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Set in ancient Rome between 24BC and 54AD and shot entirely in the studio, I,
Claudius (BBC, 1976) remains an unlikely, uniquely successful serial.
Traditionally, British television dramas set overseas or in the distant past have
often failed or been critically derided, such as The Last of the Mohicans (BBC,
1971), filmed in Scotland and starring Philip Madoc as Huron warrior Magua, or
The Feathered Serpent (ITV, 1976-78), with Diane Keen as the Aztec Empress
Chimalma.
I, Claudius, however, was instantly hailed as a classic by critics and public
alike. It succeeds thanks to its extraordinary cast, headed by Derek Jacobi
(brilliant as the stammering narrator) and a positively reptilian Siân Phillips
as the murderous Livia, and the sharpness of Jack Pulman's scripts, which manage
to make a remote era both understandable and palatable. Robert Graves' 1934
novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God are often fanciful and historically
questionable, and so are the scripts. For instance, in 'Waiting in the Wings'
(tx. 27/9/1976) a-historically Gaius dies before Lucius, while, in 'What Shall
We Do About Claudius?' (tx. 4/10/1976), Horace appears in a scene set 17 years
after the poet's death. However, such changes help Pulman give each episode a
standalone structure. Thus each part ends with a dramatic sting, invariably
accompanied by Wilfred Josephs' strident music, also heard during the celebrated
opening titles over shots of a snake crawling across a mosaic (later parodied in
Blackadder II (BBC, 1986)), which perfectly sets the tone for the serial.
Scene after scene brilliantly melds gallows humour with truculent
representations of the violence and depravity of ancient Rome, such as when
Livia and Martina (played, incidentally, by Patsy Byrne, 'Nursie' in Blackadder
II) discuss poisoning techniques, or when Augustus (Brian Blessed in perhaps his
best role) lines up and berates the many men his married daughter has been
sleeping with. Undoubtedly the most shocking moment, however, is the revolting
end to 'Zeus, By Jove!' (tx. 8/11/1976) when Caligula (an appropriately
outrageous John Hurt) murders his pregnant sister (who he has married), and then
cuts the foetus out of her womb and eats it.
Alexander Korda originally tried to film the books in 1937, and his company
London Films is credited as a co-producer on the mini-series. Filming was
quickly abandoned however, although the material that was shot later featured in the documentary The Epic That Never Was (BBC, tx. 24/12/1965).
Sergio Angelini
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1. Making the introduction (2:02)
