Television series
I, Claudius
Told by a stuttering, sidelined historian who somehow survives everyone around him, I, Claudius turns imperial Rome into a family dinner from hell. The sets wobble, the toga budget is visibly finite, and none of it matters, because the performances — especially Siân Phillips's poisoner-matriarch Livia — are so ferociously good you forget you're watching people plot murder in a studio.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like your history served as palace intrigue, where whispered plots and family feuds weigh as much as armies, and you enjoy sly, scheming dialogue delivered with a straight face.
Skip it if you need brisk action or a clear hero to root for, since the family trees are dense and the court politics easy to lose track of.
What it asks of you: Thirteen episodes of around fifty minutes each, told at a measured pace in long, talky rooms, so it rewards close attention more than any quick glance.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Rome2005
Same city, same century, same appetite for betrayal, but shot with blood, mud and sex left in rather than implied. Gives you the streets Claudius only describes from his palace.
But Trades I, Claudius's arch wit and interiority for grit and spectacle — a different kind of pleasure, less talky and cerebral.
Wolf Hall2015
Another survivor navigating a court of butchers, this time Tudor England, with Mark Rylance's Cromwell as quiet and calculating as anyone in Claudius's family. Gorgeous, patient, merciless.
But Far slower and more restrained — no scenery-chewing villains here, just whispers and long silences. Ask if that's what you actually want.
Succession2018
Swap togas for private jets and you've got the same engine: a monstrous family destroying each other over who inherits the throne. Vicious, hilarious, and just as tragic underneath.
But Modern-day boardrooms lack the visceral stakes of actual executions — the cruelty here is professional, not mortal.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from I, Claudius
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Recommended by
Game of Thrones, Rome, Wolf Hall, Gladiator, Billions, The Crown, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Ben-Hur, Foundation, The Great, The Private Life of Henry VIII, The Favourite, House of Cards, Richard III, Spartacus, Dallas, Spartacus, Elizabeth R, The First Churchills, The Forsyte Saga, Scandal, House of the Dragon, The Apothecary Diaries, Empresses in the Palace, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Plebs, Barbaren, Shaka Zulu, The Originals, Manor House, Gladiator II, When the Boat Comes In, The Young Pope, The White Princess, Little Dorrit, Barbarians Rising, Les Misérables, Masada, The Ascent of Money, Caligula, Jesus of Nazareth, Espionage, The Virgin Queen, David Copperfield, The Barchester Chronicles, The Dovekeepers, The Duchess of Duke Street, Lillie, Henry VIII and His Six Wives, Anne Boleyn, Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, An Age of Kings, The Death of the Incredible Hulk