Pilgrim | Sebastian Baczkiewicz

 

Hello Folks

Today, I am here with something a little bit different. I want to talk about one of my favourite fantasies that I never hear of anyone talking about. I think that this one definitely flies under the radar of most people to be honest, so I thought I would try to highlight it and hope someone takes interest enough to go and find out about it. 

Now, I know that I usually talk about books, but you may have noticed that other interests are creeping onto the site, and I wanted to expand on this a little and talk about some of the other things I like.

Pilgrim by Sebastian Baczkiwicz was a series that broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from 2008 - 2020 (ish) and centred around the main character William Palmer (otherwise known as Pilgrim for reasons that will become clearer soon).

The series ran for seven seasons with (mainly) four episodes in each season, although the final season had five episodes, and then there were two mini series comprising of two episodes.

Pilgrim is a dark fantasy series starring Paul Hilton (Lady Macbeth, Slow Horses, Grantchester) a well known TV and Stage Actor. The show mainly revolves around the folklore of Britain, but also incorporates Arthurian Legend, aspects of Shakespeare, Faerie Lore and lots of other things. 

Every week, I religiously tuned into this audio drama to listen to William Palmer's next adventure. 

I recall, I originally stumbled onto this series one afternoon whilst driving about during my job and was immediately hooked in with the introduction in which an eerie girl's voice backed by a baroque cello, briefly tells the story of William Palmer.

Of all the tales told in these islands, few are as strange as that of William Palmer. Cursed, apparently on the road to Canterbury in the spring of 1185, for denying the presence of the otherworld by the King of the Greyfolk, or faerie, himself and compelled to walk from that day to this between the worlds of magic and of man. And subsequently known in all the strange and wonderful lore attributed to the mysterious William Palmer as Pilgrim.

Every Week, William Palmer travels to a different part of the UK, which results in him getting embroiled in some kind of magical adventure, whether it be retrieving a stolen dragons egg, or aiding Joseph of Arimathea from the clutches of some psychopathic angels, and getting himself into various scrapes with malevolent faeries, witches and other supernatural creatures.

The series is a cleverly crafted amalgamation of folklore and drama which I couldn't help but love. It's very reminiscent of classic British television in its premise with elements of fantasy, folk horror and otherworldly strangeness. In addition to that there is always plenty of action. Some of the tales can be really 'out there' such as the tale of a man that is cursed to metamorphose into a hare, whilst others have an air of Whimsey to them. However, it is gripping drama. 

If you wants some more information, I have included a link to the Wikipedia page, but if you get the chance, have a spare credit on audible give it a whirl and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Right! Ta - raaa for now and thank you for reading.