Posting about a 1970s TV series recently has reminded me to say something about a 2005 one 🙂

I've been using the PMA400 I bought a month or so ago to watch Rome, finally, when I commute by train.

I'm currently about a third of the way through series two which puts me at an advantage to people waiting for the BBC to show it. (As s2 starts a minute or so after the end of the s1, going straight from one to the other is also the sensible way to do it.)

Apart from curiously skipping over showing anything of the battles – one tiny section of Alesia at the start of s1e1 is all there's been so far – my ghod, it throws money at the screen, doesn't it? Pity that it looks like there won't be a third series as a result.

They've also taken a few odd liberties with history, some dramatically understandable (what a good thing Octavian's real mother can't sue for libel!) and some not (from Julius having so much hair to the aftermath of the assassination being rather different), but overall the basic idea of picking on two legionaries and throwing them onto centre stage works.

The series also features one of the most horrific deaths I can remember on a TV series.

The train of thought that linked the two was I, Claudius, of course. Oh, to have that acting and script with Rome's production values rather than innumerable 'how can we hide the fact that we're in a studio' shots.