Three BBC radio dramatisations of Ellis Peters' much-loved medieval murder mysteries featuring monk-cum-sleuth Brother Cadfael
A onetime Crusader turned Benedictine monk, Brother Cadfael is a most unusual detective. Living a quiet life as a monastery herbalist, he spends his days ministering to his brothers using the medical skills he acquired in the Holy Lands - but his worldly knowledge and wide experience of human nature are frequently called upon when there is a murder to solve...
Monk's Hood
Brother Cadfael is asked to supply a healing potion for a sick monk - but monk's hood oil can kill as well as cure...
The Virgin in the Ice
In the winter of 1139, Cadfael sets out through snowbound Shropshire to find a missing boy and his sister.
Dead Man's Ransom
1141. Beyond the walls of the abbey, civil war rages. When news arrives that Sheriff Gilbert Prestcote has been taken prisoner, a hostage exchange is arranged - but love and murder intervene...
Starring Philip Madoc as Cadfael, with supporting casts including Michael Hordern, Michael Kitchen and Susannah York, these thrilling tales of murder, mystery and intrigue bring the turbulent world of 12th Century Shrewsbury superbly to life.
Monk's Hood
Brother Cadfael - Philip Madoc
Narrator - Michael Hordern
Brother Mark - Ian Targett
Fr Heribert - Timothy Bateson
Prior Robert - Geoffrey Whitehead
Meurig - Kenneth Price
Richildis Bonel - Pat Heywood
Brother Rhys/Judge - Norman Jones
Aelfric - Mark Straker
Brother Edmund - Timothy Carlton
Brother Petrus - Fraser Kerr
Brother Jerome - Andrew Wincott
Sergeant - Ian Hogg
Aldith - Jane Whittenshaw
Sibil Bellecote - Petra Markham
Edwy Bellecote - Stephen Garlick
Edwin Gurney - Richard Pearce
Hugh Beringar - Alan Barker
Ifor ap Morgan - Michael Turner
Brother Barnabas - Terence Edmond
Groom - Nigel Carrington
Dramatised by Bert Coules
Produced by Lissa Evans
First broadcast in 1991.
The Virgin in the Ice
Brother Cadfael - Philip Madoc
Narrator - Michael Hordern
Hugh Beringar - Douglas Hodge
Olivier - Raad Rawi
Ermina - Moira Buffini
Ives - Dean Magri
Abbot Radulfus - John Church
Leonard - Leonard Fenton
Elyas - Crispin Letts
Boterel - Andrew Wincott
Button - Eric Allan
Porter - Steve Hodson
Le Gaucher - Peter Laird
Axeman/Sergeant - Peter Gunn
Outlaw - Jonathan Adams
Sergeant - Jonathan Tafler
With David Holt, Ann Windsor, Julian Rhind-Tutt, John Fleming and Kate Binchy
Dramatised by Bert Coules
Produced by Phil Clarke
Music by Peter Salem
First broadcast in 1992.
Dead Man's Ransom
Brother Cadfael - Philip Madoc
Sister Magdalen - Susannah York
Hugh Beringar - Jonathan Tafler
Elis - Jason Hughes
Radulfus - Trevor Peacock
Herbard/Edmund/Ithel - Shaun Prendergast
Aline - Lorien Haynes
Lad/Villager - David Holt
Narrator - Michael Kitchen
Melicent - Katy Odey
Prince Owain - Sion Probert
Cristina - Siobhan Flynn
Eliud - Mark Lewis Jones
Maurice/Rhys/Griffri - Douglas Blackwell
Anion - Matthew Morgan
Dramatised by Bert Coules
Produced by Neil Cargill
Music by Peter Salem
First broadcast in 1995.
Helmut Schauffler, a young Nazi working in the small English village of Comerford, sets out to play upon the post-war sensibilities and fears by terrorizing his new neighbors.
Shrewsbury, 1139. The bloody civil war between King Stephen and Empress Maud has swept through the country towards the rural security of Brother Cadfael's monastery. The citizens of Worcester have fled, among them two orphaned children of noble stock, together with their tutor, a young nun. A Benedictine monk in whose care Lady Ermina and her brother Ives were left, comes to the Abbey to ask if the children have been seen. Although it would be hard to miss Ermina, a young girl of striking beauty, no one has seen the missing pair or their companion. Cadfael sets off to lead the search for the missing trio, through the rugged wastes of snowbound Shropshire, following an elusive trail across a lawless land - until the discovery of the body of a young woman, frozen beneath the ice, adds a chilling new dimension to their journey. Starring Philip Madoc, Sir Michael Hordern and Douglas Hodge and dramatised by Bert Coules.
In the year of our Lord 1141, two monks ride into the Benedictine Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul bringing with them disturbing new of war—and a mystery. The strangers tell how the strife between the Empress Maud and King Stephen has destroyed the town of Winchester and their priory. Now Brother Humilis, who is handsome, gaunt, and very ill, and Brother Fidelis, youthful, comely, and totally mute, must seek refuge at Shrewsury. And from the moment he meets them, Brother Cadfael senses something deeper than their common vows binds these two good brothers. What the link is he can only guess…what it will lead to is beyond his imagining. But as Brother Humilis's health fails, Brother Cadfael faces a poignant test of his discretion and his beliefs as he unravels a secret so great it can destroy a life, a future, and a holy order…
"Absorbing, superbly crafted….Unflagging tension which builds to a swift, satisfying climax….Peters never disappoints."—Kirkus Reviews
In the year of our Lord 1141, civil war over England's throne leaves a legacy of violence—and the murder of a knight dear to Brother Cadfael. In the spring, a flood of pilgrims comes to the celebration of Saint Winifred at the Abbey, carrying with it many strange souls…and perhaps the knight's killer.
Brother Cadfael's shrewd eyes see all: the prosperous merchant who rings false; an angelic, lame boy and his beautiful, dowerless sister; and two wealthy penitents. In the name of justice, Cadfael sets out to uncover the strange and twisted tale that accompanies these travelers. Instead, he unearths a quest for vengeance, witnesses a miracle, and finds himself on a razor's edge between death or the absolution of love.
"Some of the most elegant, unstilted prose being written in mystery novels….A bestselling phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic."—Chicago Sun-Times
A late spring in 1142 has the Abbey monks dismayed, for there may be no roses by June 22nd. For three years, the wealthy young widow Judith Perle has rented her house to the monks for the price of a single rose each year. When nature finally complies, a pious monk is sent to pay the rent'and found murdered beside the hacked rose-bush.
Without a rose, the monks' rental contract becomes void, adding greatly to the widow's dowry. But before Brother Cadfael can ponder if a greedy suitor has done this dreadful deed, another crime is committed. Now the good monk must thread his way through a tangle more tortuous than the widow's thorny bushes.
'Peters is in fine form in this 13th book, with a leisurely mystery that once again creates a 12th century world that is both comfortable and strange, and a series of delightful, interesting characters.''Publishers Weekly
The winter of 1139 will disrupt Brother Cadfael's tranquil life in Shrewsbury, as raging civil war has sent refugees fleeing north from Worcester. Among them are two young orphans from a noble family and their companion, a young Benedictine nun. The trio, never reaching Shrewsbury, have disappeared somewhere in the wild countryside.
Cadfael feels afraid for these three lost lambs, but another call for help sends him to the Church of Saint Mary. A wounded monk by the roadside will surely die without Cadfael's healing arts. Why this holy man has been attacked and what his fevered ravings reveal soon give Brother Cadfael a clue to the fate of the missing travelers. Now Cadfael sets out on a dangerous quest to find them. The road will lead him to a terrible murder and a tale of passion gone awry, in Ellis Peters's most stunning depiction yet of love and war.
"Some of the most elegant, unstilted prose being written in mystery."—Chicago Sun-Times
On a spring evening in 1140 Shrewsbury, the midnight matins at the Benedictine abbey suddenly reverberate with an unholy sound—a hunt in full cry. Pursued by a drunken mob, the quarry is running for its life. When the frantic creature bursts in to claim sanctuary, Brother Cadfael finds himself fighting off armed townsmen to save a terrified young man.
Accused of robbery and murder is Liliwin, a wandering minstrel who performed at the wedding of a local goldsmith's son. The cold light of morning, however, will show his supposed victim still lives, although a strongbox lies empty. Brother Cadfael believes Liliwin is innocent, but finding the truth and the treasure before Liliwin's respite in sanctuary runs out may uncover a deadlier sin than thievery—a desperate love that not even the threat of hanging can stop.
"Murderous though they be, the Ellis Peters books set in 12th-century Britain have the freshness of a new world at dawn…Peters weaves a complex, colorful and at times quite beautiful tapestry. Medieval of course."—Houston Post
Outside the pale of the Abbey of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in September of the year of our Lord 1140, a priestly emissary for King Stephen has been reported missing. But inside the pale, what troubles Brother Cadfael is a proud, secretive nineteen-year-old novice.
Brother Cadfael has never seen two men more estranged than the Lord of Aspley and Meriet, the son he coldly delivers to the abbey to begin a religious vocation. Meriet, meek by day, is so racked by dreams at night that his howls earn him the nickname the Devil's Novice. Shunned and feared, Meriet is soon linked to the missing priest's dreadful fate. Only Brother Cadfael believes in Meriet's innocence, and only the good sleuth can uncover the truth before the boy's pure passion leads him to the noose.
"Enchanting.... Medieval England comes marvelously alive."-Washington Post
Setting out for the Saint Giles leper colony outside Shrewsbury, Brother Cadfael has more pressing matters on his mind than the grand wedding coming to his abbey. Yet as fate would have it, Cadfael arrives at Saint Giles just as the nuptial party passes the colony's gates. He sees the fragile bride, looking like a prisoner between her two stern guardians, and the bridegroom, an arrogant, fleshy aristocrat old enough to be her grandfather. And he quickly discerns that this union may be more damned than blessed.
Indeed, a savage murder will interrupt the May-December marriage and leave Brother Cadfael with a dark, terrible mystery to solve. The key to the killing-and a secret-is hidden among the lepers of Saint Giles. Now, Brother Cadfael's skills must ferret out a sickness not of the body, but of a twisted soul.
"Successful and gripping...Once again Ellis Peters has combined a proper, carefully plotted detective story with a carefully detailed, convincing evocation of medieval life."-Times Literary Supplement (London)
Christmas, 1141 A.D. Abbot Radulfus returns from London, bringing with him a priest for the vacant living of Holy Cross, a man of presence, scholarship, and discipline, but neither humility nor the common touch. When he is found drowned in the millpond, suspicion is cast in many directions-not least towards a young man who came in the priest's train and was sent to work in Brother Cadfael's garden ... for he has little obvious priestly calling. Indeed, he soon attracts the friendship of a girl both beautiful and formidable.
To Brother Cadfael-once worldly, now dedicated, if gently cynical-is left the familiar task of sorting the complicated strands which define guilt and innocence.
"Enchanting...medieval England comes marvelously alive."-Washington Post
"In the summer of 1139, there is a pause in the civil war racking the country, and St. Peter's Fair promises to bring some much-needed gaiety to Shrewsbury-that is, until the dead body of a wealthy merchant is found in the river Severn. Was Thomas of Bristol the victim of murderous thieves? If so, why were his valuables abandoned nearby?
Brother Cadfael, that shrewd but kindly monk, offers to help the merchant's lovely niece, Emma. But as he searches for the killer, Thomas of Bristol's wares are ransacked and two more men are murdered. Emma almost certainly knows more than she is telling, and others will soon discover this, too. Cadfael desperately races to save the young girl, knowing that in a country at war with itself, betrayal can come from any direction-and even good intentions can kill.
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"Stylishly authentic....a graceful and informative case for Peters' engaging, herb-gardening monk."-Kirkus Reviews
