I, Claudius to be repeated on BBC4!

[Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g]

Starts 16th August. Presumably this means it will be on i player for a reasonable time too. If you've never seen it, I strongly recommend it. Made in the late 70s. Everything about it hit the spot. Stars Derek Jacobi, Sian Phillips, Brian Blessed, John Hurt and lots of other top actors. Based on the novels by Robert Graves. Set in Ancient Rome, starting at the point when Julius Caesar's great-nephew and adopted son, Octavian, has beaten Mark Antony and become the first Emperor, taking the name Augustus. Historical drama, and you can see how it influenced Game of Thrones and various other subsequent dramas focussing on political power struggles and family feuds.

It will be interesting to see what a modern audience makes of it! It caused quite a stir at the time.

It's on too blooming late for me! I'll have to catch up on the iPlayer

I can't wait.

It is FABULOUS!

Can't find it on iplayer yet.

They're putting out three episodes in the small hours! I can't stay awake that long so we are either recording them or catching up on i player as and when.

Argh! (They are also available on BritBox, if you happen to subscribe to that.)

Ignore me. It was on BritBox, but isn't any more.

Watching now. 90 minutes per episode. I'm thinking they need little name titles to remind me who all these people are.

Also a family tree.

Wait. Inspector Wexford is Sian Philips' son?

Yes! George Baker. Apparently he had to lose a shed load of weight to be Tiberius. He must've been quite young then too.

Not that much younger judging by the wig. From his age on wiki (born 1931) he would have been about 45.
And he's just been grappling with sexxxxxy Ian Ogilvy who's his brother (and Claudius's Dad)

I saw it the first time when it was repeated in the 80s when I was probably mid-teens. How I loved George Baker in his little skirt! I went on to read the books and everything else by Graves - still love The White Goddess. I think it's one of those productions - dare I say, like Blakes 7 :) - that's quite theatrical and no doubt dated in its production values, but the storytelling and acting is so good that it transcends the period in which it was made.

It is only the first episode that is double length. Watching it in HD isn't doing the make up any favours and there is a lot of aging make up...

There was a bit of poor subtitling when Antonia said she was going away to Austria rather than Ostia.

Sian Phillips is brilliant.

But of COURSE there's a podcast

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9saWZlb2ZjYWVzYXIuY29tL2NhdGVnb3J5L2NsYXVkaXVzLWNhZXNhci9mZWVkLw?ep=14

Julia is now the voice of Grandma Pig in Peppa Pig

Absolutely brilliant series. I was a teenager when I first saw it and it's still just as good as I remember. It's a landmark production up there with Brideshead Revisited, ER etc.
Sian Phillips is epic in this - I believe she won a Bafta.

I can only see 3 episodes on I-Player.

There's a documentary on bbc4 that was released on 16 August.

There is a fascinating documentary made by the BBC in 1965 about the abortive attempt to make a film with Charles Laughton as Claudius in the 1930s. It explains why the BBC version was made in association with London Films. It was called The Epic That Never Was and is on YouTube.

we're recording it as DH has never seen it. I remember it first time around and thought it was fabulous. I imagine it hasn't aged well (and I said as much to DH) but I'm still looking forward to seeing it again. I rewatched Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson when they repeated it recently. Again it was dated, but such good performances.

I saw Sian Philips interviewed in a previous documentary. Apparently to keep her right at that pitch of nastiness, the director had to keep saying, "Remember Sian, beastly to the servants."

Oh this is absolutely All About Livia

(Was this why the matriarch in The Sopranos was called Livia?)

Many thanks. I'll add that to the list.

I used to love I, Clav Divs

As soon as the title music came on and the snake slithered across the mosaic floor I was transported back to the first thrilling time I saw it. I can t wait for all of the cast to appear. That series was loaded with stars, all acting their socks off!

We have watched the first episode and it seems like so many of the faces are familiar. I’ve been sitting with my iPad with the IMDb cast list in front of me to stop me from spending too much time wracking my brains. Pam Ferris’ husband from Where the Heart Is as the food tasting servant was a bit of a surprise.

I've only just seen this thread so thanks. I can't see episode 2 on iplayer though.

My ex husband used to call it I Clavdivs too!

Episodes 1&2 run together as it was originally shown. It’s why episode 1 appears so long.