I Claudius (DVD)

So, hubby and I had finished watching Between the Lines Series 1 and the next draw from our little tub of white slips of paper produced - I, Claudius. I wasn't thrilled. Hubby's choice had won out yet again and after the fast and exciting Between the Lines, I feared I, Claudius would be slow and dull. Still, I'd give it a try…


I, CLAUDIUS - THE FACTS

I, Claudius is a BBC TV series shown back in 1976 (I turned ...
...two episodes most evenings, but I found the first episode harder to get into and yes, a bit slow, so that took me two nights!


THE STORY

I, Claudius tells the history of Rome over a century or so, from the point of view of Claudius (Derek Jacobi) himself. His narration frames the episodes, with 'real-time action' forming most of each episode. We see home Rome fares under each Emperor, ending with young Nero.
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So, hubby and I had finished watching Between the Lines Series 1 and the next draw from our little tub of white slips of paper produced - I, Claudius. I wasn't thrilled. Hubby's choice had won out yet again and after the fast and exciting Between the Lines, I feared I, Claudius would be slow and dull. Still, I'd give it a try…

I, CLAUDIUS - THE FACTS

I, Claudius is a BBC TV series shown back in 1976 (I turned seven that year.) and was based on Robert Graves' two novels. The DVD boxset came out in 2002 and currently costs £26.97 at Amazon. It contains five discs with a running time of 648 minutes and is rated 15.

The first episode is a double one, to introduce you to the characters, but the rest are around fifty minutes each. We ended up watching one or two episodes most evenings, but I found the first episode harder to get into and yes, a bit slow, so that took me two nights!

THE STORY

I, Claudius tells the history of Rome over a century or so, from the point of view of Claudius (Derek Jacobi) himself. His narration frames the episodes, with 'real-time action' forming most of each episode. We see home Rome fares under each Emperor, ending with young Nero.

Although not historically accurate in every way, I felt it did seem realistic and it inspired me to find out more about this time. It reminded me of Latin classes at school in the 1980s and I was pleased to hear many of the names we had read about then.

THE CAST

Looking through the cast list now, you can't fail to be impressed. The main stars are Sir Derek Jacobi (Claudius), Brian Blessed (Augustus), John Hurt (Caligula), Sian Phillips (Livia), George Baker (Tiberius) and Patrick Stewart (Sejanus).

You can also find many other well-known names and faces amongst the others - Patricia Quinn (of Rocky Horror fame), Ian Ogilvy (The Saint), Simon MacCorkindale (Casualty's Harry Harper), Peter Bowles (To The Manor Born), Norman Eshley (George and Mildred), Stratford Johns, Bernard Hepton, Bernard Hill and even the lovely Christopher Biggins turns up in the final part as Nero!

Look out for Robert Morgan as the Young Caligula too. He went on to play Justin Bennett in Grange Hill.

WHAT I THOUGHT TO IT

I, Claudius is visually spectacular in its sets and costumes, with great detail paid to the historical accuracy. Of course, budget constraints played a part and everything is filmed in a studio, so we don't get to witness epic battles, but I enjoyed this anyway and felt it made it all seem more real and intimate. It is also similar to watching a play in the theatre at times.

The costumes, make up and hairstyles are beautifully done and add a realistic period feel to it. Some of the actors have to age decades in front of our eyes and this is achieved through latex masks, heavy make up and wigs. This has varying degrees of success and if it was redone today, the techniques would be much better, but you get so drawn up into the story and the characters, that it rarely distracts you for long.

The talent of the actors and script writers is astounding. In a series which has over fifty speaking parts, there are usually a couple of weak links, but I felt this cast was extremely talented and would find it hard to single out anyone for being sub-standard.

It is much easier to pick out brilliance and here, I would choose to mention Sir Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, John Hurt and Sian Phillips as the most impressive. Each one of these four actors gives what I consider an amazing performance, the sort you never forget.

Derek Jacobi has arguably the hardest role. Claudius features in every episode, so there are pages and pages of lines to learn and he has to age throughout. (Robert Morgan plays Claudius as a child, but Jacobi covers the role from teenager until death.) Claudius also has a limp, a twitch and a speech impediment and is fantastic at each of these. (In the documentary on the Special Features disc, he explains how he learnt to act this way and how the stammer actually stuck with him for a while, after six months of filming!)

Brian Blessed is almost unrecognisable without the trademark beard, as he portrays Augustus. While this role is essentially a lovely man, he has scenes where his anger and power spills over and he is equally convincing in both.

The most famous scene of the whole of this series is probably the death of Augustus, which I had certainly heard about, before ever watching it. While Livia (Sian Phillips) delivers a monologue lasting about five minutes, the camera focuses on Blessed's face as he dies. The director said he wanted to see 'the light in his eyes go out' and I have no idea how Brian Blessed achieves this, but he does - and it is an amazing piece of acting and now an iconic part of television drama history.

With the death of Augustus and later, the death of Claudius, you realise as a viewer how much you are caught up in the series, as each death seems to be almost a physical loss. Truly exceptional.

John Hurt and Sian Phillips both excel as evil characters (though they are of course much more complex than that!). Sian portrays Livia, the quiet power behind the throne, who patiently waits until she can manoeuvre those into power that she wants, ruthlessly getting rid of any opposition to her plans. Her composure, beauty and elegance somehow make her evil core even more horrific.

John Hurt is Caligula, surely one of the most insane and perverse historical figures. Caligula's campness and childlike qualities are almost cute at times and definitely funny, but his inherent selfishness and barbarity are so shocking, that the contrast between the two sides of his personality literally takes your breath away at times. John Hurt portrays this perfectly, with a delight and madness that shines from every part of his face.

Caligula's reign contains some of the most shocking scenes in the whole series and it seems an ideal point here to mention the 15 rating. I certainly would not want my twelve-year-old to watch this.

While the sex scenes are generally mild (topless women, orgies, a gay kiss - although watch out for the more disturbing, skin-crawling scenes of incest), the violence is often horrific. I don't mean that in a modern 'blood, guts and gore' way - as the special effects of the time seemed to consist solely of blood bags and red make up - but the combination of excellent acting and clever direction means that not quite seeing something is somehow more terrifying than a full frontal image of the murder or whatever.

Overall, I highly recommend I, Claudius and you can understand why it occupies a place as one of the best-loved drama series of its ilk, even though it is now over thirty years old. An excellent cast, amazing script and a fascinating story with some outstanding performances that you really should see.

DVD EXTRAS

"THE EPIC THAT NEVER WAS"

This is a 70-minute documentary narrated by Dirk Bogarde and concentrates on the film adaptation of I, Claudius which began filming in 1937. It starred Charles Laughton as Claudius, with Flora Robson as Livia, Emlyn Williams as Caligula and Merle Oberon as Messalina.

The filming only lasted a few weeks. Laughton had problems getting into the part and had regular breakdowns on set, while Oberon had a serious car crash and couldn't continue. As these were the two major stars involved, the whole film was abandoned.

The documentary is filmed in the 1960s in black and white and is interesting to watch, but probably just the once. Parts of it really drag and the clips of the film are often slow and rather dull, especially in comparison to the 1976 television series.

The interviews with some of the cast are interesting and I enjoyed those, but if the film had been made, I don't believe it would have surpassed the BBC series.

"I CLAUDIUS - A TELEVISION EPIC"

This is a documentary lasting around an hour and thirteen minutes and features exclusive interviews with some of the cast (Brian Blessed, John Hurt, Sir Derek Jacobi, Sian Phillips, George Baker, Christopher Biggins and Margaret Tyzack) and the director Herbert Wise.

I really enjoyed this as it was interesting listening to them talking about the various aspects of the series - including the casting, the camaraderie between the cast, the direction they received, the view of the critics and what they think of it today. It is charming to see how much love they each have for the series and what impact it made on their lives.

ALTERNATIVE SCENES

This shows how the original 13-part version of the TV series looked, before the first two parts were edited into one long one. So we get to see the end of the original first part and the start of the original second part. Not particularly interesting, but worth a quick look.

FAVOURITE SCENES

This section lasts 36 minutes and features the favourite scenes of Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Brian Blessed, Herbie Wise, Sian Phillips, George Baker, Christopher Biggins and Maggie Tyzack. They each explain why the scene is their favourite, then the scene is shown.

Two of my favourite scenes are amongst those chosen, as Herbie picks the death scene of Augustus (providing a fascinating mini-commentary for it, explaining how it was filmed and why) and Brian Blessed's own choice is the scene where Augustus confronts his daughter's lovers.

AWARDS

This shows the awards I, Claudius got - John Hurt presenting a BAFTA to Sian Phillips, and Derek Jacobi receiving his BAFTA and Variety Club awards. I enjoyed watching these, but I enjoy award ceremonies anyway. It was interesting to see Derek Jacobi so soon after playing Claudius, but not stuttering! The tributes paid to Martin Lisemore were touching too.

For those who aren't so keen on speeches and the like, the first one is worth watching for the fashion disasters! Sian wears a strangely see-through dress, while Princess Anne wears a vile outfit!

FAMILY TREE

This can be quite useful, as it does get rather confusing following who's who! You click on a name on the tree and are taken to a still photo as a visual reminder too. 

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