I, Claudius (TV series)
| I, Claudius | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Based on |
I, Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves |
| Written by | Jack Pulman |
| Directed by | Herbert Wise |
| Starring | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 12 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Martin Lisemore |
| Running time | 50+ minutes per episode |
| Production company(s) | BBC/London Films |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC2 |
| Original release | 20 September – 6 December 1976 |
I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves's I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it starred Derek Jacobi as Claudius, with Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, George Baker, Margaret Tyzack, John Hurt, Patricia Quinn, Ian Ogilvy, Kevin McNally, Patrick Stewart, and John Rhys-Davies.
Among many other productions and adaptations, Graves's Claudius novels have also been adapted for BBC Radio 4 broadcast (2010) and for the theatre (1972).
I, Claudius follows the history of the early Roman Empire, narrated by the elderly Emperor Claudius, from the death of Marcellus in the first episode to Claudius' own death in the last.
The series opens with Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, attempting to find an heir, and his wife, Livia, plotting to elevate her own son Tiberius to this position, through the covert assassination and betrayal of any rivals. The plotting and double-crossing continue for many decades, through the reign of Tiberius, the political conspiracy of his Praetorian Prefect Sejanus and the rule of the lunatic emperor Caligula, culminating in the accidental rise to power of his uncle Claudius. Claudius' enlightened reign is marred by the betrayals of his adulterous wife Messalina and his boyhood friend Herod Agrippa. Eventually, Claudius comes to accept the inevitability of his own assassination and consents to marrying his scheming niece, Agrippina the Younger, clearing the way for the ascension of his mad stepson, Nero.
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