Christopher Biggins is the future emperor Nero, becoming Claudius's son and heir when Claudius marries Agrappanilla, his niece and Caligula's sister. She had not been mentioned by name prior to her appearance in the opening sequence, gloating over Claudius's dead body. The ill-tempered new wife (played with venemous gusto by Barbara Young) lacks the subtlety of Livia and the kittenish manipulation of Messalina) and chews up the scenery, spitting it out like poisonous mushrooms. The series winds down to its finale with Derek Jacobi deviously plotting for honorable motives to end his family's mad reign.
The relationship between Nero and his mother is quite sick, humorously so, with insinuations of incest. A 1956 Italian film, "Nero's Mistress", features Gloria Swanson in Young's role and gives more insight into her character, basically a follow-up to "I Claudius". This features a great scene of Claudius facing ghosts from the past, rather selective, and it's another classic moment in the series.
While the series seemed to overlook some of Claudius's more dispicable acts, it shows a side of him that the other rulers did not have. The star cameos from the earlier episodes emphasize the subtleness of the first half of the series as opposed to the rush rush of the still excellent second half, and expresses why Rome fell so drastically once the original regime ended.
The relationship between Nero and his mother is quite sick, humorously so, with insinuations of incest. A 1956 Italian film, "Nero's Mistress", features Gloria Swanson in Young's role and gives more insight into her character, basically a follow-up to "I Claudius". This features a great scene of Claudius facing ghosts from the past, rather selective, and it's another classic moment in the series.
While the series seemed to overlook some of Claudius's more dispicable acts, it shows a side of him that the other rulers did not have. The star cameos from the earlier episodes emphasize the subtleness of the first half of the series as opposed to the rush rush of the still excellent second half, and expresses why Rome fell so drastically once the original regime ended.