominations. That recognition is deserved — the cast sells the scale of the conflict.

Ranking the Episodes

Here’s how the eight episodes stack up:

1. The first episode sets the stage and introduces the central conflict with real force.
2. The second through fourth episodes establish the political landscape, with McShane’s Waleran emerging as the show’s true engine.
3. The fifth and sixth episodes slow down, losing focus on the cathedral project.
4. The final two episodes return to the cathedral’s completion and deliver a satisfying resolution.

Verdict

The Pillars of the Earth is uneven but frequently excellent. Its best moments — the construction scenes, the ensemble acting, the slow burn of political scheming — justify the runtime. Its worst moments — the filler episodes and the occasional excess — keep it from greatness.

The show succeeds because it trusts its audience to sit through a long story about stone and mortar. Few TV adaptations attempt that patience, and fewer pull it off.

Ian McShane · Ken Follett · Rufus Sewell · starz · TV Review