![]() John Hurt (Caligula) and Derek Jacobi (Claudius) square off in the miniseries I, Claudius.Įxcept, that is, for Claudius himself. And the women, including Sian Phillips as Livia and Sheila White as Messalina, are deadlier, and even more fascinating, than the men. So does John Hurt, as a memorably unhinged Caligula. Patrick Stewart, long before Star Trek: The Next Generation, shows up here. The miniseries boasts impressive performances from several key British actors. "I am not yet born," he says as the TV drama begins, "but I will be, soon." The original I, Claudius, based on the novel by Robert Graves, covers the reigns of several Roman emperors - Augustus, Tiberius, the famously twisted Caligula and the stuttering, limping Claudius, who narrates the entire tale, reading from his own history. ![]() And a few years later, when the ABC prime-time soap opera Dynasty was launched, its creators admitted openly that what they had in mind was a modern-day I, Claudius. I, Claudius, shown on the PBS series Masterpiece Theatre, didn't get anything close to the audience that Roots did - but it sure got a lot of attention. I, Claudius came to American television, imported from the BBC, in 1977 - the same year as another ambitious long-form production, ABC's Roots, which proved to everyone that miniseries were an exciting and extremely popular new form of television. ![]() Patrick Stewart co-starred in the BBC series that spanned the history of the Roman empire from Augustus through Claudius. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |