I, Claudius (TV series)
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| I, Claudius | |
|---|---|
 Cover of I, Claudius DVD |
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| Genre | Period drama |
| Starring | Derek Jacobi Siân Phillips Brian Blessed John Hurt |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 50-55 minutes per ep |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | 20 September 1976 – 6 December 1976 (subsequently repeated) |
I, Claudius was a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves's I Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time. It also provided popular initial exposure for several actors who would eventually become famous, like Patrick Stewart, John Hurt, and Derek Jacobi.
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[edit] Cast
The major cast included
[edit] Music
Wilfred Josephs provided the title music.
[edit] Awards and reception
Among other awards, the series won three BAFTAs in 1977 (Derek Jacobi, Best Actor (TV); Siân Phillips, Best Actress (TV); Tim Harvey, Best Design (TV)).
The series was subsequently broadcast in the United States as part of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre series, where it was widely acclaimed. It has come to be widely regarded as one of the best television series ever made. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, I, Claudius was placed 12th.
[edit] Production
Production of the series was delayed because of complex negotiations between the BBC and the copyright holders of the aborted film version. This did however give the scriptwriter Jack Pulman, who would die in 1979, more time to fine-tune his script.
[edit] Plot
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This section is a stub. You can help by expanding it. |
[edit] VHS/DVD
Most VHS and DVD versions of the TV series include a BBC documentary called The Epic That Never Was on the attempted Alexander Korda film adaptation of the first book, featuring interviews with key production staff and actors as well as most of the surviving footage. The 2002 UK DVD edition also contains a documentary on the series, I, Claudius – a Television Epic, as well as some alternate and deleted scenes.
[edit] Trivia
- In Pulman's script for Claudius's speech to the senate in the final episode, Claudius prophesies that "the man who dwells by the pools shall look into graves, and the dead shall live again". This is a reference to the scriptwriter, Jack Pulman, and a pun on the book's author, Robert Graves.
[edit] In popular culture
- The series is often referred to in popular culture as I, CLAVDIVS ("eye klav divz"), from its title sequence in which the name is styled in capitals of the Old Roman alphabet, which had no letter U, but used V to double for vowel U and consonantal U (a W sound).
- The writhing snake from the title sequence is sent up in the title sequence of Blackadder II.
[edit] External links
- I, Claudius at the Internet Movie Database
- I, Claudius Project (concentrates on the BBC production)
- Encyclopedia of Television
- British Film Institute Screen Online (TV series)
- History in Film - eipsode guide
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This BBC Television-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Categories: Cleanup from December 2006 | All pages needing cleanup | Articles to be expanded since January 2007 | All articles to be expanded | Articles with sections needing expansion | BBC television dramas | Period piece TV series | 1976 in television | Television programs based on novels | British television miniseries | Masterpiece Theatre | BBC Television stubs
