MartinHafer This British mini-series, shown her in the States on "Masterpiece Theatre" is among the finest programs made for television--up there with mini-series greats such as "Roots" and "The Winds of War". This is all due to terrific acting, a very engaging script and the time to properly tell the story of the first four Roman emperors.When the series begins, Augustus (Brian Blessed) has been emperor for many years. His reign is successful but soon lots of cracks begin to appear in the fabric of his family...and the worst of them is one he's not aware of, his wife Livia (Sean Phillips). And, through the reigns of his successors (Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius), Livia is there to pull strings...orchestrating murders and somehow surviving when most of the rest of the family long ago assumed room temperatures. The show is great...no question about it. So great that it's worth buying on DVD...and I am a bit of a cheapskate and usually would just recommend looking for stuff on Netflix or YouTube!

gilligan1965 Although appearing as a series of acts in a play, "I, Claudius" is a masterpiece on every level!The acting is superb; the characters are believable; the costumes are authentic-looking; the make-up department is impeccable; and, every scene is well-done and ranges in mood from very interesting to outright shocking. Yet...less graphic, some of the horrifying events in this during Caligula's reign even puts "Caligula"(1979) to shame.I mentioned the make-up department because they really uglified the beautiful Siân Phillips to portray the conniving, nasty, and, vindictive "Livia" (just like what was done with beautiful Charlize Theron in "Monster.").Unfortunately, I missed "I, Claudius" back in the 1970s when PBS used to show wonderfully-made classics that I did watch such as "The World At War;" "Edward The King;" and, "Masterpiece Theatre," just to name a few."I, Claudius" ("I, Clavdivs") is a classic novel made for television. It's a televised-historical-play that's really second-to-none. On their budget, probably, this mini-series may come across to people nowadays as cheap and theatrically enclosed as there are no real 'outdoorsy' scenes...everything is played-out on what seems a stage. However, the story itself and the dialog, and, the manner in which it's presented, along with the acting and surroundings, is a true classic that only people-of-good-taste can appreciate.I love this masterpiece! :)

itamarscomix One of the true masterpieces of British television, I Claudius is very theatric in style and production and relies on a limited amount of backgrounds and on no-too-convincing makeup effects, but the acting and dialog are so good that none of it matters, and the story recreates Roman high society so well, it's very easy to forget just how much like a theater stage the sets look.I Claudius is a perfect adaptation of Robert Graves' fantastic novel. Just like the novel, its accuracy as a historical document is dubious at best - the novel was a fictional presentation of emperor Claudius' fictional autobiography, and made its own speculations on many of the events depicted, and the series does the same; Cladudius, believed by many historians to have been a barely competent, half-witted, and often cruel and violent leader, is in Graves' account the wisest and most sane man in the Roman empire; considering the fact that the story is presented from his viewpoint, though, that actually makes a lot of sense. Anyway, it doesn't matter much, because the depiction of Roman life and politics is incredibly effective and compelling, and very informative too, as long as you take it with a pinch of salt.The cast is perfect too, and it breathes life and energy into what might have become, with lesser actors, a slowly-moving and difficult watch, turning it into a compelling and involving drama. Some of the UK's finest actors start out here, and some experienced TV actors make standout roles; for some it's the role of a career. Brian Blessed, George Baker and John Hurt are fantastic and unforgettable as emperors Augustus, Tiberius and Caligula respectively. Hurt and Blessed are wonderfully over the top, while George Baker gives what is arguably the most subtle and best performance of the series; also fantastic are the very young (with hair!) Patrick Stewart, and of course Sian Phliips as the ambitious and ruthless Livia.Then there's Derek Jacobi as Claudius - the role that made his career. Jacobi is endearing and impressive as the emperor, and he completed the PR makeover that Robert Graves started from him years before, turning him into the most popular Roman emperor in contemporary times. The series' main flaw though, is that it compresses the whole of the second novel - the period of Claudius' days as emperor - into barely three episodes, which means that many of his accomplishments are skipped, while a lot more emphasis is put on his failure at family life and on his superstitious nature, making his reign seem like the lowest possible point of his life. It's forgivable, though, because that means that Blessed, Baker and Hurt get much more screen time, and let's face it - bad emperors are much more interesting than good ones.

nycmec I think this series is terribly overrated. I kept watching through the whole thing, hoping it would get better, but it just got campier and campier when Caligula came on the scene. Sian Phillips anchors the first half of this series with fine acting, but after Livia's death, I felt my interest wane. There is some good acting, but quite a fair amount of bad (Augustus Cesar in particular). The series is overly driven by plot--even over 13 episodes the series feels like a rote telling of events rather than a fully realized drama. This is an historical soap opera, all surface and no depth. For those who rate this the finest television series ever, I would refer them to "The Wire," which maintains characters and a narrative over five seasons brilliantly.