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Derek Jacobi's Brother Cadfael is a different kind of detective: a 12th-century monk, a healer and herbalist, and former soldier of fortune. His résumé gives him an interesting perspective on the puzzling murders that seem to plague the rural county of Shrewsbury. In "The Devil's Novice," from the second season of the television series, Cadfael defends the order's newest novice, an intense young man who harbors a haunting secret, against a murder charge. Once again he fights dogmatic superstition in the monastery's ranks and even battles the church hierarchy willing to sacrifice an innocent man to bring closure to the murder of a cleric. The generic mystery relies on familiar family melodramatics and romantic complications and even echoes elements of the more compelling Cadfael mystery "The Virgin in the Ice," but the backdrop of cloak-and-dagger intrigue and church politics infiltrating provincial Shrewsbury is compelling. Cadfael's mix of spiritual wisdom and worldly experience makes him a riveting character, and Jacobi invests him with empathy, passion, and a perceptive, clear-eyed vision of the secular world.
The DVD also features a short audio-only interview with Derek Jacobi, a biography of author Ellis Peters (a pseudonym for Edith Pargeter), and a small stills gallery of production photos. --Sean Axmaker
From the Back Cover
Twelfth century Shrewsbury comes dramatically to life in Ellis Peters' story of Brother Cadfael - a good man in an evil world. Seen on the PBS Mystery! series, this tale of cowardice and treachery stars Sir Derek Jacobi as Brother Cadfael, the intuitive crime-solving monk of medieval Shrewsbury. Cadfael questions the motives of a young man who turns up at the abbey to join as a novice, and suspicions are heightened when the half-burnt body of a missing cleric is uncovered in the woods. While the young man admits to the crime, Cadfael's investigation flushes out untruths and a tortured family history. DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE exclusive audio comments by Derek Jacobi, Ellis Peters biography and booklist, production scrapbook, captions for the hearing impaired and more.
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