I, Claudius A Television Epic - part 8

[5060638]

Brian Blessed is a real king!

[Sirchud68]

Bravo!

[vanillaorchid]

Wonderful series.

[Mr1958louief]

I, Claudius is Absolute Perfection!! Millions are spent today on Bad Television. NOTHING has ever came close to this.. I don't think nothing ever will. To EVERYONE connected to the making of I,Claudius even to the person that polished the floor. OUTSTANDING JOB!! WELL DONE!! Most of all THANK YOU!!!!

[HistoryLover1550]

Hopefully the remake will do justice to the original and the archaic sentence structure like that of Starz 'Spartacus' would make it more interesting.

[xhagast]

@HistoryLover1550 Some things are perfect and no need to mess with them. Remember John Wayne's True Grit? Great acting and a great script and just enough scenary. It is not a remake of Star Wars with better effects and famous actors or adapting a play into a movie.

[HistoryLover1550]

@xhagast I agree with you on that.

[HistoryLover1550]

I've loved this series since I was a boy, I credit 'I, Claudius' as one of the things that got me interested in the Roman Empire.

[TheImpossibleMan]

Good time to mention that the theme for this series is terrible.

BUT I think John Hurt put it best. The series is timeless.

[Iain1962]

Why is Patrick Stewart not in these documentaries about I, Claudius? He is brilliant as Sejanus.

[blackiemittens]

The critics hated this series? What the hell! Were they all drunk, high or dropped on their heads too many times!

[akear]

This series joins Roots and Shaka Zulu as the best mini-series ever.

[marcmgm]

Yes It's too bad Patrick Stewart didn't contribute.Wonder why?

[vbabe11111]

well i've got some bad news for you folks: i claudius is going to be remade into a motion picture and if you think of whats being allowed in movies today guess that this movie will be complete and utter exploitative crap.

[The8thDOCTOR]

I came to Claudius via ROME by HBO/BBC

but OMG

what a better show is claudius.

Rome may have the sets and special effects, but the sheer acting & story  telling in Claudius is in a higher league.

[straycoolcat]

Well said! The differences between I, Claudius and Rome are perfect illustration of what has happened to the modern film and television industry. Superb actors discarded for dull drones that fit the latest fashion in political correctness. Fantastic writing sacrificed for a set of formulaic plots that pander to the interests of the intellectually defunct 21st century Western deadheads.

[straycoolcat]

It reall is terrible that masterpieces like this, and the climate which supports them, are gone forever. Apparently, those of us who recognise this tragedy are supposed to accept today's bad writing and bad acting because "the special effects are, like, just, you know, like totally the shit." Disgusting.

[mowriter]

@The8thDOCTOR : I do appreciate that Rome and I, Claudius cover two separate, but contiguous sides of the same Augustus.

[Unremarkable1000]

@The8thDOCTOR Don't think they're better actors. They just had better opportunities to display their talent, in other words better writing. James Purefoy, Polly Walker and the actors who played Octavian were very good I think. 

[billga2007]

I love the theme music.

[gjc2462]

I agree that this is very very classy. Brilliant. Superb and compulsive. It is a pity though there is little discussion of the way the interior design sets may also have accounted for the success of the series and not just the actors. Credit was given to the make up artists. It should also be given to those responsible for reconstructing the convincingly beautiful ancient architectural features along with the statues and mosaics.

[AdArmand]

I might have agreed with Mr Blessed, until I saw "The Wire" - which IS the greatest series of ALL TIME!

[donnyab]

you've been listening to too much hype my friend...the wire is NOT only not the best TV series of all time it is not even the best TV series made by the people involved with the Wire...I re-direct your attention to Homicide...which is substantially better than the wire...although the wire is good too

[tuxguys]

What a treat, what a feast. Let's get the obvious out of the way: Greatest mini-series EVER (a nod to "The Forsyte Saga" for showing PBS back when it was NET that they could get ratings by showing an extended classic story with great actors, and thus inspired"Masterpiece Theater"), the template for "The Sopranos," "Deadwood," and (yeah yeah) "Rome." I am very nostalgic for this show's theme, I was studying composition at the time I first heard it, and it made me want to study even harder.

[Jeorney]

Curious how some critics get it wrong. Probably some political agenda going on.

Shame some of the other actors were left out such as James Faulkner (Herod "Trust no one" Agrippa): Patrick Stewart (Sejanus), and many of the others.

[LordTacohead]

@Jeorney

I missed Patrick Stewart too.

[NapoleonCalland]

And don't forget Castor and Marcellus, not to mention Drusus, Herod Agrippa and Calpurnia... or Narcissus, Pallas, Britannicus...

[bookishmuch]

Sian Phillips was married to Peter O'Toole??? Lucky woman--Peter was so handsome back in the day!

[christschinwon]

HAS ANYONE IN THIS ROOM NOT SLEPT WITH MY DAUGHTER?!!!! - loved this series, all great actors esp Mr Blessed

[bookishmuch]

really? I've always found Mr. Blessed to be a first-class ham. Entertaining, but not GREAT.

[NearVSMello]

@christschinwon I think he sais: Has anyone in ROME not slept with my daughter.

[friendoftheband]

ty for this would love to see all the episodes but this is a best second ty again

[gwennire]

I watched the series, originally and was transfixed.I did see the repeat a year later, that was the last time I saw it, hard to believe over 30 yrs ago! The intensity of the series and the actors was such that I could quote lines word for word, even after all that time, Yesterday I gave a friend the box set and everyone at the birthday party watched the first 3 eps right away, until after midnight. I so glad I found this documentary here!!!! Thank you morniexitule, for posting this!!!!!!!

[PippoOfEarth]

Thanks for posting this. I have "I, Claudius" on DVD and just finished watching all of the episodes yet again.  Too bad this special was not on the American version on DVD.

[KatanaGeldar]

Is this on DVD? My Aunt loves I, Claudius and she would love this.

I want it too! great doco!

[lextalionis2001]

old enough to remember its premiere on PBS in the states. Wow, great stuff.

Thanks for posting

[MARTINKUK1]

In these interviews, there are truely the best staff of the series. I simply love the way it is made: curiosities that every fan of I CLAUDIUS will be interested in. Brian Blessed played Augustus in a remarkable way, Sian Phillips was the Livia I imagined from the book, George Baker was terrific as Tiberius, John Hurt was a bit scary as Caligula and Derek Jacobi: WHAT A PERFORMANCE. I wrote my comment on this series on Internet Movie Database. Truely a masterpiece!

[MCARE17]

Just wanted to echo the comments of others. I was too young to watch I, Claudius when it first aired on Masterpiece Theater in the US, but since discovering this epic some 30 years ago, I have watched it over and over. I was not aware that this documentary had been done until I happened upon it quite by accident here. Thanks for posting. I will watch this again. But now, I'm going to pop in a tape and see what those devils are up to at the palace!!

[Pipe61]

As an I Claudiusophile I thank you from the bttm of my heart for posting this. This short film is *not* included on the North American DVD of Claudius - damn fools.

Again many thanks for this.

[AdArmand]

"The critics were a bit pissy about it." Pissy! Who cannot adore Jacobi?!

[EmeraldCityRebel]

This is great, thank you for posting it! LOVE this series.

[reinadegrillos]

Gracias por postear este magnífico recuerdo de una de las series más estupendas que se han realizado.

Ese reparto de lujo...y esa magnífica producción están en la mente de todos cuando se habla de televisión de calidad.

[geraberl]

What a fantastic treat to have been able to watch these. Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to post. What great anecdotes and memories.

[esanatoglia]

that´s great, i will enjoy ever more now my Roman Empire classes in London! THANKS SOOO MUCH !

[DrususCaesar]

This programme will never be equalled!.

It's a genuine classic.

[HoboHemmens]

the greatest television production of all time

[templar44]

Brian Blessed is the best. His take on the whole series is dead on.

[Partymanners2]

Thanks so much for posting this..

[JUSTDAVID2]

I echo the last few comments, thank you for posting this. I do not remember it when originally shown, so am very glad to have seen it now. Thank you again.

[unzari55]

This doc isn't in the N. American box set, so it was a real treat to watch. Thank you thank you thank you!

[twolionss]

thanks for posting-great stuff

[LazyGear]

thanks, i enjoyed this very much ^_^

[kukenstaralltid]

thank you for posting this