Labyrinth (miniseries)

Plot

Episode 1

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2019)

Alice Tanner is working at an excavation in France when she finds something. As she does, an earthquake is present. Upon hearing voices, seemingly whispering her name, she is drawn into a cave. She finds the remains of two skeletons. On one of the skeletons she finds a labyrinth-engraved ring which she takes. As she slips it on her finger, she is taken back as if she was drunk. She starts calling out as if someone is with her whispering until she is seemingly attacked in her abdomen, her shirt stained with blood. When she exits the cave, she is not in her own world. She walks along as people in white, the Catholics, are burning people alive. One woman notices her and holds out a brown journal of sorts. Before Alice can grasp it, the scene changes.

It is now Alaïs Pelletier, who we now know was the woman holding the book out to Alice, lying in a bed with her husband beside her. She thinks she has left him asleep as she leaves but he is awake.

Episode 2

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2019)

Cast and characters

• Tom Felton as Viscount Trencavel
• Vanessa Kirby as Alice Tanner
• Jessica Brown Findlay as Alaïs Pelletier du Mas, Guilhem's wife and Oriane's younger half-sister.
• Sebastian Stan as Will Franklyn, an author and Marie-Cecile's boyfriend.
• Emun Elliott as Guilhem du Mas, Alaïs' husband and Oriane's lover.
• Tony Curran as Guy d'Évreux
• John Hurt as Audric Baillard
• Katie McGrath as Oriane Congost, Alaïs' widowed older half-sister and Guilhem's lover.
• John Lynch as Simon de Montfort
• Bernhard Schir as Paul Authie
• Matthew Beard
  as Sajhe
• Claudia Gerini as Marie-Cecile de l'Oradore
• Danny Keogh as Bertrand Pelletier, Alaïs and Oriane's father
• Janet Suzman as Esclarmonde
• Lena Dörrie as Rixende
• Isabella-Rose Tsinonis as Bertrande, Alais' daughter.

Production

Background

The novel Labyrinth was written by English author Kate Mosse and published in 2005. It was the best-selling fiction title in 2006 in the United Kingdom and reached The New York Times bestseller list. The novel has also been translated and published in 38 languages worldwide.^[4]

Development

Filming began October 10, 2011, in the medieval town of Carcassonne in southwest France, before moving to Cape Town, South Africa in December.^[4][5] Production designer Tom Hannam recreated parts of Carcassonne at Cape Town Film Studios.^[4] The set created for the series has been kept as a permanent structure at the studio. The cinematographer is Australian Robert Humphreys^[4]

The series has a total running time of 180 minutes and is split in two parts.^[5]

Broadcast

In the fall of 2012, the series aired on Showcase in Canada, AXN in Korea, TVCine in Portugal, and Canal + Film in Poland.^[7][8] It aired on Sat.1 in Germany, Channel 4 in the United Kingdom, 6ter in France, Telecinco in Spain, on SOHO in Australia and ORF in Austria during 2013, in Denmark on the DR1 TV station on 25/26 March 2013, and aired in the United States as a two-night event on The CW on May 22/23, 2014. It came back to U.S. television as a four-hour-long mini-series on SyFy on Wednesday, December 23, 2015. Labyrinth is distributed worldwide by Tandem.^[5]

Reception

Reviewing Labyrinth for The New York Times, Mike Hale gave it an negative assessment. Hale stated "Always wanted to know more about Catharism and the Albigensian Crusade? After watching Labyrinth, you may actually know less." Hale added "Labyrinth is too plodding and literal to rise to the level of camp, which could have saved it. Some of the modern scenes have the advantage of location filming in Carcassonne, which helps distract you from the mostly indifferent performances."^[9] Reviewing Labyrinth for The Philadelphia Inquirer, David Hiltbrand praised the show. Hiltbrand said "Labyrinth is a challenging viewing proposition, demanding close attention and patience". Hiltbrand also said "There are excellent siege and battle scenes (particularly by TV standards). And the cast, which includes Tom Felton, Sebastian Stan, Katie McGrath, Tony Curran, John Lynch, and others, is large and appealing".^[10]

References