I, Claudius

Since Christmas, much of our time has been taken up watching I, Claudius. For those not in the know, this was the Roman epic the BBC broadcast in 1976 to celebrate their 40th anniversary of the start of BBC TV. A highly prestigious production, it tells the story of the Emperor Augustus and his family from the point of view of the Claudius (played by the wonderful Derek Jacobi) the boy who is presented as a fool, but turns out to be shrewder than anyone ever thought.

It's absolutely gripping! I know that I'm a fan of this kind of TV, but it really does go to show that if you have a strong story and some decent actors you can tell a story that touches on the epic without having to show the wider world. The recreation of Rome is quite amazing considering that all we have is some sets in TV Centre and no location filming, and yet somehow it feels real, because of the efforts of the actors involved to make it a real place. I didn't watch very much of the recent "Rome", which I know is highly regarded, so I can't compare it, but it'd have to be really brilliant to beat this.

It's difficult to say who steals the show. There's Livia,played by Sian Phillips who steals every scene she's in, especially when she gets old and even more manipulative of her son, there's John Hurt as Caligula, who's quite simply insane, but in a very frightening way (we've just watched the episode where he eats his own child plucked from the womb of his sister/ wife). Of course there's also Derek Jacobi as Claudius. He's quite wonderful, bringing to life the various tics Claudius has- his stammer, the facial twitch and the limp... and of course he plays him at all the stages of his life from his 20s to old age. His performance holds the whole thing together, linking the various times, as he somehow, against all the odds manages to stay alive.
Oh and Brian Blessed's shouting and bluster is very entertaining too... "Is there anyone is Rome who HASN'T slept with my daughter!"

So yes, 33 years after it's first broadcast this show stands up as one of the all time greats from the BBC.
Apparently it was the inspiration for the 80s show "Dynasty". It shows.