I, Claudius - Drama Connections - 2005 - BBC - Derek Jacobi - John Hurt - Brian Blessed
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- I, Claudius - Drama Connections. 2005. BBC. - Derek Jacobi - John Hurt - Brian Blessed
Narrated by Meera Syal.
Cast members discuss this classic BBC serial.
Contributors Brian Blessed, George Baker, John Hurt and Derek Jacobi.
What's often overlooked is the kickass theme AND the opening - with the snake. NEVER gets old...
In my family, we called the program "Ooch a snake . . ."
As parodied by Blackadder.
The music is incredible, and it imitates the snake. Brilliant!
kösz
The late 60's through the mid 80's is a period I like to think of as the golden age of Bitish television with I Claudius as its crown jewel.
RIP John Hurt (Caligula) and George Baker (Tiberius). Well done!
I, Claudius is the greatest TV drama of all time
Alongside Pennies From Heaven.
Yep, one of the funniest… how I laughed at the cheap drama sets, the poor lighting, the naff dialogue and a less than ‘grand’ approach to the Roman Empire… nothing compared to what I was told at school about the great Roman Empire.. it was a ‘Blake’s Seven’ compared to Star Trek..😂😂
@@franceleeparis37 if you only watched the series for gladiator fights and the sets, you clearly didn’t watch the series I did……..and Star Trek is rubbish, just sayin
Clearly you've never seen 2 broke girls
I was in rehearsal for ‘A Day in the Death of Joe Egg’ when I Claudius was on and never have I known rehearsals end and get cleared up so quickly and efficiently. The whole cast was addicted!
Two shows that were a marvel and epic : I Claudius and the Prisoner.
I’m a 29 year old American. My father shared the show with me when I was in college. I honestly think about it all the time. While I search for a new series to watch, I think of this masterpiece. It simply cannot be matched. I cannot wait to share it with my own children.
It was a family event in our household even though I was a child , due to feeling of being at the theatre. I can’t emphasise enough how important and timeless phenomenon I Claudius still is . The cast is outstanding, it’s created by a inspirational team & the power struggle & corruption of power so perfectly demonstrated. How Rome ruled most of the world yet could not rule itself . The radio adaptation I highly recommend
same exactly. My mother would give dramatic side eyes to my dad at certain times (especially with Caligula), but my father was firm on his position of this being high art and we would all benefit from it.
I think he was right. :)
I CLAVDIVS
@@hamishanderson6738 get out of my head! my brother and I refused to pronounce it properly for a long time after that. :)
@@cautionTosser l think it was
Harry & Paul (Enfield & Whitehouse)
that set me off.😁
I agree with you. 'I Claudius' was event television. Literate, compelling and wonderfully well acted.
Every generation must watch this phenomenal series , it’s timeless. The Graves books are incredible . I Claudius is timeless , the cast is outstanding & it was a time we’re it felt audiences were respected that we had a literal perspective
where
This was a fabulous series. Derek Jacoby was fabulous in it. It was really great they decided to have him revisit his role as Claudius in "The Gladiator".
Jacobi
Great series and the first time I saw those amazing actors Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Patrick Stewart, Sian Phillips, John Rhys-Davies, and so many more!
They didn't even mention Patrick Stewart!
I watched this on PBS in Philadelphia in 1976 when I was 14. Bloody brilliant !!!!
No better show was ever made. I was 14 when it first was introduced to PBS and I was knocked out. I have seen this show too many times to count
Like many commenters here, I have (childhood) memories of sitting down as a family and watching this unfold on our TV. As it happens, I'm just finishing Graves' novel now; and there's *almost no dialogue!* It's largely narrative. What a monumental task, to make it into a teleplay. I'm more impressed now than ever.
I, Claudius is being shown in the UK on BBC4 from the 16th of August 2023.
Absolutely totally overwhelmingly agree.
I rewatch it all the time and think how awful something so great and layered and complex would not be produced in today's woke climate
Cheers from Melbourne 😊
@@maryvasilakakos7387 And far right climate!
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633
And far left not much better. A plague on both their houses.
🤣
@@maryvasilakakos7387 You're right of course.
I, Claudis will go down as the greatest program in BBC-TV history. It is a near perfect masterpiece.
Every so often I take out my dvd collection and go back in time. I, Claudius is perfectly done and I never tire of it.
I put this on one day intending to use it as background noise while I fell asleep, but something about it commanded my attention. It is not only masterfully crafted, it is an important lesson in human nature that can on no account be neglected. Film and TV today make way too much of spectacle, and too little of humanity. That's why they're so forgettable. But when you get a master thespian who has command of the english language and of the human experience... that's what really makes a piece of Film or TV great.
Director Herbert Wise, was a nice man, I was a Child Actor working on another production in the next Studio at TVC,, and met all the Cast at tea/meal breaks, they looked amazing in the Roman Costumes, and I asked the female Floor Manager if I could go in to see the sets, (it was a Closed set) so only Cast and Crew allowed, but she asked Herbert, and he came out looked at me and said yes, so I met him and he and the Floor Manager showed me around, I loved it.
I also met fellow Child Actor Robert Craig-Morgan who played (Young Caligula) and then in 1977 "(Justin) in "Grange Hill",
I instantly liked Robert, (on that days shoot we were the only two kids in our studios working with all Adult Actors), and so I hoped to work with him, and fate let me as we did a scene together in Grange Hill, 2 years later.
The Set builders, Props Dept, Make-up, & Costume, did "SUPERB WORK" on this Series, and many others, they help make every thing look and feel so real, as a young Child and still as an Adult Actor I have always admired their work, and taken the time to praise it, on every Production I have worked on over the years,
I really enjoyed watching I Claudius, in 1976, especially as I had been in the Studio and on the sets, (and chatted to all the Cast and some of the Crew, all of them were lovely and so friendly, over my 3 days of filming at TVC), It is so many years ago now, but still so vivid in my mind, happy times working at the BBC in the 1970's as a child, on various Productions, with some of the finest Crews, and indeed Fellow Actors in the Industry.
I enjoyed this Video, about I Claudius, especially nice to see those sadly no longer with us, but not forgotten, and remembered with much affection.
I've watched the series 8 times and still marvel at the quality of the performances. We will never see anything like this from BBC ever again. BBC needs to go back to Elizabeth R, Shadow of the Tower, 6 Wives of Henry the Eighth and I Claudius. There are no actors who can compare anymore.
Frasier Crane: “I have all 13 episodes of I, Claudius on tape.”
Sam Malone: “Great. I love gladiator movies!”
This was a perfect show. Every single frame
Brian Blessed 11:50 the greatest scene in TV history, "Have you slept with my daughter?"
_"No.....well not.....slept..."_ "Oh so up against the wall in the street then?"
"And you?"
_"Just the once Caesar"_ "Ah just the once, that's alright then". 😂
When I first watched "I, Claudius" in the early 80s, I kept saying to myself, "This is not my Father's Rome!" I loved that! That they were able to depict the small, the terrifying, the purely insane, and the hysterically funny, in such a wonderful way! This us one of my all-time favorites!
I love this mini series so much! I saw it on PBS back in the 80s, I think. Missed the last episode as the electricity went out due to a storm. Ha! It was several years later when
I got the VHS tapes, that I got to finally see the final episode. Now, I have it on DVD and have watched it many many times. All the actors and actresses were excellent! 🥰
Jack Pulman must have been a genius, the dialog was brilliant
This series is one big brilliance
This is television at its finest. I watched it in 1982(3). It stayed with me for years. When I watched it the second time fourty years later, it was better than I remembered. Masterful.
Unfortunately they don't make them like that anymore when the BBC ruled I also loved The Forsytes Saga both pure class
the only thing Game of Thrones has on I, Claudius is budget and battles.
as a TV show it's not even close.
IIRC, Martin was inspired by I, Claudius.
Still I think I, Claudius is FAR superior.
"Rome" was good in its own way.
Of course not. Populist stuff!
@@rdred8693I checked out this show cause GRRM said Stannis was based on George Baker as Tiberius. But I feel like he straight up stole Cersei from Livia as well 😅😂😂.
My Vietnamese-Chinese mother in law didn't speak English. But when she somehow got hold of my DVD Boxset of I Claudius she watched it with obvious relish. Here was an emperor; here was palace intrigue; here was decadence and madness. She could evidently understand all that was going on without understanding a single word of the dialogue,
It was a major success for PBS's Masterpiece Theater in 77, when I was a high school junior. I found it riveting!
It's a series that I enjoy watching over and over again. Ever since I found its episodes on CZcams, I can't stop enjoying it!♥️👍
Get the DVD set!
So watched I, Claudius here in America on my local PBS station. This was shown on Alister Cook's Masterpiece Theater. I loved the intro music to that show!
Back when TV was worth watching. And the great theme should not be underestimated.
This series is beyond brilliant, I’ve been aware of it since 1976 and was enthralled at first viewing . It’s has stuck with me every since, well done 🍷
It’s still the best production I have ever seen. Nothing will ever be better written or better acted than I Claudius. I remember being on a camping holiday with friends and going to the television room at the social club on the Wednesday to watch I Claudius, all of us anxious not to miss an episode, but the channel was on sport and the room was packed. To our delight, at 7.30 the channel was switched over to BBC2 and it turned out that every single person in that room was there for I Claudius! That’s how popular it was.
a Great Memory!
I was 13 when the whole family gathered round the TV to indulge in this. I've seen it so much that, no matter how many years go by in between viewings, I can still recite the dialog along with the actors.
My parents and I watched I Claudius breathlessly in The Netherlands, original English version with subtitles. What I remember best is Claudius saying to Germanicus: "p..p..p..Poison?" Germanicus: "Shhh".
Just saw Brian Blessed in an current advert, still that great booming voice. He's like William Shatner, ageless. They must be 150yrs old now!
I used to come home after hockey practice (Canadian here..) and watch the series on PBS on our newly connected cable television from the US. I recently thought about those times and then binge-watches the whole series on CZcams. I told my Wife about it and she asked 'how many seasons are there?'...Netflix conditioned I guess. What a great series and amazing camera angles, acting and story telling.
Will NEVER be bettered with amazing actors
An absolutely fantastic series, it gripped my family and we tuned in every week.. The music made it too, especially when the closing music came on, almost shocking you with it sharp notes..
Brilliant, all of it, every actor perfectly placed.. WOW
We loved this series. I am watching it again now. I still love it. I'm so glad that there was telvision for people who love a good story with wonderful acting.
Nowadays that seems to be a rarity.
My addiction, for years & years now & shared with many a girl from Ukraine to Russia to the Philippines it never ceases to impress. I bought the cd collection & took it with me to my different hideaways across the sea, I will say however buying the CD set, well, that's like giving a crack head CRACK!
The series was on Swedish TV in 1978. I was 16 at the time. Magic TV Theater! Great British actors. Fantastic script.
The series can be seen here on CZcams....now I'm thinking of binge-watching the whole thing.
(with Spanish subtitles, but that doesn't matter).
So many great, top of their profession, actresses and actors in one series. I can't think of it happening before or since... probably couldn't afford it these days!
I was only 11 years old when this gem was released so never watched it, but now I am finally enjoying this marvel and as a student of Roman history can follow it quite easily.
Wonderful stuff!
I, Claudius and The Singing Detective are the finest dramas I’ve ever seen on television.
It started so well with topless dancers and Brian Blessed bellowing in his usual soft spoken way. Then there was Sejanus played by Captain Picard!
And a fully haired Picard at that!
This was an upstanding series! Thanks for sharing it for new viewers
I loved it so much that I purchased an open Blu-ray player and imported the original…😮😅
Such a great series with fantastic actors galore! I still love it!
I was a little kid when this came on one of the three channels (TV Ontario) we got back then on a rabbit ears antenna and I loved every minute of it..
I watch this series 3 times a year. So good. Been watching this since I was a teenager.
Terrific series....BBC has done fantastic dramas in the past but this had actors all in their prime or starting out. Patrick Stewart with a full head of hair!
Patrick Stewart was already bald. He wore a wig.
@@mikelheron20 oh no! how disappointing
Jean Luc Picard has always been as bald as a crystal ball, chump.
Used to watch twice a week,was obsessed with it . Superb
I was 13 when this was first on. Mum let me watch it because she thought it was educational.
She was right.
I got it on video many years later, then on dvd.
Every few years I watch it through and it never disappoints.
One of the best things on television. Never missed it when it aired. Thank you for posting.
This was the most gripping tv moment ever! It has never been bettered as an epic that touched the nerve of the whole nation. In 1976 everyone rushed home to see the next episode. Absolutely momentous and still as gripping 47 years later.
"In 1976 everyone rushed home to see the next episode."
and Me too!
I watched this series with my parents and never forgot about it. I was barely in my teens at the time.
One of the things incorporated in this series, is the ancient idea that the gods can be invisibly present in human interactions and decide humans' fate. There is a wonderful example of this in Claudius, when the wolf cub falls to Claudius. The seer says that the meaning is that Claudius will be the protector of Rome. Drucilla says that she hopes she will be dead and buried by then. At which point Antonia tells her to go to her room and that she will have nothing to eat for the rest of the day. It is as if a God is invisibly there, and when Lavilla talks, says, You will get your wish, and when Antonia says what she says, says, And that is how Lavilla will get what she wants. Because when Sejanus falls, Antonia kills Lavilla by locking her in her room and starving her to death.
In the book Drucilla hides as the children are told to leave except Claudius, yet she still says “ I hope to be dead “ & she got heard
I was sufficiently fortunate to see I, Claudius. It must be one of the best series ever produced.
Let's not forget that when this first screened, many saw it as degenerate filth and called for it to be taken off.
I remember how it was best soap opera on TV…glued to the telly each week…
I remember watching this as it when it first aired as an 18 year old and it was the most amazing thing I ever saw on television, truly an amazing production.
Perfect casting. My god.
A true testament to humanities darker side, brilliantly acted
I remember my parents glued to the TV every time this was shown on our local PBS station. I was in elementary school at the time.
I watched this amazing drama back in the late 1970s on PBS here in NYC, it was mostly uncut then, today it would be heavily censored here across the Pond
You think so? Why? There's so much (too much) sex and violence in films today.
@@elizabethcsicsery-ronay1633 “Why”? Because censorship is wrong, period.
Deleting the scene showing Drusilla’s dead body actually worked because the horror in Claudius’ face was far more chilling. What you don’t see is far more effective than what you do see
However, in England her body was shown. Apparently it was censored here, or so I believed when I saw the complete scene in London many years ago.
@@Tubetester The first time I saw this back in 1977 I recall Caligula assuring Drusilla “There’ll be no pain I promise you”. Next thing you hear. Guttural screams. Cut to Claudius opening the door and then closing it with abject horror on his face. Second time I saw this might have been the uncensored version. Caligula straps Drusilla on the golden handcuffs and removed her robe. He then produces a menacing dagger which a much spontaneously sobered up Drusilla inquires about. Caligula then describes what he is about to do (spoiler alert) in terms of removing his competition much as Zeus did. Shriek of horror. Caligula exits with a bloody fake beard (I wonder if that was meant to be fake) and he says to Claudius “Don’t go in there. Don’t go in there”. Claudius horror reaction and scene. The Starks and the Lannisters had nothing on these guys.
It really astonishes me when you think about when this was made. I saw this over 35 years ago and I will never forget it. This scene was brilliantly thanks to Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, and Beth Morris. John and Beth - RIP. Your work was amazing
Thank the gods that
never happened in
real life. 🙄
@@Tubetester I would have preferred to see it.
@@Ciara1594 We don't really know one way other the other. The same is true of Nero's atrocities. We do know that Agrippina the Younger slept with Nero in order to control him. We also know that the heroic details of her death seem to be true. What we don't know is whether or not Nero engaged in necrophelia.
Where Drusilla is concerned it's hard to say whether or not that story was just a myth.
Best series ever!
WONDERFUL series! Nothing like it since. Going to see if I can find it to watch again.
I saw this in the Netherlands when I was a lad of about 14, I guess. Superb drama.
They approached it from a Roman's viewpoint, all the traditions and superstitions that Robert Graves wrote about, which he took from Suetonius and Tacitus original writings. That plus the scriptwriters ability to understand the minds and motivations of these people ,taking into account the historical events that occurred, some one with this much power would have had to act like this, or do that to protect the family from scandal, ultimately, what do you do if someone with absolute power goes mad.
Antonia was crueler to Claudius in real life as a child & his grandmother livia had him living with her . Disability was seen as shameful & cursed . Antonia felt she was to produce children of the highest standards. It also showed the misogynistic attitude towards woman only having power in the back seat . yet for me it shows the horror of Incestuous maniacal family line rather than a republic . All of it so brilliantly represented in 13 episodes
I was dong both Latin and Roman history in school and LOVED this series. So much so, it became essential viewing for all of us at home. Ita vero!
This is a series that one NEVER sees CZcams reactors viewing, but I feel that's about to change. It makes "Game of Thrones" look like "G for all audiences." If the legendary script writing or acting doesn't get them, the "shock factor" is going to blow their minds. WOW do I remember the "conservative" uproar over the airing of this on PBS.
Claudius was a great emperor
My mother worked on that show. As a stage manager. Herbert Wise was a family friend he died in 2015. The curse my late mother believed as many had terrible trouble post the show my mother got very sick 20 years later. John Hurts first wife died sad. Robert Graves who wrote it went mad maybe because it’s lying about stuff like Livia killing her son Drusus this is as untrue he died of infection and Livia was very upset. Mother said Lisemore who died in a tragic car crash early in 1977 fell victim to the curse. I doubt it will ever be re made.
I saw the original series ,
Long time ago,
Amazing 🤩
I, Claudius was fabulous! I own the serious.
I Claudius was a major part of my life.
Having read Michael Korda's bio of his dad and his uncles Alex and Zoltan, I recall their attempt to film I Claudius was problem-plagued from the start. Laughton was uncertain of how to portray a stutterer, and Alex Korda strongly discouraged him from basing Claudius' his stutter on the King (Elizabeth II's father). In no way did Alex want to offend the Royal Family by drawing attention to, or mocking, the King's stutter. Then Merle Oberon (Messalina) was injured in a car accident, and during her recovery the decision was made to cancel production of the film.
This 1937 version, never finished would have been even better, no matter how great the 1976 I, Claudius was.
I watch this show, at least once a year.
I remember Charlton Heston saying "The Colbys" was influenced by "I, Claudius".
Interesting. I could see Sable as a sort of softened Livia. But any woman would seem soft compared to Livia. 🤣
Brian Blessed is one of the greatest actors of our time.
I mean that in every way possible
I came to love “The Epic That Never Was” and found the TV version lacking.
It was better.
I been getting pulled into these clips lately. Damn only 13 episodes? I can definitely do that
I wish PBS would play this again
This made for T.V. drama about emperor I ,Claudia's ,was the best ever show about ancient Rome. If they ever did attempt to redo this classic epic again ,please follow the script as it should be or just clean it up with A.I.
It's funny that they used The Mafia as an influence because I Claudius was said to have been an influence on The Sopranos.
The greatest contemporary instruction in pure power politics that there is, told by the greatest cast ever assembled. Seminal. Want to know how the world really works? Watch "I, Claidius," and learn.
It doesn't quite work like that. It was extreme then.
I was eight in 76. Watching this with my parents on channel thirteen, in NY / PBS. It was rebroadcast quite a few years later. By that time. All I could think about. Was how very much I wanted Caesar to suddenly exclaim. DIVE!! Also that Livia, ( witch that she was ) Lacked a certain something. ( a Gom Jabbar, perhaps ) Not to mention. That Gurney Halleck was now a conscripted man with a full head of red hair! ( One who would in future. Be shorn once again. A beloved Captain. On a trek, among the stars )
I knew there was a Comedy Connections, but, I didn't know there was a Drama series.
5:26 "And Claudius knows that I need the money." Hah! We all need the money -- Especially starving writers.
This series was a big influence on The Sopranos.
And apparently the Sopranos on Breaking Bad. Both derivatives of I. Claudius.
I knew nothing of the Romans when I first saw this as a teenager. I was completely sucked into the story as the acting and stagecraft were insanely good for the time it was released. My friends had no interest but I was fascinated about history for the rest of my life.
Millennial kids can keep the Augustin emperors straight because they grew up with I Claudius.... from there they delve into archeology, art history, and become connoisseurs of drama.
amazing production
Thank you.🙏🏾
I'm watching it now, in early 2024, only two episodes to go. The level of acting is off the scale! In my opinion you can see where the creators of Game of Thrones got some ideas.
And how many played apart, and still do, in Doctor Who