Welcome to the Weekend Binge. Every Friday, we’ll suggest a binge-able title designed to keep you from getting too stir crazy. Check back throughout the weekend for even more gloriously queer entertainment.
The Period: I, Claudius
In just about any list of the Greatest TV Miniseries of All Time, one title is always sure to pop up: I, Claudius, the epic 1976 TV series produced by the BBC. Spanning a dozen episodes, the tale follows the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius (played in the series by Derek Jacobi), a man born with a stammer and thus thought mentally deficient by his royal family. Claudius lives to witness all kinds of scheming, manipulation, and even murder among his family in the name of preserving Roman power and Imperial autocracy, mostly perpetrated by his slinky grandmother Livia (Siân Phillips). Claudius’ speech impediment allows him to live unmolested, as he’s not seen as a political threat. Then, when his life of study gets interrupted by his surprise ascension to the throne, Claudius must reckon with the history of his family and an empire in disarray.
Openly gay actor Derek Jacobi (perhaps best known as Ian McKellen’s costar in the series Vicious) gives an incredible performance, playing Claudius from his late teens all the way into old age. The show also features its own share of LGBTQ content, including the orgies and hedonism of the mad Emperor Caligula (John Hurt, in a riotous performance). Don’t let the dusty nature of the story fool you either: the BBC and PBS relaxed censorship for the show, which also features male and female nudity, as well as several sexually explicit sequences. So, that’s a bonus.
The series also benefits from the work of Phillips, who imbues Livia with raw, feminine sexuality and a ruthless intellect that makes her both an imposing hero and nefarious villain. With a cast that also includes Patrick Stewart, Brian Blessed, John Rhys-Davies, Patricia Quinn and Simon MacCorkindale, I, Claudius plays like a treasure of British thespians, and features an epic story. Give it a watch this weekend, and bask in the glory of a great, gay actor at the height of his power, and a soapy, sexy, plot that’s addictive as Hell.
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danny
Loved this show.
stagehand1
Oh man! I was just a teenager but I still feel the impact this show had on me.
Darrellx
I saw this as a pre-teen. Amazing! Must re-see!
BryonByronWhatever
To say that Sir Derek Jacobi is best known for ‘Vicious’ is like saying that Dame Judi Dench is best known for ‘The Chronicles of Riddick’.
lather
Thank you Byron! Exactly!
Essie
Derek Jacobi is “best known” for “I, Claudius” at least to those of us in the United States. He is one of the greatest actors of all time and to reduce him to “Vicious” is such an insult.
kevininbuffalo
He’s also known for his Shakespearean performances, especially Hamlet. I loved Vicious but c’mon Queerty.
kevkev
To say that he is ‘probably best remembered’ for vicious is an insult, he is one of
the UK’s finest actors who made a terrible mistake, that mistake being vicious!
tjack47
I’ve always wished I’d watched it. I was a young boy, and in that day otherwise engaged in outdoor play with the neighborhood kids. I watched Roots, Rich Man Poor Man and others. It’s never too late. I imagine at 57, I’ll appreciate more, that is, if I don’t constantly doze off like an old fart.
Max
OMG, you’re not old. get to it! 😉
Essie
I’m 75 and I watched it back in 1976 and I watch it every few months now. (I pick out my fav episodes.) It’s an amazing mini-series and you should watch it, in order. It’s wonderful. You’ll love it.
lather
First time I fell in love with Jacobi. Did not know who he or that he was. He was brilliant, still is. The whole series was brilliant. A must watch for everyone. What a cast.
FYI: the current headline pic is not Jacoi.
Hal Pederson
How can anyone discuss this stunning show and NOT mention John Hurt in his genius portrayal of Caligula? So lets: JOHN HURT!
AxelDC
Derek Jacobi is best known for starring in I, Claudius. He also reintroduced “The Master” into the Doctor Who series.
KJ
I watched it back in the day, and have wondered if it has held up.
mtmslg
“Mind the figs . . . “
BoomerMyles
Always thought it interesting how compelling the story telling was on this show with practically zero production value for costumes and sets.
Essie
The acting is so amazing that you really don’t notice the cheap costumes and setting. Everything is cardboard and YOU DON’T CARE.
raybearoz
This is an all time favourite TV event. It may be hard for modern audiences to enjoy, as the scenes are often long, no rapid editing here. However it’s never dull, the acting (real acting) is always entertaining.
Siân Phillips practically steals every scene she’s in, and is twice as bitchy as any drag queen around now. Alongside her the bear-man himself Brian Blessed, who has no volume less than nine! watching the pair of them is fantastic.
A point of note for lovers of fan culture… Seeing a curly locked Patrick Stewart in the throws of passion with Patricia Quinn…. so yes… you get to witness Jean Luc Picard make out with Magenta from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”.
If you’re a fan of British television, practically every actor is in this at some point, so you will find yourself playing the game of “Where have I seen them from”?
If you’ve not seen it… give it a watch.. Classical BBC period drama at the top of it’s game.
dhmonarch89
I love ‘I, Claudius’- have seen the series and read the 2 books multiple times. In the series and book- he has more than a stammer- he also has a pronounced limp and head spasms- so, the family isn’t just using a stammer to think him mentally deficient… the book goes more into how his initial tutor abused him, which left him nervous and afraid of his shadow, making learning difficult for him- so, it was a combination of multiple things that led people to think ill of him. Modern research makes a compelling case that Claudius may have had Cerebral Palsy.
whatsaywhat
Loved this series. Brilliant acting and utterly riveting.
Sian Phillips. Enough said.
Wheelerman
I have heard about I, Claudius for years. Now my interest is piqued. I did enjoy Mr. Jacobi in Vici!ous, and recently in Last Tango in Halifax.
KyleMichelSullivan
This was an amazing show, and did right by the book, for the most part. I’d read Robert Graves’ books about Claudius before the series was made, and it was like reading lightning scorched onto a sheet of paper…and the series nearly matched it.
russellhm
I was in junior high, walking home from my church after choir practice after school and taking a shortcut down an alleyway when I came upon a trash barrel filled with older paperback books. And one on top drew my young libido’s attention with its lurid cover of a Roman orgy. I looked around me and saw no one so I slipped it inside my jacket and read it a night under the covers with a flashlight. It was really fascinating and I learned so much about Roman history that my 3 years of Latin later embellished. The book? Robert Graves’ “I, Claudius!” And although it had numerous sexual references it was far from porn. And then, I became an English major and a high school English (AP) teacher. When Time-Life paired with the BBC to film the entire Shakespeare canon, I convinced my district to purchase videos of the plays studied in the district high schools; “Hamlet” was one of those and here was Derek Jacobi. Now, fast-forward a few years to 1982 and I’m spending a couple months in England at a self-catering cottage along the Thames at Goring and decide I must motor to Stratford to see what the season offers; tis autumn so I register at a hotel where I’ve stayed in the past and saunter to the Box Office. I learn that Lear is that evening with Michael Hordern—and a favorite of mine, Jenny Agutter as Regan; and the next night is “The Tempest,” not a favorite but with Derek Jacobi as Prospero. Must see as I was using the vid of his Hamlet in my classroom. Cut to the chase. In acquiring his autograph following the performance I ask if I might buy him a drink and that led to a delightful evening of drinks with him and a small group of his fellow actors. And being joined by Ms Agutter allowing for her autograph and my praise of “The Snow Goose” with Richard Harris eons ago on Hallmark Hall. Derek was delightful and had just returned from NYC where his agent summoned him for an audition with Elizabeth Taylor at her suite in the Waldorf. I interrupted to say that I had, indeed, read where she craved mounting a Broadway play, something she had never done and had narrowed her selection to Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” and Hellman’s “The Little Foxes.” Jacobi was reading for Blithe Spirit. But she chose Foxes and only later did the Coward play but Jacobi wasn’t available. He became Sir Derek the next year, 1983. A glorious evening!
barryaksarben
I watched as a young teen and loved it. Another one that you never see is the “Wives of Henry the 8th” from PBS even earlier than this show and it had a very young still britiish Jane Seymour. I ordered the book it was based on which was not simple way back when pre-internet days. I kept watching PBS to see a rerun but never saw it again . i did check on buying it but they still havent discounted it at all.
leo1008
Possibly the best script(s) ever written for a TV production, and one of the best casts ever assembled as well …