I, Claudius (mini-series) - Acorn Announces 'The Complete Series: 35th Anniversary Edition'
5-DVD set will be available at the end of March, with lots of extras
Posted by David Lambert
1/03/2012
"A true masterpiece" - San Francisco Chronicle; "Fiendishly sophisticated" - The New York Times; "Handsomely produced, grandly acted, and...thoroughly involving" - The Washington Post; "Irresistible, witty" - Los Angeles Times.
Rated one of the "100 Best TV Shows of All Time" by Time magazine, this epic BBC series spans the history of the Roman Empire from Augustus through Claudius, a stuttering scholar who learns early to play the fool and stay alive. Based on the novels by Robert Graves, it stars Derek Jacobi (The King's Speech, Cadfael) in a career-defining role. Siân Phillips (The Age of Innocence) is "exquisitely wicked" (Los Angeles Times) as the lethal Livia, wife to Augustus (Brian Blessed, Hamlet), while John Hurt (The Elephant Man) is "decadence personified" (USA Today) as the depraved Caligula, whose reign of terror paves the way for Claudius's ascension.
Winner of an Emmy and numerous other awards, this riveting tale of ambition, debauchery, and intrigue remains one of the most popular and acclaimed dramas in Masterpiece Theatre history. Patrick Stewart (X-Men), George Baker (The Ruth Rendell Mysteries), Margaret Tyzack (Cousin Bette), and James Faulkner (The Bank Job) also star. NOTE: Due to the age of these programs and the improved resolution that DVD provides, you may notice occasional flaws in the image and audio on this DVD presentation that were beyond our ability to correct from the original materials. Contains violence, nudity, and sexual content.
A 5-DVD set has been announced by Acorn Media for I, Claudius - The Complete Series: 35th Anniversary Edition. Coming out on March 27th, this 668-minute production provides 12 episodes on the first four discs, presented in the original full screen video with English audio and English subtitles, plus a fifth disc full of bonus material:
Extended original versions of episodes 1 (52 min.) and 2 (52 min.)
I, Claudius: A Television Epic, a behind-the-scenes look at the series (74 min.)
The Epic That Never Was, a documentary recounting the failed 1937 film adaptation (71 min.)
Derek Jacobi interview (12 min.)
Favorite Scenes of the cast and director (36 min.)
8-page Booklet with an article about the series' historical accuracy amd a Julio-Claudian family tree
The pricing on this in the United States is $59.99 SRP, and in Canada it's $74.99 SRP. Here's a picture of the epic package art for this title:
