The Pillars of the Earth TV series

The Pillars of the Earth

The Pillars of the Earth has been filmed as an eight-hour limited series of for television. Ian McShane, Donald Sutherland, Rufus Sewell, Matthew Macfadyen, Sarah Parish, Hayley Atwell, Eddie Redmayne and Gordon Pinsent headline the star-studded cast for the US$40-million adaptation.

Screening schedules and release on DVD

The Pillars of the Earth premiered in the United States and Canada on Friday 23 July. In the US, the mini-series was aired by Starz Entertainment and in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central.

The series premiered In Ireland on TV3 on 15 August, in the Netherlands on RTL8 on 10 October, in the UK on Channel 4 on 16 October, in Germany on SAT1 on 15 November, and in France on Canal+ on 12 December 2010.

	Channel	Premiere		Channel	Premiere
Austria	ORF	14 November 2010	Japan	NHK	February 2011
Australia	Foxtel	26 April 2011	Latin America	Leda Films	To be announced
Canada	The Movie Network	23 July 2010	Netherlands	RTL8	10 October 2010
	Movie Central	23 July 2010	Poland	Canal+	6 December 2010
Belgium	BeTV	6 December 2010	Slovakia	TV JOJ	1 January 2011
Bulgaria	PRO.BG	10 November 2010	South Korea	KBS	2 January 2010
France	Canal+	12 December 2010	South-east Asia	Star Movies and Fox	To be announced
Germany	SAT1	15 November 2010	Spain	Cuatro	14 September 2010
Ireland	TV3	15 August 2010	Sweden	TV3	2 January 2010
Italy	Sky	1 October 2010	United Kingdom	Channel 4	16 October 2010
Hungary	TV2	To be announced	United States	Starz	23 July 2010

The DVD edition was released in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States in November 2010. The DVD release dates for other countries are:

	Publisher	Date		Publisher	Date
Canada	Sony Pictures	23 November 2010	Netherlands	Dutch Film Works	10 October 2010
Brazil	Mares Film	19 January 2011	Scandinavia	Scanbox	30 November 2010
France	Sony Pictures	5 January 2011	Spain	Aurum	24 November 2010
Germany	Universum	7 December 2010	United Kingdom	Sony Pictures	22 November 2010
Italy	Dall'Angelo	12 January 2011	United States	Sony Pictures	23 November 2010

Ratings

In the United States, an estimated 8.5 million viewers watched the series on Starz
In Spain, an estimated 4.15 million viewers watched the series, making it the most watched fiction programme in the history of the Cuatro channel
In Italy, the series was the most watched episodic fiction programme in Sky's history.
In The Netherlands, the series has been the best series launch on RTL8 in 2010, nearly tripling the network's average market share
In Germany, it was seen by an average of 6.8 million viewers per night during its run on SAT1, with an average market share of 25.3 %.

About the production

The series is directed by Sergio Mimica-Gezzan (Heroes, Saving Grace, Into the West). Mimica-Gezzan worked as Steven Spielberg’s first assistant director on Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, sharing the DGA directorial awards for both films with Spielberg.

The novel was adapted by award-winning writer John Pielmeier (Emmy winner Hitler – The Rise of Evil and Emmy nominated The Memory Keeper’s Daughter), who also played the role of 'Cuthbert'.

The series was produced by Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Tandem Communications (Ring of the Nibelungs, Impact, Lost City Raiders) and multi award-winning Muse Entertainment (Human Trafficking, Tales from the Neverending Story, Durham County) in association with Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe nominated Scott Free Films (CBS’s series Numb3rs, Emmy nominated minis The Andromeda Strain and The Company).

The series assembled an impressive array of veteran producing talent, including Emmy-winner David Rosemont (Into the West, Door to Door); Sir Ridley Scott, whose films include Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiatior, Black Hawk Down and American Gangster), Tony Scott (Top Gun, Man on Fire, The Taking of Pelham 123), Rola Bauer (Ring of the Nibelungs), Michael Prupas (Human Trafficking), David Zucker (Numb3rs), Tim Halkin (Lost City Raiders) and Jonas Bauer (Impact), and Emmy nominated John Ryan (Hitler: The Rise of Evil, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows).

>> See Ken interviewed by Scott Orlin of Cinema magazine in front of Salisbury Cathedral.

>> Ken's blog
>> See the cast list

>> Production image gallery
>> More about the director and crew

The Salisbury Cathedral connection

The fictional 12th century Kingsbridge Cathedral in the South West of England was partly inspired by Salisbury Cathedral and in its architecture, with rows of narrow, pointed 'lancet' windows. Parts of Salisbury's architecture have been filmed to be reproduced in Kingsbridge Cathedral.

A modern day connection is that the actor David Oakes, who plays William Hamleigh, was educated in the Cathedral Close and is the son of a current Salisbury Cathedral Canon. With so much linking Salisbury Cathedral and the 'Pillars' mini-series, the Cathedral and Tandem Communications have formed a partnership.

The 750-year-old Salisbury Cathedral is one of Britain’s finest medieval cathedrals, and has Britains's tallest spire. Over 250,000 people visit each year.

>> See the Salisbury Cathedral website, with it's 'Pillars' section.

The TV series official site

See the Tandem/Muse/Scott Free website for the production, with more information about the filming, cast and crew news and Ken's blog …
www.the-pillars-of-the-earth.tv/