The story begins in 24 B.C. during the reign of Augustus Caesar, Rome's first emperor, and ends in A.D. 54 with Nero on the throne. In between, I, Claudius details the scheming, murder, madness, and lust that passed for politics in the early years of the Pax Romana. The biggest worm in the Roman apple is Augustus's wife, Livia (the superb Sian Phillips), whose single-minded pursuit of power shapes the destiny of the Empire. With a carefully planted rumor here and a poisoned fig there, she gradually maneuvers her son, Tiberius, toward the throne, creating an atmosphere of suspicion and treachery that starts Rome on its helter-skelter slide into bloody chaos. Phillips somehow makes us understand this extraordinarily wicked woman. As she ages and her carefully wrought webs begin to unravel, it becomes clear that Livia has been as thoroughly poisoned by her own ambition as her victims were by her carefully prepared meals.

Further acting honors go to George Baker as Tiberius, who resists but eventually succumbs to the destiny forced upon him by his mother, and to John Hurt as a hilarious and absolutely terrifying Caligula. In one breathtakingly tense scene, the mad Emperor performs a dance in drag, then asks Claudius to critique it, perfectly capturing the horror of a world where one wrong word means death, or worse. Jacobi is the perfect Claudius, hiding his intelligence behind a crippling stammer and shuffling around the edges of events--until he finds himself pulled to the very center. His wry comments give shape to the tangled story of his family and help the audience make sense of a dauntingly complex cast of characters.

I, Claudius might seem a little studio-bound to viewers brought up on more recent big-budget costume dramas, but the topnotch cast and the incident-filled plot are more than enough to hold the attention through almost 11 hours of gripping, deliciously wicked Roman follies. This boxed set also includes a documentary entitled "The Epic That Never Was," about Alexander Korda's failed attempt to film I, Claudius in 1937. The film, directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Charles Laughton as Claudius and Merle Oberon as Messalina, was abandoned unfinished, and it remains one of Hollywood's great lost movies. --Simon Leake

What I didn't expect was that image-entertainment/CBS would (apparently) cut the DVD from a bad second(+) generation video tape - rather than the presumably superior BBC master.

The sound is muffled and the picture has noticeable ghosting. There are no sub-titles so the DVD has to be viewed with the sound on full blast. To be fair to IE/CBS this was true when I watched the series on BBC TV on its first broadcast.

Given the (unfortunately) limited market for quality drama in the US I wouldn't expect the full George Lucas treatment. However, why could not IE/CBS (a) get hold of a better master; (b) spend a little money on cleaning up the soundtrack/image; (c) provide sub-titles?

Buy it anyway because you'll forget the technical limitations within minutes as you become totally absorbed in this wonderful drama.

I note that "The 6 Wives of Henry VIII" (which I intend to purchase) is distributed by "BFS". I hope they've done a better job than IE/CBS and that they will be releasing "Elizabeth R" when the time comes.

Amazon should have separate content/technical ratings for DVDs.


Probably the best TV drama ever   May 25, 2000
 136 out of 148 found this review helpful

I, Claudius, Robert Graves' great book about the Caesars, was brought to television in this BBC series starring Derek Jacobi as the crippled, stuttering Emperor Claudius, narrator of the story. Jacobi is brillian in this role - going from young boy to old man as the series progresses. Other standouts are Sian Phillips as Livia, the evil wife of Augustus, Brian Blessed as Augustus himself in a wonderfully understated performance, and John Hurt as the insane Emperor Caligula in a performance that is abolutely over the top.

I have no idea how many times I have watched this series. I have never grown tired of it. The story of the Caesars - of the competition, corruption, assassinations, intrigue, political and military turmoil, family tragedy and human comedy - never fails to entertain. This series has a little bit of everything that all good stories have, great plot, fascinating characters, multiple conflicts, moments of drama and moments of comedy - and it is all (mostly) true.

One doesn't have to be an enthusiast for historical drama to really enjoy this saga. These Romans are, in their feeling and ambitions, just like modern folk. Endlessly fascinating, I, Claudius deserves a place in the collection of anyone looking to preserve the best that BBC television has had to offer.


CAVEAT EMPTOR   October 10, 2005
 55 out of 58 found this review helpful

Many important scenes have been cut (censored?) from the original Masterpiece Theater version including the contest between Claudius' wife and the prostitute, Caligula's horse Incitatus being made senator, and others. These omissions sacrifice the overall continuity and flow. These omissions are unnecessary and unforgivable given the DVD format. A general disappointment for those who remember the original version. Other than the above this is highly enjoyable.


What anniversary? Can't you think of something?
   January 26, 2002
 53 out of 75 found this review helpful


This 25 year old 13 part BBC series was adapted from Robert Graves' book, well, romantic novel, and puts Octavian's wife Livia in the role of Cleo historically assigned in literature. It's obviously a TV production, but people looking for the blockbuster special effects and location shooting should see this anyway.

The historical Claudius wasn't the bumbling nice guy seen here, but was such an improvement over his predecessor that I cut him some slack. Besides, the dramatization is enjoyable. The historical Claudius turned out to be second best of the Julio-Claudian emperors (the best being Augustus). This dramatic version of Claudius was similarly second best, and comes across as a genuinely nice guy. The historical Claudius concerned himself with presiding over the courts whenever he could, he built Rome's winter harbor, he established an efficient administration by delegating to a couple of capable men (also shown in the program), and took an interest in the minutiae of imperial matters. His conquest of Britain may have been ill advised in retrospect, but in our time Britain is the best understood of all the former provinces of the Roman Empire.

Some people may find disquieting the fact that so many of the female characters are murderers and ruthless addicts of power. Others may notice as I did that the only people of color found in these episodes are dancers, musicians, and other non speaking roles. A few reviewers have noted that the sound isn't mixed up very high. I also noticed this. Gosh, what a hardship it must be to reach for the remote control. Or get out of the house and take a walk instead of watching 13 hours of TV.

The fifth disk of this set has the documentary (circa 1960) about the original 1930s attempt to make "I, Claudius" (to star Charles Laughton). It includes surviving footage from the production, as well as numerous interviews with survivors of the cast, the director, and Robert Graves himself. In my view, this documentary blows the doors off the additional material on the new, new DVD release of "Spartacus".

A cheesy paperback from 1958, "Those About To Die" [0345242408] by Daniel P Mannix, is a largely factual fictionalized account of the games, not a scholarly work, and if you happen to see it at the library or a garage sale, and have a strong stomach, check it out. I was just rereading its description of the largest ever naval "games" which were staged by Claudius. He had crews work eleven years to dig a tunnel three and a half miles long through rock in order to drain the floodwaters off landlocked Lago di Fucino (increasing the available arable land), and after this civil engineering project was finished he decided to celebrate with a battle between two "navies" of 12 triremes each (a trireme had three levels of oars on each side, it was a huge freakin' ship).

One crew was dressed like Sicilians, the other like Rhodians, and a half million spectators traveled the sixty miles from Rome to watch, including fifteen pregnant women who gave birth during the festivities, not unlike Woodstock. The lake had to be surrounded by troops to avoid an attempt at a breakout, and at least 3,000 of the participants died during and after this mock naval engagement.

Recommended viewing:

-:- Spartacus (DVD, B00005A8TY)

Recommended reading:

-:- Everyday Life In Ancient Rome by Lionel Casson (0801859921)

-:- Travel in the Ancient World by Lionel Casson (0801848083)

-:- The Ancient Mariners by Lionel Casson (0691014779)

-:- Cleopatra by Michael Grant (audio 0788703528, ppbk 184212031X).

-:- Sick Caesars by Michael Grant, particularly for the profiles of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus (0760709378, 00090312011)

-:- A Scandalous History of the Roman Emperors by Anthony Blond (0786707593)




Deserves 6 stars--not to be missed!   June 19, 2000
 28 out of 30 found this review helpful

This series has everything--love, lust, murder, revenge, humor, pathos, drama, horror. You don't have to be a history buff to watch it; it's terrific no matter what you like. I remember being spellbound when it was first broadcast in 1976, & it's just as mesmerizing & wonderful today. In fact, the more you watch it, the more you get out of it. This baby was really the blockbuster that put Masterpiece Theater on the map & deservedly so (with all due respect to "Upstairs Downstairs.")

Watch it for the standout performances: Derek Jacobi is matchless as Claudius; George Baker as a surprisingly poignant Tiberius; Brian Blessed as a rollicking Augustus; John Hurt having a hootingly good time as Caligula; Patrick Stewart (with hair!) smoothly vicious as Sejanuis; & Sian Phillips etching one of the most truly evil performances ever as Livia. The amazing thing about these performances is that they manage to make even the evil characters at least understandable & sometimes sympathetic. Even though they have it coming, you're really sorry to see them go.

This is also a who's who of British actors: Blessed has appeared in many Kenneth Branagh films (& as a FYI, did you know his real-life wife played Sybil Fawlty in "Fawlty Towers?"); Baker in many Connery "James Bond" films (as a good guy); Stewart in one of his first roles; John Rhys-Davies appears as the man who does in Stewart's character; John Castle (Geoffrey in "The Lion in Winter") as Posthumus; Ian Ogilvy (replaced Roger Moore in "The Saint) as Drusus, Claudius' father; Simon MacCorkindale; and many others.

No matter what the reason, make a point of viewing this--with the whole family. My brother watched it with his sons, ages 10-12, & got them hooked on Roman history. Some of it was a bit graphic for tv back in the 70s, but times have managed to catch up with it--the violence will help it appeal to younger viewers used to (& wanting) such action. Above all, you'll walk away from this a British tv fan, a Roman history fan, a Derek Jacobi fan, (& I've always loved Brian Blessed ever since from this series)... You won't regret it