The Bastard Executioner
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''The Bastard Executioner'' is an American historical fiction drama television series, created by Kurt Sutter, that aired on FX from September 15, 2015, to November 17, 2015. On November 18, 2015, Sutter announced that he had voluntarily pulled the plug on the show, after one season, as a cancellation by FX was imminent.


Overview

Set in early 14th century
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, Wilkin Brattle, a Welsh
knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
in the army of King Edward I of England, is betrayed by an Englishman with a lust for power who leaves him for dead. When Brattle is near death, a child apparition implores him to lay down his sword and follow the path of a different man. Later in life, Brattle lives as a happily married peasant farmer in Wales, awaiting the birth of his child. His new life of peace is shattered by the unbearable taxes assessed on the peasants by "Baron" Erik Ventris, the man who had betrayed Brattle. Pressured by his fellow villagers, Brattle leads a raid on the Baron's tax collector, which provokes Ventris' revenge killing of all the women and children in Brattle's village, and the burning of that village. Brattle's raiders battle with the Baron, ending in Ventris' death and the massacre of his troops. Revenge, however, is not complete, as the raiders want all the soldiers who slaughtered their kin to die by the sword. Brattle assumes the identity of Gawain Maddox, a journeyman punisher (executioner) injected into the plot just moments before the Baron's death. Brattle, aka Maddox, enters Castle Ventris intending to identify the remaining murderers so his fellow raiders can exact revenge. However, castle intrigue traps Brattle in his new alias and disdainful profession, forcing him to lead a double life while trying to determine whether this new path is the one the apparition has chosen for him, or if he has been led astray. The plot partially involves the fallout from the real-life Welsh revolt of 1294–95 against English rule, led by Madog ap Llywelyn.


Cast


Main cast


Lee Jones
as Wilkin Brattle / Gawain Maddox the Executioner * Stephen Moyer as Chamberlain Milus Corbett * Flora Spencer-Longhurst as Baroness Lowry "Love" Aberffraw Ventris * Kurt Sutter as Ludwig Von Zettel, better known as The Dark Mute/The scarred Templar * Sam Spruell as Toran Prichard / Marshal the Soldier * Katey Sagal as Annora of the Alders *Darren Evans as Ash y Goedwig * Danny Sapani as Berber the Moor * Timothy V. Murphy as Father Ruskin, the manor priest *Sarah White as Isabel Kiffin, the Baroness' Lady In Waiting and childhood friend *Sarah Sweeny as Jessamy Maddox, Gawain Maddox's widow *Ethan Griffiths as Luca Maddox, Gawain and Jessamy Maddox's son * Elen Rhys as Petra Brattle, Wilkin Brattle's wife


Special guest stars

* Brían F. O'Byrne as Baron Erik Ventris, lord of the fictional Barony of Ventrishire * Matthew Rhys as Gruffudd y Blaidd, known as "The Wolf"; the leader of a growing rebellion against corruption, an ally to Wilkin and his friends, and the Baroness' half-brother


Recurring/guest stars

* Kyle Rees as Calo Caine * Richard Brake as Baron Edwin Pryce *
Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
as Sir Cormac * Alec Newman as Leon Tell * Francis Magee as Absolon * Scroobius Pip as Aiden *Tom Forbes as
Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall ( – 19 June 1312) was an English nobleman of Gascon origin, and the favourite of Edward II of England. At a young age, Gaveston made a good impression on King Edward I, who assigned him to the house ...
*Trevor Sellers as Robinus, the Archdeacon of Windsor and commander of the ''Rosula'' soldiers * Ross O'Hennessy as Locke *James Rousseau as Denley *Tim McDonnell as Huxley *Llew Davies as Norton *Eloise Lovell Anderson as Clara *Sophie Lovell Anderson as Ramona *Matthieu Charneau as Frenchie


Episodes


Production

''The Bastard Executioner'', the first pilot for Imagine TV with FX Network, stemmed from an idea by Grazer: "I find the executioner to be an incredibly fascinating and provocative character", he said. "He deals with the highest order and the lowest order in the culture. It's about as morally complex a profession as you can imagine". Grazer pitched the idea to 20th Television chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman. The two, along with Fox21 president Bert Salke, suggested Sutter as writer. After meeting with Grazer and taking some time to contemplate the idea, Sutter built a whole world around it, and the pitch was taken to FX. Sutter explained the writing process and obstacles for the show on his
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: "It's sort of fun of jumping into completely different world, completely different time, completely different vernacular, it's a toughest thing for me right now with the pilot is the story is all broken on my board here but you know trying to find different rhythms of speech and vernacular". Sutter held his fans hostage who were eagerly waiting for his new project. "I'm not writing it on period speech just because there's no actual recording of what that vernacular sounded like with intonation and everything." The series was announced in December 2013. Sutter began writing the scripts once the last episode of ''Sons of Anarchy'' had wrapped up in late 2014. He reported, Katey Sagal is "definitely...involved" in the series. Paris Barclay, who directed 15 episodes of ''Sons of Anarchy'', directed ''The Bastard Executioner'' pilot and was executive producer. Charles Murray, a writer/co-executive producer of the last two seasons of ''Sons of Anarchy'', was a writer/co-executive producer on ''The Bastard Executioner'' series. Nichole Beattie was another ''Sons of Anarchy'' alumna on ''The Bastard Executioner'' writing staff; she has also written extensively for AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' and '' Rubicon''. ''The Bastard Executioner'' was filmed in
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
,
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, and featured a mostly
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
cast. Barclay left for the UK on January 2 to work on casting and location matters. Sutter stayed in the US to finalize the script. He joined Barclay a few days later in the United Kingdom. The draft of the pilot script was sent to the studio executives at FX on 7 January. During mid-January, Sutter and Barclay visited several possible shooting locations in Wales, including Caerphilly Castle and Fforest Fawr. Filming began on 23, 2015. The show's producers spent 10 months considering locations in Wales with the help of the
Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
's Wales Screen service, which encourages film and television productions to use locations, crews, and facilities throughout Wales. The project was one of the first major productions to move into Pinewood Studios' new facility in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
. The set for the series, in the form of a medieval village with a small castle, was constructed to the west of
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
at Dragon International Film Studios in Llanilid. On May 22, 2015,''The Bastard Executioner'' was picked up for a 10-episode series for fall launch. On November 18, 2015, Sutter announced that FX was planning on canceling the series so Sutter decided to voluntarily pull the plug even though he had not actually received an official notice of cancelation. He could have filmed more episodes, but since the show's fate was already decided, he saw that as a waste of time and money.


Reception

Reviews for ''The Bastard Executioner'' were polarized with praise being directed toward the action sequences and acting, and criticism toward the writing, pacing, limited character development, and excessive violence. It holds a rating of 49% on the review aggregator website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, based on 53 critics; the website's consensus reads: "Kurt Sutter's ''The Bastard Executioner'' doesn't want for dark thrills, but it unfortunately has more enthusiasm for brutality and gore than necessary narrative focus." Out of 37 reviews in
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the show holds a rating of 55.


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastard Executioner 2010s American drama television series 2015 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings Costume drama television series American English-language television shows FX Networks original programming Serial drama television series Television series set in the 14th century Television series created by Kurt Sutter Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Wales Television shows filmed in the United Kingdom Television series by Imagine Entertainment