Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The only thing this miniseries has in common with the book it was "based on" (?) is the name of the characters. This is not Ken Follet's World without end, it is something entirely different. If you hsve read the book, don't watch it! If you have not read the book, go read it, it's excellent!

I was intrigued by the first 15 minutes of the first episode, watched the rest and was disappointed. The plot moves so quickly with no character building what soever and the characters are so one dimensional. Caris is married to an abusive man in 30 seconds and then 1 minute later is raped and then he leaves her 2 minutes... and she seems to be unmarred by the horrific events - seriously? The men are either sexually perverse or chivalrous and there seems to be no redeeming quality to anyone that is bad. You either hate them or love them, you cannot be unsure of them. Let's not speak about all the historical inaccuracies. In fairness, the costumes and sets are brilliant and the casting is great. But I couldn't get past the second episode without turning it off.

WORLD WITHOUT END is the TV miniseries follow-up to PILLARS OF THE EARTH; both are based on novels by Ken Follett and set in the medieval English town of Kingsbridge. I have a special place in my heart for PILLARS, because it single-handedly got me interested in historical TV programming, and since then I've gone on to experience the delights of ROME, THE TUDOR, SPARTACUS, GAME OF THRONES et al.WORLD WITHOUT END is nowhere near as good as PILLARS. Despite an equally impressive cast and budget, it feels like the show is rushed. The characters are occasionally artificial and the narrative feels manufactured. Many of the episodes are repetitive, at least thematically: it features the 'good' characters making progress only to be shot down by the 'bad', and the formula is repeated ad nauseum. The last episode, meant to tie everything up, does so in a merely defunct manner that robs the audience of so much emotional fulfilment.Despite the many obvious flaws, I still liked this show. It's extraordinarily fast paced, and never boring. A lot of the actors are decent: Peter Firth as the hateful feudal lord, Ben Chaplin as the mild-mannered monk, Charlotte Riley as the sensitive heroine. You even get that bastard Walder Frey thrown into the mix for good measure. The villains are increasingly pantomime, in particular Rupert Evans, but in the end I kind of admired the guy for his intractability and, of course, entertainment value.At the end of the day it's not a great show, and I can fully see where everybody is coming from in regard to criticisms. But I liked it enough to buy it and rewatch it in future; I just love medieval stuff filled with drama, political intrigue, the plague, swordfights, you name it. WORLD WITHOUT END fills all of the relevant quotas, even if it does so obviously and to a strict formula.

I wanted to like this.I like historical novels and had heard this was a good one. From other reviews, of this series, I think I will purchase the book. I only saw the first part of this series. I forgave the costuming and over acting. THEN almost every female character was raped or molested.OK we get it. .. It was hard for females back then But this was horrid. The rape scenes seemed to be used as entertainment.The abuse seemed more glorified than an example of the horrors of life for women.I am so anger that I watched this rubbish. There is no reason for these rapes and no reason anyone should waste their time on this series. I am glad I only saw the first part.