BBC gambles on £60m saga for a Roman triumph
Massive Anglo-American production returns to the toga territory that was first conquered by I, Claudius
Vanessa Thorpe, arts and media correspondent
Sunday August 21, 2005
The Observer
The August bank holiday weekend could make or break the reputation of the BBC's drama department. It sees the debut of a show that represents the corporation's biggest financial commitment to drama and stars some of the most talented and attractive British actors around. Yet it will be American audiences who will give the first critical verdict on Rome, a blockbuster series set in 52BC.
The £60 million show, planned as the first of three series, is a return to the ancient themes of the BBC's I, Claudius, first broadcast in 1976. This classic 13-part serial, which starred Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, John Hurt and Sian Phillips, was based on the books of Robert Graves. Also shown in the US network PBS's Masterpiece Theatre slot, it is still hugely popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
Rome will tell, in 12 parts, the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar (played by Belfast-born Ciaran Hinds) and the gradual establishment of a Roman dictatorship, and goes out on BBC2 in November. It is to be launched on the American public next Sunday and marks the first time the BBC and the American network HBO, responsible for Sex and the City and The Sopranos, have co-produced a series, though they were partners on the Emmy-award-winning Band of Brothers.
Scottish-born star Lindsay Duncan is to play Servilia, Caesar's mistress and the mother of Brutus, and James Purefoy is to play Mark Antony, but this time the story of the fall of the republic and the rise of Octavian, later the first Roman emperor Augustus, played by Max Pirkis, will be told from the perspective of two Roman soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. These key parts are taken by Trainspotting's Kevin McKidd and Geordie actor Ray Stevenson.
The two win favour with Caesar when they thwart a mutiny staged by Pompey, who is played by Kenneth Cranham.
Polly Walker has the role of the powerful and alluring Atia, Caesar's niece, while Kerry Condon is Octavia, the daughter of Atia. Indira Varma is Niobe, Vorenus's wife.
The glamorous saga was filmed across Europe and in North Africa and on a five-acre replica of ancient Rome built at the renowned Cinecittà film studios outside the city. With a British lead writer, novelist Zoe Heller's brother, Bruno, and Bond-film director Michael Apted in charge of the first three episodes, the British contribution to the spiralling budget has also been big. The BBC has not confirmed a rumoured figure of £9 million, but its head of television, Jana Bennett, has emphasised that HBO invested much more.
As Duncan said during filming: 'It is high-risk. You hope the work is going to be good. And we are getting the signals that it is good.' Costs first escalated when a lavish set in Bulgaria was washed away in storms.
I, Claudius was sprinkled with saucy incident, and Rome too will offer titillation. One scene will show a slave fanning his master as he makes love on a hot day, while a historically accurate brothel has been recreated from studying the ruins of Pompeii.
'You rarely see on screen the complexity and colour that was ancient Rome,' said Bruno Heller, the series co-creator. 'It has more in common with places like Mexico City and Calcutta than quiet, white marble. Rome was brightly coloured, a place of vibrant cruelty, full of energy, dynamism and chaotic filth. It was a merciless existence, dog-eat-dog, with a very small elite and masses of poverty.
'Human nature never changes,' said Heller, 'and the great thing about the Romans, from a dramatic perspective, is that they're a people with the fetters taken completely off.
'They had no prosaic God telling them right from wrong and how to behave. It was a strictly personal morality, and whether or not an action is wrong would depend on whether people more powerful would approve.'
Rome v I, Claudius
For historical accuracy it could prove hard to beat I, Claudius, which was based on Robert Graves's two scholarly books. Yet Rome, which has fictionalised elements, is a more authentic look at Roman society.
In terms of looks, I, Claudius, has more competition. Bruce Macadie's 1970s studio sets were stylish and cheap but historically wrong. Rome, in contrast, gives us a colourful and gaudy city, filmed on location and on a five-acre model city at Cinecittà, with six sound stages.
Both shows offer memorable matriarchs: I, Claudius had Sian Phillips as the evil Livia, poisoning wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius. Rome has Lindsay Duncan as tough Servilia, mother of Brutus and lover of Caesar.
The issue of sex in sandals is not shirked in either show. In I, Claudius, Messalina gets down and dirty, and so do Caligula, Tiberius and Nero, while in Rome we will see authentic brothels.
vanessa.thorpe@observer.co.uk
guardian.co.uk
Massive Anglo-American production returns to the toga territory that was first conquered by I, Claudius
Vanessa Thorpe, arts and media correspondent
Sunday August 21, 2005
The Observer
The August bank holiday weekend could make or break the reputation of the BBC's drama department. It sees the debut of a show that represents the corporation's biggest financial commitment to drama and stars some of the most talented and attractive British actors around. Yet it will be American audiences who will give the first critical verdict on Rome, a blockbuster series set in 52BC.
The £60 million show, planned as the first of three series, is a return to the ancient themes of the BBC's I, Claudius, first broadcast in 1976. This classic 13-part serial, which starred Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, John Hurt and Sian Phillips, was based on the books of Robert Graves. Also shown in the US network PBS's Masterpiece Theatre slot, it is still hugely popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
Rome will tell, in 12 parts, the story of the assassination of Julius Caesar (played by Belfast-born Ciaran Hinds) and the gradual establishment of a Roman dictatorship, and goes out on BBC2 in November. It is to be launched on the American public next Sunday and marks the first time the BBC and the American network HBO, responsible for Sex and the City and The Sopranos, have co-produced a series, though they were partners on the Emmy-award-winning Band of Brothers.
Scottish-born star Lindsay Duncan is to play Servilia, Caesar's mistress and the mother of Brutus, and James Purefoy is to play Mark Antony, but this time the story of the fall of the republic and the rise of Octavian, later the first Roman emperor Augustus, played by Max Pirkis, will be told from the perspective of two Roman soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo. These key parts are taken by Trainspotting's Kevin McKidd and Geordie actor Ray Stevenson.
The two win favour with Caesar when they thwart a mutiny staged by Pompey, who is played by Kenneth Cranham.
Polly Walker has the role of the powerful and alluring Atia, Caesar's niece, while Kerry Condon is Octavia, the daughter of Atia. Indira Varma is Niobe, Vorenus's wife.
The glamorous saga was filmed across Europe and in North Africa and on a five-acre replica of ancient Rome built at the renowned Cinecittà film studios outside the city. With a British lead writer, novelist Zoe Heller's brother, Bruno, and Bond-film director Michael Apted in charge of the first three episodes, the British contribution to the spiralling budget has also been big. The BBC has not confirmed a rumoured figure of £9 million, but its head of television, Jana Bennett, has emphasised that HBO invested much more.
As Duncan said during filming: 'It is high-risk. You hope the work is going to be good. And we are getting the signals that it is good.' Costs first escalated when a lavish set in Bulgaria was washed away in storms.
I, Claudius was sprinkled with saucy incident, and Rome too will offer titillation. One scene will show a slave fanning his master as he makes love on a hot day, while a historically accurate brothel has been recreated from studying the ruins of Pompeii.
'You rarely see on screen the complexity and colour that was ancient Rome,' said Bruno Heller, the series co-creator. 'It has more in common with places like Mexico City and Calcutta than quiet, white marble. Rome was brightly coloured, a place of vibrant cruelty, full of energy, dynamism and chaotic filth. It was a merciless existence, dog-eat-dog, with a very small elite and masses of poverty.
'Human nature never changes,' said Heller, 'and the great thing about the Romans, from a dramatic perspective, is that they're a people with the fetters taken completely off.
'They had no prosaic God telling them right from wrong and how to behave. It was a strictly personal morality, and whether or not an action is wrong would depend on whether people more powerful would approve.'
Rome v I, Claudius
For historical accuracy it could prove hard to beat I, Claudius, which was based on Robert Graves's two scholarly books. Yet Rome, which has fictionalised elements, is a more authentic look at Roman society.
In terms of looks, I, Claudius, has more competition. Bruce Macadie's 1970s studio sets were stylish and cheap but historically wrong. Rome, in contrast, gives us a colourful and gaudy city, filmed on location and on a five-acre model city at Cinecittà, with six sound stages.
Both shows offer memorable matriarchs: I, Claudius had Sian Phillips as the evil Livia, poisoning wife of Augustus and mother of Tiberius. Rome has Lindsay Duncan as tough Servilia, mother of Brutus and lover of Caesar.
The issue of sex in sandals is not shirked in either show. In I, Claudius, Messalina gets down and dirty, and so do Caligula, Tiberius and Nero, while in Rome we will see authentic brothels.
vanessa.thorpe@observer.co.uk
guardian.co.uk
