This intimate period soap opera may not have the flash of "Dynasty" or the sophistication of "Downton Abbey", but it has a close-up view of an evil family that rivals the Ewing's and Soprano's. It has its own Livia, a Roman empress of great subtle evil that is simply mesmerizing. She has been compared to the great villains of soap history, particularly Alexis Carrington of "Dynasty" and Angela Channing of "Falcon Crest", and has the sharp tongue of Maggie Smith's Lady Violet of "Downton Abbey". Compare Dame Maggie and Dame Sian Phillips (Livia) in the Greek mythology epic "Clash of the Titans". You'll see two of the most exciting dramatic actresses in British theatrical history.
The first episode starts with Derek Jacobi's introduction, but the story of the Claudian emperors of Rome begins years before his birth. Claudius gives the impression that somehow he was seeing the goings on of his family from somewhere other than earth and knows through the Gods of the rivalries and hatreds that occured. Decent men and women will pay for standing in the way of Livia's ambitions (getting son Tiberius as the next emperor) and some will go from decent to raunchy (Julia) to perverse (Tiberius) to downright evil. But there's something unique about Livia, especially through Dame Sian's terrific performance that is commanding and compelling.
There's the brief appearance by Margaret Tyzack as the noble Antonia, perhaps the only moral (if judgmental) female character. References to Cleopatra and Mark Anthony might just make you want to pull out the Liz Taylor version of her story as it seems to be a bit of a prequel. Whether fictional or not, this is truly mesmerizing from start to finish, and the constant immoralities are as sensationalistic as anything you read about modern politics.
The first episode starts with Derek Jacobi's introduction, but the story of the Claudian emperors of Rome begins years before his birth. Claudius gives the impression that somehow he was seeing the goings on of his family from somewhere other than earth and knows through the Gods of the rivalries and hatreds that occured. Decent men and women will pay for standing in the way of Livia's ambitions (getting son Tiberius as the next emperor) and some will go from decent to raunchy (Julia) to perverse (Tiberius) to downright evil. But there's something unique about Livia, especially through Dame Sian's terrific performance that is commanding and compelling.
There's the brief appearance by Margaret Tyzack as the noble Antonia, perhaps the only moral (if judgmental) female character. References to Cleopatra and Mark Anthony might just make you want to pull out the Liz Taylor version of her story as it seems to be a bit of a prequel. Whether fictional or not, this is truly mesmerizing from start to finish, and the constant immoralities are as sensationalistic as anything you read about modern politics.