''Labyrinth'' is a historical television miniseries based on the 2005 novel of the same name by

Kate Mosse Katharine Mosse (born 20 October 1961) is a British novelist, non-fiction and short story writer and Television presenter, broadcaster. She is best known for her 2005 novel ''Labyrinth (novel), Labyrinth'', which has been translated into more ...

. The setting jumps between

modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...

and

medieval France The Kingdom of France in the Middle Ages (roughly, from the 10th century to the middle of the 15th century) was marked by the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and West Francia (843–987); the expansion of royal control by the House of ...

and follows two women (played by

Vanessa Kirby Vanessa Nuala Kirby (born 18 April 1988) is an English actress. She has received several accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. Born in London to urologist Roger Kirb ...

and Jessica Brown Findlay) who are searching for the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...

. Other cast members include

Katie McGrath Katie McGrath () is an Irish actress. In television, she gained recognition for portraying Morgana Pendragon in the BBC One series ''Merlin'' (2008–2012), Lucy Westenra on the British-American series ''Dracula'' (2013–2014), Saskia in th ...

Tom Felton Thomas Andrew Felton (born 22 September 1987) is an English actor best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the film adaptations of the ''Harry Potter'' fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling. Born in Surrey, Felton began appearing in commercials and ...

Sebastian Stan Sebastian Stan (born August 13, 1982) is a Romanian-American actor. He gained recognition for his role as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe media franchise beginning with the film '' Captain America: The First Ave ...

Emun Elliott Emun Elliott is a Scottish actor, known for portraying Dr. Christian King in ''Paradox'', Richie in ''Threesome'', John Moray in '' The Paradise'', and Kenny in '' Guilt''. Background Elliott was born in Edinburgh, Scotland as Emun John Moham ...

Tony Curran Tony Curran is a Scottish actor who has appeared in '' Underworld: Evolution'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Roots'', and the Netflix historical epic '' Outlaw King''. He appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) as Bo ...

, and

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

Adrian Hodges Adrian Hodges (born 4 February 1957) is an English television and film writer. He has won a BAFTA Award. Life and career He began his career in journalism for ''Screen International'' magazine

adapted the novel for the series, which was directed by Christopher Smith. A German-South African co-production, the two-part series was filmed on location in the medieval town of

Carcassonne Carcassonne (, also , , ; ; la, Carcaso) is a French fortified city in the department of Aude, in the region of Occitanie. It is the prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Au ...

in southwest France and

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa. The executive producers were Tim Halkin, Liza Marshall, Ridley Scott,

Tony Scott Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was an English film director and producer. He was known for directing highly successful action and thriller films such as '' Top Gun'' (1986), '' Beverly Hills Cop II'' (1987), ''D ...

, Rola Bauer, Jonas Bauer, and Hodges. The series aired in Canada, Korea, Poland and Portugal in autumn 2012, in Sweden in December 2012, the UK in March 2013, the U.S. in May 2014, and was set to air in Austria and Germany early 2013. The running time was originally announced, and is still stated on the official website, as being "four hours". However, the broadcast version only runs for three hours.

Overview

The series follows two women—medieval Alaïs Pelletier du Mas ( Jessica Brown Findlay), who lives through the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

and Cathar massacres in

, and modern-day Alice Tanner (

)—in their quest to find the

. Alice, a volunteer at a French archaeological excavation, discovers the skeletal remains of two people in a cave, as well as a labyrinth-engraved ring, which attracts the attention of unscrupulous individuals. In 1209, newly married Alaïs is living in

, a stronghold of

Cathar Catharism (; from the grc, καθαροί, katharoi, "the pure ones") was a Christian dualist or Gnostic movement between the 12th and 14th centuries which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France. Follo ...

s who have been declared heretical by the Church. Alaïs and her father are protecting three sacred books that reveal the secret of the

from the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

Plot

Episode 1

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 Cathars, 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

Cast and characters

as Viscount Trencavel *

as Alice Tanner * Jessica Brown Findlay as Alaïs Pelletier du Mas, Guilhem's wife and Oriane's younger half-sister. *

as Will Franklyn, an author and Marie-Cecile's boyfriend. *

as Guilhem du Mas, Alaïs' husband and Oriane's lover. *

as Guy d'Évreux *

as Audric Baillard *

as Oriane Congost, Alaïs' widowed older half-sister and Guilhem's lover. * John Lynch as

Simon de Montfort Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester ( – 4 August 1265), later sometimes referred to as Simon V de Montfort to distinguish him from his namesake relatives, was a nobleman of French origin and a member of the English peerage, who led the ...

*Bernhard Schir as Paul Authie * Matthew Beard as Sajhe *

Claudia Gerini Claudia Gerini (; born 18 December 1971) is an Italian actress and singer. Life and career Born in Rome, Gerini won the National Competition of Miss Teenager in 1985. She got her first part in a film, ''La ballata di Eva'', at 14. She subsequ ...

as Marie-Cecile de l'Oradore *Danny Keogh as Bertrand Pelletier, Alaïs and Oriane's father *

Janet Suzman Dame Janet Suzman, (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who enjoyed a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles, among others, on TV. In her first film, ''Nichol ...

as Esclarmonde *Lena Dörrie as Rixende *Isabella-Rose Tsinonis as Bertrande, Alais' daughter.

Production

Background

The novel ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...

'' was written by English author

and published in 2005. It was the best-selling fiction title in 2006 in the United Kingdom and reached ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' bestseller list. The novel has also been translated and published in 38 languages worldwide.

Development

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported in March 2011 that Ridley Scott was developing a television adaptation of ''Labyrinth''. The production is a collaboration between Scott's Scott Free production company, Tandem Communications (Germany), and Film Afrika Worldwide (South Africa), and in association with Universal Production Partners (Czech Republic). It is considered a German-South African co-production. Scott Free and Tandem previously collaborated on the miniseries ''

The Pillars of the Earth ''The Pillars of the Earth'' is a historical novel by British author Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. Set in the 12th century, the novel covers the time between the ...

''. The screenplay was adapted by

. Christopher Smith was signed on to direct. Filming began October 10, 2011, in the medieval town of

in southwest France, before moving to

, South Africa in December. Production designer Tom Hannam recreated parts of Carcassonne at Cape Town Film Studios. The set created for the series has been kept as a permanent structure at the studio. The cinematographer is Australian Robert Humphreys The series has a total running time of 180 minutes and is split in two parts.

Broadcast

In the fall of 2012, the series aired on

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

in Canada,

AXN AXN is a pay television channel owned by Sony Pictures Television, which was first launched in September 1997 in Asia. Local versions have since been launched in several parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Funded th ...

in Korea,

TVCine TVCine is a Portugal, Portuguese premium television brand used on four movie channels, operated by NOS (Portuguese media company), NOS. They showcase recent movies and premieres from all the major studios, as well as comedy, action, classic and old ...

in Portugal, and Canal + Film in Poland. It aired on Sat.1 in Germany,

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

in the United Kingdom, 6ter in France,

Telecinco Telecinco is a Spanish free-to-air television channel operated by Mediaset España. The channel was previously known as Tele 5, because it had first begun its experimental transmissions on 10 March 1989, and a year later, it was officially laun ...

in Spain, on SOHO in Australia and

ORF ORF or Orf may refer to: * Norfolk International Airport, IATA airport code ORF * Observer Research Foundation, an Indian research institute * One Race Films, a film production company founded by Vin Diesel * Open reading frame, a portion of the ...

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 ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

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.

Reception

Reviewing ''Labyrinth'' for ''

'', 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." Reviewing ''Labyrinth'' for ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

'', 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".

References

External links

Official website
* * {{Christopher Smith 2010s German television miniseries Sat.1 original programming Television shows based on British novels Television series set in the Middle Ages The CW original programming Films set in the 13th century Films set in the 21st century Films set in France Films shot in France Television shows filmed in South Africa Holy Grail in fiction 2012 German television series debuts 2012 German television series endings Television series by Scott Free Productions Television series by Tandem Productions Television series about the Crusades