TV Gold

Just a reminder that the 'Drama Connections' examination of I, Claudius (postponed after the death of Ronnie Barker) will be broadcast on BBC1 on Wednesday 9th November at 22:40.

Did anyone watch this program? What did it cover?

obviously we are thinking on similiar lines so further to your post TrentinaNE,

Bit of a surprise from BBC1, but the subject of the Wednesday 9th November 2005 edition of the ?Drama Connections? series was an obvious choice with the new BBC2 ?Rome? serial now running. ?Drama Connections? was indeed an enjoyable half hour with engaging moving picture and title graphics to emphasise what narrator Meera Syal had to say. Many of the acting ?I, Claudius? big hitters were present (e.g. Jacobi, Hurt, Blessed and Phillips) and although most of what they had to say has probably been heard before it was good to hear from those participants who certainly conveyed the sincere affection that is felt to this classic 1976 adaptation of the Robert Graves novel. The program told some of the previous productions that the cast had appeared in (e.g. Derek Jacobi had previously appeared in a series called ?Man of Straw? (1972) which looks possibly interesting from the brief clip that was shown)) in amongst collective recollections. Of course ?I, Claudius? is notable for its use of aging make up and we got to hear about Jacobi and the series make-up artists, primarily regarding the epic procedure used in aging the series lead character. Jacobi provided interesting insight on this saying that he had to get in for 5-6 am to be ready for an 11 am filming start. He further went on to say how extremely difficult it was to remove the application after a long days filming, going into the bath with a snorkel so as to gradually peel off the full face make up. Apparently Jacobi managed to keep one full whole face at his home from this removal process (a strange memento!). It is quite understandable that the scene between the mud splattered Claudius talks with Caligula in his tent was difficult to film with both Jacobi and Hart continually creasing up, obviously stressing director Herbert Wise about their continued laughter. Amongst the recollections that Sian Phillips offered up she relates about the death of Augustus and at precisely that point ?all the electricity in the studio went off just for a moment?, which could be linked to the ?supposed curse of Claudius?. That ?curse? is further mentioned regarding, two weeks after filming, that both production team members Martin Lisemore (died aged 38 from a car accident) and writer Jack Pulman (died aged 51 of a heart attack). All in all a very enjoyable ?refresher? program, now what we really want is a repeat UK transmission from either the BBC or, more likely from UKTVDrama.

<!--emo&B)-->[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif[/img]<!--endemo-->

Thanks, Sarah! I wish we could see this program in the U.S.! <!--emo&:angry:-->[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif[/img]<!--endemo-->

<!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->That ?curse? is further mentioned regarding, two weeks after filming, that both production team members Martin Lisemore (died aged 38 from a car accident) and writer Jack Pulman (died aged 51 of a heart attack).  <!--emo&B)-->[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/cool.gif[/img]<!--endemo-->
[right][snapback]1036[/snapback][/right]
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Hi, Sarah

Martin Lisemore did indeed die very shortly after filming was completed, but Jack Pulman lived on until 1979, dying shortly after BBC2 began showing his adaptation of 'Crime and Punishment' (now, I'd like to see THAT on DVD), also starring John Hurt.

<!--emo&:)-->[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]<!--endemo-->