I must strike a jarring dissentient note here. I thought that Derek Jacobi was the wrong man to play Cadfael, as the character was originally penned. Originally Cadfael was a Welshman (necessarily, so as to understand the laws and customs of Wales, which affected so many of the plots), and a down-to-earth former common soldier and seaman. He arrived on screen with the manners and speech of an Oxford don.

(I agree that by the time the Cadfael stories start, he has been in the cloister for twelve years or more, but since he didn't enter the Benedictine order until he was in his forties, a mere decade shouldn't entirely wipe out his former personality and graft another on top).

Cadfael was played on radio by welsh actors such as Glyn Houston and Philip Madoc. I wish that they had stuck to a Welsh actor for the TV version.