England, XII century. Smart, not young, but not senile, a veteran of the Crusades who has seen a lot, a knowledgeable herbalist and an experienced healer, sympathetic, observant, with extensive knowledge of various aspects of life and behavior of people, an unorthodox Benedictine monk solves murders in Shrewsbury and the surrounding area.
If it were not for the entourage of the Middle Ages, it would be an ordinary detective story about an amateur detective with a fairly traditional set of actors: an outstanding protagonist, a devoted clumsy assistant, harmful direct superiors and a familiar guardian of the law. However, the events take place in the county of Shropshire on the border with Wales during a rather tragic period of another civil war and dual power. There are a lot of real historical events, persons, facts and objects in the series. It was the time and place of action that became the main distinguishing feature of the series.
Stylized well, but without emphasis on authentic costumes, accurate scenery and detailed props, everything is quite conventional. They play mediocre, staging, shooting and editing 25 years ago. As often happens with the adaptation of literary works, there is a good saturation - there are no long pauses and empty long notes, it turned out, perhaps, more lively than in books.
As a result - a calm, unstrained, but also unhurried, not particularly authentic retro detective, with an interesting and memorable main character, with good stories and intrigue. Seekers of dynamic adventures or deep psychological drama should not pay attention, and fans of historical detectives can quite watch.
The language turned out to be simpler than I feared. The authors rightly did not invent idioms of that time and preferred to do without modern ones. There are a few outdated words, but in general they are not difficult to say. Subtitles are more than enough for a complete understanding.
If it were not for the entourage of the Middle Ages, it would be an ordinary detective story about an amateur detective with a fairly traditional set of actors: an outstanding protagonist, a devoted clumsy assistant, harmful direct superiors and a familiar guardian of the law. However, the events take place in the county of Shropshire on the border with Wales during a rather tragic period of another civil war and dual power. There are a lot of real historical events, persons, facts and objects in the series. It was the time and place of action that became the main distinguishing feature of the series.
Stylized well, but without emphasis on authentic costumes, accurate scenery and detailed props, everything is quite conventional. They play mediocre, staging, shooting and editing 25 years ago. As often happens with the adaptation of literary works, there is a good saturation - there are no long pauses and empty long notes, it turned out, perhaps, more lively than in books.
As a result - a calm, unstrained, but also unhurried, not particularly authentic retro detective, with an interesting and memorable main character, with good stories and intrigue. Seekers of dynamic adventures or deep psychological drama should not pay attention, and fans of historical detectives can quite watch.
The language turned out to be simpler than I feared. The authors rightly did not invent idioms of that time and preferred to do without modern ones. There are a few outdated words, but in general they are not difficult to say. Subtitles are more than enough for a complete understanding.