Mary Beard is marvellous

[TheYuleLogLady]

i love her. i want to go to pompeii and sare a botle of wine with hr.

This is the BEST thing on TV at the moment - fascinating, witty, moving, bringing ancient Rome to life so wonderfully! Mary Beard rocks

Totally agree with what MrsGuy said earlier in this thread at least the ho ha over AA Gill has brought this great lady and her programme to more peoples attention. I would have missed it totally if it had not been mentioned on 'The Wright Stuff' where they were all gushing about it. Mr Wright himself was very vocal in his praise for Mary Beard and her presenting, so much so that I imediatly caught the first episode on catch up and set the rest of the series to tape so I do not miss any more of this wonderful programme.

One of my best gfs was taught Classics at Newnham by Mary Beard....I was always so envious. Despite 8 years at various places studying Latin and Greek, I only saw her 'live' on one occasion....

Fab series :) Left me seriously thinking about packing in my current (non-Classics-related) career and re-entering academia....no idea how I would get back into it (or if my brain could ever pick up all that Latin and Greek grammar again) but may dust off my Kennedy and North & Hillard at the weekend and take a look...

I wish my speeling was a good as my history

Athene Donald is a very good science prof on the same wavelength as Mary.occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald/

I might get it right next time

I wish I'd seen Matthew Wright gush

There were quite a few people on Twitter last night saying they were loving the programme having only found out about it because of the Gill furore, so it's fairly clear that it has done the profile of Meet The Romans a lot of good, even if it hasn't done Gill any harm either.

Just wanted to add to the chorus of praise - I am thoroughly enjoying the series - worth the licence fee on its own.

PS: for anyone who wants plenty of Roman willies, the place to go is Leptis Magna in Libya. Might need to wait for the political situation to settle down a bit, obviously.

There's no such thing as bad publicity. Nice one Adrian

I love Mary. She's a brilliant presenter of the past, and everyone I know who has worked with her or knows her, thinks she's fab. (ancient history background)

She's worth ten Bettany Hugheses, and AA Gill may kindly go and fuck himself. Probably the only way he's guaranteed a shag.

I do think the programme was good in the sense of presenting the subject from an unusual angle and making it more interesting on a larger scale.
Personally I would have liked to learn something from more from it, in terms of history etc, but it's an unfair comment as I was brought up in Rome and every school trip was about poos and willies, so I guess I'd seen all that side of it before.

Mary (really - it's really really Mary Beard? )
Just a question: do you find Rome has changed over the years you have visited? It looks so grandiose and beautiful on TV but I must say when I've been back in recent years I have been very saddened by the way historic sites are maintained and the rubbish everywhere.

I wish I could see that beauty and charm conveyed on TV, but every time I go all I can see is rubbish everywhere.

Wondering if it's just me being negative and jaded or if a non-native, not influenced by politics etc sees the same!

And yes, good point, great to see a woman presenting a documentary on prime time tv.

I was a glutton for Latin and classical studies as a schoolgirl and student so this really puts a smile on my face. :)

I have a Law lecturer who Mary reminds me of, intelligent, witty and absolutely inspiring. Breathtakingly honest and not the slightest hint of pretension too. It's a 'must see' in our house.

I love the programme and love Mary Beard's presentation. Fabulous. Such genuine enthusiasm. Love, love, love.

Justonemorethread, I'm hoping she'll do one on Roman politics one day - would be fascinating, also Roman religion.
I'm sure there would be a big audience for Meet The Roman Britons too.

Surely there'll be another series since this one has turned out to be such a hit!

I watched the programme last night in an act of solidarity with Mary Beard after the idiotic AA Gill thing. I was quite disappointed in it. The basic idea that it is somehow new and refreshing to concentrate on the life of ordinary people rather than on marble and toffs -- seemed just false, and there was something annoyingly Horrible Histories about the preoccupation with dirt and farts and toilets. It didn't really seem to expect much of its viewers.

Not read the whole thread, but has sky plussed it to watch when my access course moved into Rome.

I very much enjoyed one of Mary's earlier programmes. If it really is Mary in here then let me just say how marvellous it is to see a real woman presenting an interesting and educational programme for once. Hooray!

Mary, this series is wonderful and so are you.
A couple of years ago I really upset my hubby because he asked me if I would go off exploring with Dr Who if he ever landed his TARDIS in front of me. Of course I would, I'd go back to Ancient Rome and see what life was like for the average Gaius or Iulia... and then I'd make sure I landed back home within seconds of leaving. I think this is the closest I'll ever get, so thank you very much

Another huge fan of the programme and of Mary Beard here.

Such an interesting programme, I wish there were more than 3 episodes.

AA Gill does make me furious. Would he write similar articles about Melvyn Bragg, Andrew Marr, Brian Cox (sorry to all those women who think he is some Adonis) or dare I say it, David Attenborough? No. Because their appearance is not remotely important. And nor should MB's be (and for the record Mary I think you look great. Love your hair, love your clothes, love that you don't wear make-up or dye your hair. One should always, always grow old disgracefully ).

We desperately need more women on tv who aren't under 25, a size 8 and plastered in warpaint.

Another Classics graduate here, and also wanted to pass on my admiration and support to Mary. Cheers Mary!

@justonemorethread Has it changed? Well I notice it most at Pompeii. When I was a student, many more houses etc were open.. or would be unlocked if you asked nicely. Now it's just a few and the only thing they think you really want to see is the brothel. Then when you get there, the guides are talking all "slavery" about it (and noone mentions the working girls!)

She's fab, I love the programme too!

Ah, well, guess it's just me getting old and cynical!
I agree they definitely have closed a lot of bits off in Pompeii.

BTW I think you're mad brave to consider cycling in Rome.... ! Maybe you did most of those takes in the early hours?

Anyway, thanks for replying! Can't write much as holding a sick bowl for dd with the other hand... (multitasking)