History Series / ThePillarsOfTheEarth

%%* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Waleran]].

* RedHeadedStepchild: Tom is a redheaded [[HeroicBastard bastard]] child. Ironically, his stepfather (and stepsister, for that matter) treat him as a member of the family. This treatment is later applied to [[spoiler: Tommy]], who is also redheaded

* VillainousIncest: William and Regan. This provides a bit of an explanation for why William acts the way he does; one look at his face when he mother's coming onto him tells you that (1) he's really {{squick}}ed out, and (2) this has likely been going on since he was very young. [[spoiler:One such overture directly leads to him killing Regan.]]

* BadDreams: William; Stephen to the point of PsychicDreamsForEveryone.

* HollywoodHistory: Several minor changes are introduced in the TV series for no possible reason other than because they are "[[TheThemeParkVersion so medieval]]". Among them:
** Waleran mortifying his flesh in classic ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'' style.
** Ellen being forced to flee Kingsbridge because she is accused of witchcraft, instead of just because she is having an open relationship with Tom but refuses to marry him.
** St. Adolphus' skull being crushed during the destruction of the old cathedral, then promptly replaced with another skull by Prior Philip.
** Jack's father having his tongue cut and then being [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]], instead of just hanged.
** For dramatic purposes, the miniseries shows both King Stephen and his son Eustace alive in 1156 when they were both dead by 1154. Additionally, the miniseries has Eustace die [[spoiler: in battle]], when the real Eustace died of natural causes.
** King Stephen and Robert of Gloucester are both depicted being captured at the Battle of Lincoln. In fact, Robert wasn't captured until the autumn, fighting against Stephen's wife and brother at the Rout of Winchester, with Maud impotently trying to govern the country for the six months or so in between.

* ParentalIncest: William and his mother. Quite unwanted on William's part, and quite creepily obsessive on his mother's. Which ends up leading to [[spoiler:her murdering his father, and much later him murdering her after she prodded him too far.]]

The television miniseries adaptated from the [[Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth book of the same name.]]

* AdaptationInducedPlothole: The AgeLift of Richard in the miniseries means it makes much less sense whenever he doesn't step in to help his sister when she has trouble with an anti-woman culture. Not so much a plot hole as a drastic character alteration, as it makes him seem more [[TheLoad useless and cowardly.]]
* AdaptedOut: In the book Jack and Aliena have a second child, a daughter, who is not featured here.

* TheAtoner: a minor character is a former thief who rescues Jonathon when Tom is forced to abandon him and becomes one of the monks of Kingsbridge. Later, [[spoiler: Brother Remigius]]

* BeardOfSorrow: Phillip at Tom's funeral
* BloodFromTheMouth: Repeatedly.
* BornInTheWrongCentury: Ellen is essentially a twentieth century feminist stuck in 12th century England. Aliana is also somewhat ahead of her time, although she fits in to society slightly better
* CainAndAbel: Jack and Alfred. Lampshaded by Jonathan.
* ClimbingClimax

* DawsonCasting: 28-year old Eddie Redmayne and Hayley Atwell as teenaged Jack and Aliena in the early episodes. Justified by the need to dramatize a story that spans 35 years.
* DeadGuyJunior: [[spoiler:Tom.]]

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Waleran]], who not only refuses Jack's offer to TakeMyHand, but then [[BloodFromTheMouth spits blood]] in Philip's face as he tries to administer the last rites.
* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler: Tom Builder]].
* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Waleran]].

* EvenEvilHasStandards: While [[spoiler:killing the pig boy that Waleran substituted for Eustace]], Walter looks distinctly unhappy about it. He still does it, because he's got orders, but he actually hesitates. Waleran too; presumably he thought that the queen would let the boy go when she realised [[spoiler: he wasn't Eustace and so killing him would serve no purpose]], and he looks genuinely shocked when she orders him executed purely out of spite. The next time we see him he is putting tacks in his shoes while he prays for forgiveness.
* {{GET OUT}}! Tom to Jack, after he [[spoiler:confesses to burning the old cathedral.]]

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Martha's apparently been nursing a bit of a crush on Jack ever since she was small, but never pursued it because he was clearly in love with Aliena (and also perhaps because she's essentially his stepsister). [[spoiler: This does however cause her to steal Jack's ring so as to have a small piece of him to herself]]

* MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours: Waleran tries to have Jack arrested on the cathedral site, and Philip invokes sanctuary. Waleran counts that the cathedral is unfinished and thus undedicated, so doesn't count as holy ground. [[spoiler:He's HoistByHisOwnPetard later when he tries to claim sanctuary himself.]]
* OnlyMostlyDead: [[spoiler: Jack Jackson]].

* ProphecyTwist: "Peace will reign and war depart/when arrows pierce my daughter's heart" - doesn't technically say that she'll ''lose'', mind you...

* PsychicDreamsForEveryone

* SelfMadeOrphan: [[spoiler: William]].

* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Richard.]]

* TakeMyHand: [[spoiler:Jack to Waleran.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Richard goes from a coward to a badass knight. All it took was three years of English civil war. (The additional ten years in UsefulNotes/TheCrusades didn't hurt either.)

* TwoScenesOneDialogue: Ellen/Aliena convincing [[TheDogBitesBack Remegius/Elizabeth to betray Waleran/William.]]

* VillainousIncest: William and Regan. Provides a bit of an explanation for why William acts the way he does; one look at his face when he mother's coming onto him tells you that (1) he's really {{Squick}}ed out, and (2) this has likely been going on since he was very young. [[spoiler:One such overture directly leads to him killing Regan.]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Elizabeth, William's Wife. Disappears after Richard retakes Shiring.
** She's briefly seen working for Aliena.

* CurtainCamouflage: [[spoiler:Cuthbert]], complete with [[{{Hamlet}} Polonian death]] and [[DramaticCurtainToss dramatic reveal]].

* ParentalIncest: William and his mother.

* ShipperOnDeck: Ellen wants her son to be happy. To the point of cursing marriages that make him unhappy.

* BeardOfTimePassage: Prior Phillip is seen older and with a beard in the end, after a TimeSkip.

* TookALevelInBadass: Richard went from a coward to a badass knight. All it took was three years of English civil war. (The additional ten years in UsefulNotes/TheCrusades didn't hurt either.)

* AdaptationDistillation: Despite being eight hours long, the miniseries had to significantly abridge the 850+ page novel. Most notably, it cut most of the last part of the book, including all of the Henry II/Thomas Becket showdown, and substituted a different ending. Unfortunately, this compression led to some wonky history, which the book was generally good about.
** Instead of studying architecture and mathematics through France and Spain, Jack just stays in one French town and reunites with Aliena there. It's for the best, given how [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot shallow]], [[DanBrowned off the mark]] and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment ultimately inconsequential]] was the Spanish adventure in the book.

** Instead of studying architecture and mathematics through France and Spain, Jack just stays in one same French town and reunites with Aliena there. It's for the best, given how [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot shallow]], [[DanBrowned off the mark]] and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment ultimately inconsequential]] was the Spanish adventure in the book.

The television miniseries adaptated from the [[ThePillarsOfTheEarth book of the same name.]]

** Waleran mortifying his flesh in classic ''TheDaVinciCode'' style.

** She's briefly seen working for Aliena.

* AdaptationInducedPlothole: The AgeLift of Richard in the miniseries means it makes much less sense whenever he doesn't step in to help his sister when she has trouble with an anti-woman culture.

* TookALevelInBadass: Richard went from a coward to a badass knight. All it took was three years of English civil war. (The additional ten years in TheCrusades didn't hurt either.)

* AllStarCast

* TheCameo: Ken Follett pops up as an Englishman that Jack meets in Cherbourg.