The Cleopatras

Overview:

The Cleopatras is a 1983 BBC Television historical drama serial created and written by Philip Mackie. Set in Ancient Egypt during the latter part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, the eight-part series follows the lives of a series of queens belonging to the Ptolemaic Dynasty of ancient Egypt, culminating in its final active ruler Cleopatra VII. Intended to be the I, Claudius of the 1980s, The Cleopatras met with a decidedly negative critical reaction, and was regarded and portrayed as a gaudy farce. It also produced a number of complaints due to scenes of nudity.

Created by:

Philip Mackie

Status:

Ended

Language:

English

First air date:

1/19/1983

Last air date:

2/23/1983

Key words:

cleopatra
miniseries
period drama
ancient egypt
historical drama
4th century

Seasons

Miniseries

8 Episodes

Cast

Michelle Newell

~ as ~

Cleopatra

Graham Crowden

~ as ~

Theodotus

Richard Griffiths

~ as ~

Pot Belly

Robert Hardy

~ as ~

Julius Caesar

Christopher Neame

~ as ~

Mark Antony

Shirin Taylor

~ as ~

Charmian

Elizabeth Shepherd

~ as ~

Cleopatra, the Mother

Pauline Moran

~ as ~

Cleopatra Berenike

Amanda Boxer

~ as ~

Cleopatra Tryphaena

Prue Clarke

~ as ~

Cleopatra Selene

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 3 year(s) ago
~~
Written by Philip Mackie, who also penned "The Caesars" (1968), I recall the furore at the time here in the UK when the BBC started showing "The Cleopatras". This eight-parter was accused of being a seedy, tawdry - and just about everything else pejorative - depiction of the Ptolomeic court in Alexandria that saw a multitude of women called Cleopatra rule Egypt. What those criticisms failed to acknowledge is that this is pretty much exactly how these depraved, incestuous individuals did behave. Mothers married sons, fathers their daughters - indeed it would have been quite possible for your mum, your brother and your camel all to have been the same creature... What is bad about this, though, is the casting - Richard Griffiths as "Pot Belly" and Graham Crowden as narrator "Theodotus" are dreadfully miscast from the outset, and along the line we find similarly misfiring contributions from Robert Hardy ("Caesar") and a dreadfully dry Patrick Troughton ("Sextus"). The visual effects - sliding/mixing VT and virtually no outdoor photography make the staging look cheap and static; and the plethora of indistinguishable actresses portraying the title role give us very little by way of a glimpse into their devious, despotic and debauched existence. Sadly, the thing just hasn't aged at all well - and for such a fascinatingly rich seam of stories and characters, this series falls well short of competent.