Cadfael: The Holy Thief (1998)

TV. Think of the Cadfael detective series as CSI: Shrewsbury, A.D. 1137-1145. Think of it as The Name of the Rose: Medieval Victims Unit. Think of it as 221B Baker Abbey. Think of it as the original Monk. I was greatly interested in viewing this series as soon as I discovered it through Netflix. After all, it has monks, abbeys, Latin, plainchant, compline, tonsures a modern hair stylist would censure -- it was after all the Middle Ages, where every day was a bad hair day, esp. if you had taken vows of celibacy. Did I mention monks and Latin? What's not to love? Cadfael (Derek Jacobi) is an herbalist with a penchant for chemistry and an ad hoc detective who essentially doesn't buy the powers-that-be's post hoc ergo propter hoc presumptions of criminal acts, so he figures out who really dunnit and helps negotiate a humanitarian, feel-good ending. The Holy Thief episode (set in A.D. 1143) sees Cadfael stick to the case and save the life of the presumed murderer, a young novice monk, and the beautiful servant woman to whom he has taken a shine. (If this case is any indication, I will make two predictions about the remaining episodes: First, the murderer is not one of the abbey's monks, or whoever is first accused, but will turn out to be some Machiavellian overlord or his henchman acting with guile and subterfuge. Second, young novices are going to conveniently forget their solemn vows and run off to start a happy new life with the first beautiful woman who falls in love with them.) This series has PBS written all over it -- literally and gestaltwise -- but it's charming and just might possibly do half as much for monks as Columbo and The Sopranos did for Italians. 3.5 stars.