I bought the DVDs a couple of years ago and sat through it over a couple of weekends. The cast, the script, even the studio bound production are all exceptional. I don’t care for a single series, brand new or rebooted on free to air of subscription. For me it’s physical media all the way.
It is a fantastic series. Today, it’s hard to believe that the BBC used to produce drama of this standard. My grandparents and parents were gripped by this series. It was huge. Here’s a link to a documentary about the making of ‘I, Claudius’ ruclips.net/video/l3RAoKNKuGQ/видео.html
@@denisespencer6550 It was brilliant. It had it all - politics, family, loyalty, betrayal, sex, madness, degeneracy and the pursuit of power. The BBC will never make anything like it again, alas.
Brian Blessed best known for his loud bombastic acting. Owns one of the best performances ever and it's silent, perfect and subtle. If you want to see another quiet perfect performance (but not dying), watch Patrick Stewart (as Karla) being interrogated by Alex Guinness and The BBC's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
I'm so glad I bought the series on DVD. It's such a good series from the heyday when BBC actually made some watchable programmes. Thank heavens Heston wasn't selected, Jacobi was sublime. By far his best ever role in my opinion. And much as I liked Ronnie Barker and he was a good actor, I just don't think he would have been right for the role. Actually it was a sublime piece of TV. One of the beeb's best ever in my opinion. Fantastic book, fantastic script, fantastic storyline, fantastic production and a fabulous cast, all of whom gave either the best or at least one of the best performances of their careers. Hard to beat in my opinion.
I need to say that in Augustus' death scene, Livia is not spouting inanities: Pullman is much too good a writer for that. Her monologue is pertinent: She tells him people are waiting to see Augustus; that it was foolish of him to make himself sick and to give the impression that he didn't trust anyone; that anyone might thingk Augustus thought someone was poisoning him. She tells him she's sent for Tiberius, who'll do what needs to be done, as he always does and she reminds Augustus that he and Tiberius haven't always seen eye to eye. She reflects that Augustus played favorites, and that Livia should have been listened to more; that because she was a woman, Augustus pushed her to the background, but that she has been right more than he has. At this point, we can hear the light wavering and strengthening in Livia's voice; the human that has been shoved down so that she could act as she has is struggling to make its mark on her. She tells him that all she's done has been for Rome and for him. That she's acted as a good Claudian should. "Oh, yes. I am a Claudian. I think you were apt to to forget that, at times." These are not inanities - they are almost a confession; and justification. They are the foundation of how she will live with herself after what she's done.
I, Claudius is one of my favourites. The acting is superb, the cast and crew did a huge lot with a minimal set in the studio. Compare that to now with huge budgets for sets and travel, but with crap acting by crap actors. My how times have changed.
Watched it in the 80s and then read the book. Another good Robert Graves book is Count Belisarius. He’s the eastern Roman general who tried to reconquer or liberate Western Rome after the fall
I have the whole series on VHS still, my grandma loved it. I had no plans of watching it, but you guys are making me wanna go back... but I'm pretty sure those VHS tapes are too old to be used.
Recently watched The Gathering Storm from the 1970s and laughing at the actor who played Clement Atlee because he looked so much like him. then realised he was a young Patrick Stewart.
Watched it when it was in production and again recently as streaming became a thing. The film and sound quality doesn’t stand up but the acting, writing, casting is still superlative.
Yeah, the sets and costumes look incredible, it's a shame there aren't any higher quality versions and that all the awesome work is being held back by the film quality.
I saw this series in 1976 on TVE (Spain’s BBC) in translation. My sister and I loved it. Our favorite character was Livia, let’s not get into what that may say about us.
I think the BBC series about WW1 that's discussed briefly here is actually called The Fall of Eagles (1970). Apostolic Majesty did a review on it months ago.
Fall of Eagles encompasses much larger timeframe than WW1. Series starts in the 1850's and ends in 1918. Only the last 4 episodes are set during WW1, but great series anyway...BTW, Patrick Stewart acted in both productions. In I'Claudius as Sejanus and in Fall of Eagles as Lenin.
I was 14 in the summer of 1997 when i first saw this miniseries on PBS (channel 13 WNET NY) and as lover of history i was immersed in the series. I recorded it on the VHS in my bedroom and loved every minute of it. i wore out the tape eventually. It probably tied for best miniseries with Band of Brothers IMHO.
Ronnie Barker was a regular in lots of British movies, mostly comedies, as a character player. Heston would've been totally wrong on all counts, but he did produce a British accent in Basildon Deardon's excellent 'Khartoum' and in a grim forgotten (even by himself) Sherlock Holmes movie. Not that Claudius was English ... Not many critics would say 'Antony and Cleopatra' was great, though he directed that one himself. It has its moments.
I love how Jacobi parodied a washed-up ham actor in an episode of "Frasier". Complete with the throat-gurgling which he adopted for Claudius. I also liked the young Jacobi's performance in "Day of the Jackal" and as Cadfael. Plus his narration for "In the Night Garden".
It's a great series, no doubt. But having read the books, I find that Claudius is overshadowed in the TV series first by Livia and then by Messalina. This is particularly evident when Claudius becomes emperor; we should be seeing how he consolidates his power, showing himself to be far from the stammering fool people took him for, establishing himself as a wise and competent ruler. Instead the series jumps forward one year so the story can get to Messalina's shenanigans. I thought Claudius was supposed to be the protagonist...
I always believed Tiberius was the worst emperor Rome had imagine foisting Caligula on everyone knowing he was evil just so you would be remembered more fondly.
@@eccehomo1904 maybe a general but his reign fell into debauchery pretty quickly and as I stated that one act which condemned a whole empire to suffer at the hands of the mentally unstable Caligula makes him a terrible Emperor imho.
@@abigailslade3824 Not really. He was a much more sensible general than Germanicus. He reigned (albeit reluctantly) with considerable efficiency and effectiveness, securing borders and filling the treasury coffers. He did finally lose interest (after many years of sound stewardship) and settled in Capri Sejanus then ran the show, but the only people that suffered were those members of the Patrician class who posed a presumed threat. The general population were left pretty much untouched.
@@harbl99 Good thing that Zoomer Red Guard don't watch classic movies, because they would probably topple Olivier's statue for his "blackface" performance in Khartoum.
@@mikavirtanen7029 Some accents are "mid-Atlantic". Most of us don't actually speak like Stewie Griffin. The actor Cary Grant is a good example of "!mid-Atlantic". Also, Grant's accent was deliberately mimicked for the TV series Captain Scarlet.
You know who would have made a great Claudius? This will be wild on the surface but bare with me. The British comic Benny Hill. Stop laughing. :) According to Roman historical account, people considered Claudius a fool and imbecile because of his health issues. Benny Hill would have pulled that off brilliantly until he came to power and turns out to be one of the most influential of emperors.
I know what you man. I would have never thought of Benny Hill in that role but he could have done a great take on Augustus. It would have been different, that's for sure.
I Claudius was good but not my favourite from that era, that would be Gangsters 1975. It started out as a play for the day and morphed into a series. It was actually used as a sort of teaching by the Open University manual for brilliant television drama writing. It is certainly more relevant to today than I Claudius as one of the primary themes is people smuggling into Birmingham from the sub continent. I doubt it will ever be broadcast again as it contains lots of racial slurs and features stand up comedians telling Bernard Manning style jokes. Try to watch if you can.
This series was fantastic. But there would have been an even better film, I, Claudius in 1937, directed by Alexander Korda, with Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, et al. It was never finished, a real tragedy. Laughton was even better than Jacobi, as good as he was. It's on the internet and can be seen.
Excerpts. Charles Laughton was out of this world. His speech to the Senate is considered one of the most impressive on film. He was even better than Derek Jacobi, good as he was.
Charlton Heston as Claudius? No way. Ronnie Barker? Yes. I could definitely see him in that role and being excellent as an older Claudius but he would have looked even odder than Jacobi as a young adult Claudius.
ITV produced a pretty good series in the late 60's covering much of the same ground (The Ceasars), but included a far more nuanced version of Tiberius. Its free on YT.
The casting of Charlton Heston would have triggered "The Spartacus Effect" my immutable law of Film and TV that states that all characters in ancient historical projects in the English language MUST be Plummy, RADA trained actors. Evidence is any American as a roman and of course Alexander where all the Macedonians are from Dublin which is a brave attempt but doesn't work.
Does anyone remember the BBC's DREADFUL series "Churchill's people" from the mid-1970s? Supposedly based on Churchill's books, but EVERY episode expressed the Marxist view of history, dramatising workers revolting against capitalist authority. I was a school kid at the time. A troupe of lefty actors was doing the rounds in the south of England, performing historical scenes for school children, but actually promoting a Marxist view of every event ever from British history. Like other kids at that age, I was too naive to realise what was going on or to have spoken out against it. These days they have lefty weirdos in dresses doing something similar.
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 I dunno anything except the name. Sorry, a gap in my knowledge. Mebbe that makes me seem stooopid, but not so stooopid as to discuss stuff I know nuffin about.
@@raypurchase801 Not stupid. Be glad you don't know her. Above all don't read. Many, many yrs ago I tried to read Fountainhead, but laughed so hard I couldn't continue.
Both are trained Shakespearean actors, albeit on separate continents. If you want to see Brian Blessed do comedy, check out Blackadder, or the Doctor Who story he was in (Colin Baker era, when he plays a warlord named King Yrcanos, who falls in love with the Doctor's companion, Peri). For more serious roles, he was in a couple of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare movies, and also Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
I first saw this as a teenager, and I was hooked
I bought the DVDs a couple of years ago and sat through it over a couple of weekends. The cast, the script, even the studio bound production are all exceptional. I don’t care for a single series, brand new or rebooted on free to air of subscription. For me it’s physical media all the way.
It is a fantastic series. Today, it’s hard to believe that the BBC used to produce drama of this standard. My grandparents and parents were gripped by this series. It was huge. Here’s a link to a documentary about the making of ‘I, Claudius’ ruclips.net/video/l3RAoKNKuGQ/видео.html
My mum loved this series
@@denisespencer6550 It was brilliant. It had it all - politics, family, loyalty, betrayal, sex, madness, degeneracy and the pursuit of power. The BBC will never make anything like it again, alas.
I’m amazed that Brian Blessed didn’t blink for five minutes during Augustus’s death scene. How can you not blink for all that time?
The part where Augustus died was sad. Livia poisoned him with the figs she smeared poison on
I was under the impression that they freezeframed it.
@@brentmeistergeneral2813 he says in interviews that they did not do that.
Herod: Better bring your own wine!!
The casting was absoulutely perfect i do not see and one else.
Brian Blessed best known for his loud bombastic acting. Owns one of the best performances ever and it's silent, perfect and subtle.
If you want to see another quiet perfect performance (but not dying), watch Patrick Stewart (as Karla) being interrogated by Alex Guinness and The BBC's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
I'm so glad I bought the series on DVD. It's such a good series from the heyday when BBC actually made some watchable programmes.
Thank heavens Heston wasn't selected, Jacobi was sublime. By far his best ever role in my opinion. And much as I liked Ronnie Barker and he was a good actor, I just don't think he would have been right for the role.
Actually it was a sublime piece of TV. One of the beeb's best ever in my opinion. Fantastic book, fantastic script, fantastic storyline, fantastic production and a fabulous cast, all of whom gave either the best or at least one of the best performances of their careers. Hard to beat in my opinion.
You can find it on RUclips. Although it's regularly pulled down.
It made them worldwide stars
I need to say that in Augustus' death scene, Livia is not spouting inanities: Pullman is much too good a writer for that. Her monologue is pertinent:
She tells him people are waiting to see Augustus; that it was foolish of him to make himself sick and to give the impression that he didn't trust anyone; that anyone might thingk Augustus thought someone was poisoning him.
She tells him she's sent for Tiberius, who'll do what needs to be done, as he always does and she reminds Augustus that he and Tiberius haven't always seen eye to eye.
She reflects that Augustus played favorites, and that Livia should have been listened to more; that because she was a woman, Augustus pushed her to the background, but that she has been right more than he has.
At this point, we can hear the light wavering and strengthening in Livia's voice; the human that has been shoved down so that she could act as she has is struggling to make its mark on her.
She tells him that all she's done has been for Rome and for him. That she's acted as a good Claudian should. "Oh, yes. I am a Claudian. I think you were apt to to forget that, at times."
These are not inanities - they are almost a confession; and justification. They are the foundation of how she will live with herself after what she's done.
Well said
@@Lisglow Thank you.
She was crying because it was the first time she killed someone she ever loved
@@denisespencer6550 More than likely true.
I, Claudius is one of my favourites. The acting is superb, the cast and crew did a huge lot with a minimal set in the studio. Compare that to now with huge budgets for sets and travel, but with crap acting by crap actors. My how times have changed.
Saw this show on PBS in the late 80s. Loved it. Had to wait for the weekly showing.
Watched it in the 80s and then read the book. Another good Robert Graves book is Count Belisarius. He’s the eastern Roman general who tried to reconquer or liberate Western Rome after the fall
I have the whole series on VHS still, my grandma loved it. I had no plans of watching it, but you guys are making me wanna go back... but I'm pretty sure those VHS tapes are too old to be used.
Recently watched The Gathering Storm from the 1970s and laughing at the actor who played Clement Atlee because he looked so much like him. then realised he was a young Patrick Stewart.
I suspect it was Picard in the holodeck.
Watched it when it was in production and again recently as streaming became a thing. The film and sound quality doesn’t stand up but the acting, writing, casting is still superlative.
Yeah, the sets and costumes look incredible, it's a shame there aren't any higher quality versions and that all the awesome work is being held back by the film quality.
I saw this series in 1976 on TVE (Spain’s BBC) in translation. My sister and I loved it. Our favorite character was Livia, let’s not get into what that may say about us.
Weird.
I think the BBC series about WW1 that's discussed briefly here is actually called The Fall of Eagles (1970). Apostolic Majesty did a review on it months ago.
Fall of Eagles encompasses much larger timeframe than WW1. Series starts in the 1850's and ends in 1918. Only the last 4 episodes are set during WW1, but great series anyway...BTW, Patrick Stewart acted in both productions. In I'Claudius as Sejanus and in Fall of Eagles as Lenin.
I was 14 in the summer of 1997 when i first saw this miniseries on PBS (channel 13 WNET NY) and as lover of history i was immersed in the series. I recorded it on the VHS in my bedroom and loved every minute of it. i wore out the tape eventually. It probably tied for best miniseries with Band of Brothers IMHO.
Jacobi’s part in ‘The Odessa File’ was good but quite small. I don’t know how much of a film presence that would have given him.
Something about Claudius makes me think of the Hobbits. He is a common man in uncommon circumstance.
I just want to know how the actor playing Augustus managed to go that long without blinking.
Brian Blessed a great actor.
It was this series that got me utterly addicted to Roman history.
Thanks for the recomendation
Ronnie Barker was a regular in lots of British movies, mostly comedies, as a character player. Heston would've been totally wrong on all counts, but he did produce a British accent in Basildon Deardon's excellent 'Khartoum' and in a grim forgotten (even by himself) Sherlock Holmes movie. Not that Claudius was English ... Not many critics would say 'Antony and Cleopatra' was great, though he directed that one himself. It has its moments.
I never knew Open all hours was the outtakes from I Calvdivs.
I love how Jacobi parodied a washed-up ham actor in an episode of "Frasier".
Complete with the throat-gurgling which he adopted for Claudius.
I also liked the young Jacobi's performance in "Day of the Jackal" and as Cadfael.
Plus his narration for "In the Night Garden".
It's a great series, no doubt. But having read the books, I find that Claudius is overshadowed in the TV series first by Livia and then by Messalina. This is particularly evident when Claudius becomes emperor; we should be seeing how he consolidates his power, showing himself to be far from the stammering fool people took him for, establishing himself as a wise and competent ruler. Instead the series jumps forward one year so the story can get to Messalina's shenanigans. I thought Claudius was supposed to be the protagonist...
Love Beau’s segments.
I always believed Tiberius was the worst emperor Rome had imagine foisting Caligula on everyone knowing he was evil just so you would be remembered more fondly.
He was a pretty good general and emperor actually.
@@eccehomo1904 maybe a general but his reign fell into debauchery pretty quickly and as I stated that one act which condemned a whole empire to suffer at the hands of the mentally unstable Caligula makes him a terrible Emperor imho.
@@abigailslade3824 Not really. He was a much more sensible general than Germanicus. He reigned (albeit reluctantly) with considerable efficiency and effectiveness, securing borders and filling the treasury coffers. He did finally lose interest (after many years of sound stewardship) and settled in Capri Sejanus then ran the show, but the only people that suffered were those members of the Patrician class who posed a presumed threat. The general population were left pretty much untouched.
@@eccehomo1904 that doesn’t alter my point though does it?
@@abigailslade3824 of course it does, but I've lost patience.
Hi. U guys are amazing
Ronnie Barker as I Claudius? After watching Open all Hours at least he got the stutter right!!! Gggggranville ffffffetch your cloth!!!!
Charlton Heston did play General Gordon in Khartoum (1966) with an English-ish accent.
Charlton Heston was great in Khartoum. He held his own and then some against both Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier.
@@mikavirtanen7029 Olivier's portryal of The Mahdi is classic, oh my beloveds.
@@harbl99 Good thing that Zoomer Red Guard don't watch classic movies, because they would probably topple Olivier's statue for his "blackface" performance in Khartoum.
Good spot
@@mikavirtanen7029 Some accents are "mid-Atlantic".
Most of us don't actually speak like Stewie Griffin.
The actor Cary Grant is a good example of "!mid-Atlantic".
Also, Grant's accent was deliberately mimicked for the TV series Captain Scarlet.
You know who would have made a great Claudius? This will be wild on the surface but bare with me. The British comic Benny Hill. Stop laughing. :) According to Roman historical account, people considered Claudius a fool and imbecile because of his health issues. Benny Hill would have pulled that off brilliantly until he came to power and turns out to be one of the most influential of emperors.
I know what you man. I would have never thought of Benny Hill in that role but he could have done a great take on Augustus. It would have been different, that's for sure.
Does anyone know how Dick Van Dyke got the part of Bert instead of Tommy Steele? I'm probably in the wrong place, but I've asked everywhere else.
BBC used to be good. Sigh.
In those days, their leftiness was in the closet along with Jimmy Savile's paedophilia.
One Clavdivs
Beat me to it 😢 😂
Do Masada next.
Livia: If you leave now, I'll turn my back on you, and shed not a tear.
Tiberius: That doesn't surprise me, you shed none for my brother.
I Claudius was good but not my favourite from that era, that would be Gangsters 1975. It started out as a play for the day and morphed into a series. It was actually used as a sort of teaching by the Open University manual for brilliant television drama writing. It is certainly more relevant to today than I Claudius as one of the primary themes is people smuggling into Birmingham from the sub continent. I doubt it will ever be broadcast again as it contains lots of racial slurs and features stand up comedians telling Bernard Manning style jokes. Try to watch if you can.
Will look into.
This series was fantastic. But there would have been an even better film, I, Claudius in 1937, directed by Alexander Korda, with Charles Laughton, Merle Oberon, et al. It was never finished, a real tragedy. Laughton was even better than Jacobi, as good as he was. It's on the internet and can be seen.
Excerpts. Charles Laughton was out of this world. His speech to the Senate is considered one of the most impressive on film. He was even better than Derek Jacobi, good as he was.
Ronnie Barker. Every episode would have ended with him saying "It's good-night from me..."
HBO Should show I Claudius and guarantee it would be bigger than GOT
Wel and the false grape accusations. Livia called him a monster.
Charlton Heston as Claudius? No way. Ronnie Barker? Yes. I could definitely see him in that role and being excellent as an older Claudius but he would have looked even odder than Jacobi as a young adult Claudius.
Ronnie would have been great
Agreed. Ronnie Barker was a brilliant actor who turned his talent to comedy.
ITV produced a pretty good series in the late 60's covering much of the same ground (The Ceasars), but included a far more nuanced version of Tiberius. Its free on YT.
Caesars
Damn....now every time I watch it I'll be thinking of Ronnie Barker in the role......he would've aced it.
The casting of Charlton Heston would have triggered "The Spartacus Effect" my immutable law of Film and TV that states that all characters in ancient historical projects in the English language MUST be Plummy, RADA trained actors. Evidence is any American as a roman and of course Alexander where all the Macedonians are from Dublin which is a brave attempt but doesn't work.
AY UP LOTUS EATERS
yup
@@raypurchase801 AY UP RAY
Does anyone remember the BBC's DREADFUL series "Churchill's people" from the mid-1970s?
Supposedly based on Churchill's books, but EVERY episode expressed the Marxist view of history, dramatising workers revolting against capitalist authority.
I was a school kid at the time. A troupe of lefty actors was doing the rounds in the south of England, performing historical scenes for school children, but actually promoting a Marxist view of every event ever from British history. Like other kids at that age, I was too naive to realise what was going on or to have spoken out against it.
These days they have lefty weirdos in dresses doing something similar.
Maybe you like Ayn Rand?
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 I dunno anything except the name.
Sorry, a gap in my knowledge.
Mebbe that makes me seem stooopid, but not so stooopid as to discuss stuff I know nuffin about.
@@raypurchase801 Not stupid. Be glad you don't know her. Above all don't read. Many, many yrs ago I tried to read Fountainhead, but laughed so hard I couldn't continue.
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 I'll look her up and learn stuff.
I just can't help it. Brian Blessed as Augustus reminds me of William Shatner.
Both are trained Shakespearean actors, albeit on separate continents.
If you want to see Brian Blessed do comedy, check out Blackadder, or the Doctor Who story he was in (Colin Baker era, when he plays a warlord named King Yrcanos, who falls in love with the Doctor's companion, Peri). For more serious roles, he was in a couple of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare movies, and also Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
Fall of Eagles
Fall of Eagles .
The BBC wouldn't make the TV series today unless Claudius was portrayed as bl a c que.
Don't start me on that.