This Old TV Show Has Better Directing Than Anything Today 

I joined the BBC camera crew that shot I Claudius, as a trainee in 1978. At that time there were 20 crews working at TV Centre, this one was crew 5, lead by camera Supervisor Jim Atkinson. He operated the main camera on every ep. Unlike in film, he did not have a focus puller, nor was the camera on a dolly with a grip or two moving him around. Everything he did himself, lens angle, focus, pan and tilt, lens height and pedestal position. With only the help of a cable basher to keep the two and a half inch (70mm) camera cable from the EMI 2001 camera from under his feet. Unfortunately during the 80’s studio drama was looked down on and slowly died. Along with skills that Jim had mastered.

Man, it was so difficult to recognise Brian Blessed without hair on his face, and to recognise Patrick Stewart _with_ hair on his head.

Patrick Stewart, Brian Blessed, Ian Ogilvy, George Baker, Sian Philips, Sheila White, Stratford Johns, Bernard Hepton, John Rhys-Davies, John Hurt, Peter Bowles, Sheila Ruskin, Bernard Hill, Tony Haygarth, Christopher Biggins, Norman Rossington, and at the peak of his powers, Derek Jacobi. Astonishing line-up.

Now, it didn't hurt that "I, Claudius" had the finest collection of actors England had to offer. I mean actual actors, not movie stars. The acting is unbelievably good. I remember even as a young adolescent being just glued to the screen when watching it, and then not being able to watch anything else for some time, because everything looked so dumb and badly acted by comparison.

In ‘I, Claudius’ the directors had the immense good fortune to be working with experienced theatre actors. The work the camera did was met with equal technical sophistication from the cast.

Ignore the low budget and 70s limitations, and this is still by far one of the greatest tv series ever filmed. The inventive direction, superbly arch adaptation and outstanding acting lift it to incredible heights. Excellent analysis revealing the brilliance of this forgotten masterpiece.

This series is the gold standard for miniseries.

Anyone who wants to see a director with similar talents, Akira Kurosawa is highly recommended. He trained to be a painter in his early life, which gave him an eye for beautiful shot composition. Scenes in his movies have a lot of movement, with backgrounds full of depth, and have characters staged in such a way that you can tell the emotion of the scene without a single piece of dialogue. Definitely worth checking out.

John Hurt and Derek Jacobi spoke about how they were frantically doing each other's makeup before one shot. If they filmed past a certain time, the electricity would be turned off, so they had to hurry and the budget was low. 😊 Just goes to show that writing, directing, and acting go a long way. Even without CGI or A.I. 😉

“I, Claudius” is STILL considered one of the BEST dramatic series of all time. The acting and dialogue is brilliant, and the direction is top notch. Others have tried to make another historical series like “I, Claudius”, and even with the bigger budgets and new technology, they never measured up.

This was my friend Charlie's dad, Herbie Wise. So happy to see someone appreciating his work.

I watched this lying on the sofa of my childhood home, I was 15 in 1976. This show blew my tiny mind. It's a great show!

I talked about this sort of thing in my review of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Movies these days are shot "for coverage", meaning they shoot a scene from as many angles as possible and get a combination of inserts and close-ups, then they decide what angles to use in editing. This is done because big movies and shows always undergo last-second rewrites as studio executives demand changes based on market research, so they always have to either cut stuff out, or add things in from reshoots, and filming everything in a simple shot/reverse shot fashion makes it easy to add or remove things without having jump cuts. Shooting this way also makes it easier for the actors because if an actor stumbles on a line, the editor can just cut to a reaction shot of another character to cover up the fact that they spliced two different takes together. If you've ever watched a movie or TV show and wondered why it cut to a seemingly random and pointless close-up of some character, it was to hide an edit.

God damn its easy to forget how good an actor Brian Blessed actually is. I need to rewatch this stat.

Back in the day, we knew it as "I, Clavdivs"! An absolute masterclass in all respects. Created by a stunning collection talent in all departments - people who actually knew what they were doing, dedicated to the best telling of the story that they could do, no agenda, no hidden message, no prima donnas or favouritism, just solid craft throughout. Should be required viewing for anyone going into TV or film. Makes an absolute mockery of 99% of the TV and film we have these days.

4:40 Patrick Stewart leans out of his scene partner's key light. To execute a brilliantly blocked scene like this, you need actors who can deliver great performances while also hitting their marks perfectly. That's the kinda top-level mix of art and craft an actor learns on stage, and a lot of people in the biz today couldn't execute it even if a director could block it like this.

This is one of my all time favourite TV series. I was captivated by every episode.

I`ll never forget when this first aired in late 1976. It was instantly one of those landmark series. Everyone discussing each episode the next day at school. It captivated everyone from 12 year old school children to adults alike. Every actor was pitch - perfect. Unmissable show. Faultless.

If I remember right, Peter O’Toole was there, just to watch filming one day, and said ‘The critics will hate it, but the public will love it.’

As a child, I watched this with my mother when it premiered in the US. I credit this show for turning me into a history fanatic.

I have re-watched I, Claudius at least 20 times and enjoy it more with each reviewing. It fired my love for ancient Roman History then Greek, Persian, Byzantine, Chinese and on. Derek Jacobi is very good but Brian Blessed is AMAZING as Augustus. Overall, the casting was inspired......you feel like you are eavesdropping ......gonna start a re-watch now !

And don't forget this was being vision mixed 'live' in the gallery from 3 or 5 cameras. The blocking was worked out during rehearsals usually in a hall somewhere with tape on the floor to indicate the set. so the director could work out the camera directions and actors movements. This was standard BBC working procedure. And though it may not have the gravitas, you can see some great examples of these techniques in early Dr Who productions (of all places).

“This old tv show!?” This is one of my favorite shows ever.

This was when the BBC was great! The best piece of acting I've EVER seen, was Brian Blessed's performance of Augustus' death. You can ACTUALLY see the life leave his eyes! AMAZING!!!

Simply put I Claudius is a MASTERPIECE. From staging, directing, acting, storytelling and beyond. It's Shakespearian! I first saw it when I was eight and it still stuns me to this day at fifty-six. I re-watch the series once a year on the anniversery it first appeared on PBS here in the USA.

The acting in I, Claudius is phenomenal and more than makes up for limited scenery.

One of the few programmes I can watch over and over... You can actually hear what the actors are saying...

By 1977, "I Claudius" had become a television phenomenon and PBS scored viewer numbers that were usually common to commercial television. This is an example of what talented people on both sides of the camera can achieve. This video has brought back to me many wonderful memories from "I Claudius". Thank You!

I Claudius is my favorite tv-series of all time. I always thought that it was due to excellent acting but this presentation has showed there was more to it than that. Next rewatch I will study the camera work thoroughly.

I've always loved this show for the acting, but thanks to your insights I can now appreciate it on a whole new level

After all these years, this is still the very best series ever produced by the BBC, based on a brilliant book by Robert Graves. Thanks for your excellent analysis.

I saw this when it aired in the 1970's and never forgot it. Like Dr Who, the low budget ws obscured by the brilliance of the execution. In particular, the acting, scriptwriting and direction are among the finest that I have ever seen on television, before or since. The actors are a virtual who's who in British dramatics. It was a landmark series and I'm glad that other people remember it too.

I Claudius is the presentation which made me want to become a cinematographer. The camera work was mesmerizing. I spent years analyzing movement, only to discover that modern cinema directors want static shots. I left cinema a decade ago and haven't looked back.

I've always loved that scene of Augustus with the senators, but I never before realised that the whole thing was a single, beautifully choreographed shot. Thanks for making this video. _I, Claudius_ is currently enjoying a rare rerun on BBC Four. BTW something every British person knows but might be a surprise to people from elsewhere, but Brian Blessed's name is pronounced "blesséd", two syllables, like from a line of Shakespeare.

This was my favourite show as a teen. I even bought Robert Graves' books that originated the series. As soon as it was available on DVD many years later, I bought it at once. Half a century later, I still love the show. It feels so much more interesting than most series and movies today. Looking back at the cast, brilliant actors all over, though some became famous only later. Indeed, some of its appeal comes from the camera movements and use of layered space. Thanks for pointing this out.

It was an epic series, and this blocking vid brought back so many wonderful memories! Thoroughly remarkable television. ❤

I enjoy so much the long takes in older works like I Claudius. It allows me to drift into the scene as if I'm in the room with the actors. The constant cutting of contemporary movies seems to have the opposite effect, constantly putting me outside the scene, in some different, unexpected position. It breaks my concentration. I should think the classically trained actors probably also preferred being able to do continuous dialogue rather than having the natural flow of conversation constantly interrupted.

"I, Claudius" is one of the very best TV shows ever to be made, stunning television.

I'm rewatching this series in 2023, first watched it in 1976 as a young teenager. It's marvellous, what a superb cast with Jacobi being the jewel in the crown

I've watched 'I, Claudius' so many times I can recite it as I watch it. I even sampled 'IS THERE ANYONE IN ROME WHO HAS NOT SLEPT WITH MY DAUGHTER?!?' and put it in a song :D Good to know I'm not the only one who appreciates it. Thank you so much for doing this--I have a whole new reason to re-watch and keep my eye out for the camera blocking!

I watched this series on public tv when it was first on in the Chicagoland area and absolutely loved it. To this day I remember certain scenes such as Claudius not wanting elephants painted in his histories, the Praetorian Guard finding Claudius to crown him emperor after Caligula’s assassination, the death of Patrick Stewart’s character and Claudius’ death among other things. I wish I could see it again.

When repeated year after year, the viewing figures were still impressive. It was one of those shows that everyone talked about even though it was historical and wordy. I see the whole series at least every few years it’s just so enjoyable.

Like a great book one re-reads over and over again, finding new joys and surprises , this show is repeatable and still hold me enthralled. Love it!

Thank you for pointing this out. Didn’t even realize how effective the camera work was until you pointed it out. That’s true artistry -serving the narration. No Dutch angles and whatnot needed.

Let's also remember that the 1970s cameras weighed a huge amount, and didn't have a separate focus puller - so Peter Hider and Jim Atkinson are moving/being moved AND changing focus themselves in real time!

This is why I have so many box sets of older series, like Elizabeth 1 with Glenda Jackson, or The Barchester Chronicles with Donald Pleasance. Proper theatrical experience with good writing and directing intended to take the watcher through a scene satisfactorily, appreciating what the characters are feeling and putting over. So much drama series today have such short 'clips' of sometimes inaudible dialogue, or sudden, and frankly intrusive green-screen action that there's no continuity of story, or feeling for the overall story.

I avidly watched this series when it was first broadcast back in the 1970s. I re-watched it again a couple of years ago and it is just as gripping as it was back then. It is quite possibly the best drama ever made for TV.

I loved this miniseries. I watched it with my dad in the late 90s or early 2000s on DVD. I'm surprised to see it mentioned today since it seems to have fallen off the collective radar. I never paid much attention to the cinematography or directing at the time, so I appreciate your perspective. Amazing acting all around, but I think my favorite character was Livia, the manipulative villain you really loved to hate. Thanks for the memories!

This was an excellent education in an aspect of film making I never noticed or knew existed. Thank you for this. I won't be able to view tv shows or movies the same way again. Btw, I was a big fan of I Claudius back in the early 90's when it was in reruns on public television and I watched every episode. I had no idea at the time how brilliant and innovative the camera work and blocking were at the time, as I was more focused and mesmerized by Derek Jacobi and the rest of the cast's acting ability and the brilliant writing behind the series.

This is a superb analysis of the role of blocking in TV production and using the camera as an actor. It allows the viewer to participate in the story in an active way that is more naturalistic than cinematic. Well done,

Remarkable!! Thank you for cementing further my understanding of why old work like this will never fade in its glory. Art is ART!

I think what also differentiates this from modern tv plays is that the camera has quite a narrow field of view (not to mention the aspect ratio), meaning that there is no choice but for actors to overlap if you want their presence to stay visible.

I think viewers 50 years ago were more capable of suspension of disbelief and when the acting was this good, they didn't give a toss about the scenery. Nowadays, having exactly the 'correct' scenery often seems more important than the acting.

Yes, there's a lot of potential for storytelling that gets left on the table without clever blocking. The camera can communicate an awful lot with what is framed and how, and position in the frame. There are massive opportunities for subtext. However, to make something like I, Claudius was also a lot of work. My understanding is that these TV productions weren't just stagey in terms of their acting and sets most famously, but in their prep, and that rehearsals took up roughly as much time as shooting. That's how they were able to frame some of these remarkably well blocked scenes with their frequently 5+ minutes of choreographed movements from the actors (and all of the actors having stage experience was doubtless helpful in them remembering so many marks for a single shot) Shooting TV now seems to be a lot quicker and adhoc, and some guest actors are literally only on for a day and sometimes even just shoot pickups without meeting the main cast. To make a show in this way now I think you'd need to be a real auteur director with a lot of pull.

I honestly think that I Claudius is one of the greatest TV series ever created. As you point out, the direction and camera work are close to flawless, and the acting is best described not by superlatives, but by the actors names themselves From Brian Blessed to Derek Jacobi via Sian Phillips, George Baker and John Hurt, and not forgetting (who can?) Patrick Stewart's first major television rôle.

This was one of two shows we were allowed to stay up and watch as twelve year old...we were totally enthralled, thank you all for your beautiful work 😊

It was so good because it relied on the actors to actually act. No green screen, no effects just brilliant actors acting brilliantly. It's on again soon so I'll be watching.

This was a truly enthralling series. As a teenager I watched all 13 episodes when originally broadcast. The cast were superb; Brian Blessed,Derek Jacobi,Sian Phillips, John Hurt,and even Patrick Stewart (later to be Jean Luc Picard). Modern series are never as good as this. I could happily watch it all over again.

I remember watching this while in college and was just sucked in with the story and acting. Was completely blown away. I didn't even realize how good the blocking was at the time. I'll def try to watch the series again soon. Fantastic video

I have watched and re-watched I Claudius several times and the things that leap off the screen are the quality of the script and the quality of the acting. I would say that the best piece of television ever filmed is the scene between John Hurt and Derek Jacobi when Caligula believes himself to have transformed into a god. Modern audiences are so caught up in production values, they´d watch paint drying if it were filmed well and had a soundtrack. Perhaps the fact that I never paid attention to the blocking tells that it was so well done!

A perfect example of how limitations force creativity.

Excellent video on one of the best things ever made for television. I've always appreciated the writing (Jack Pulman is amazing) and acting but never fully appreciated the direction, and especially blocking, until watching your analysis. You only forgot to mention the timeless performance of the fly crawling on George Baker's (Tiberius) shoulder during the dramatic scene in which he discovers Augustus is dead. That little "we can only afford one take, people" example always makes me smile. I also would add the incredible scene in, I believe, the last episode in which the decrepit Claudius sits in the Senate and hallucinates that senators on the floor are ghosts of the Julian-Claudians who died before him. Fantastic blocking as the dead characters walk to deliver words to him (including the Caligula's classic, "When they told me I wasn't a god after all, you could've knocked me over with a feather") and then give way to the next. In the background you can hear the faint cheer of Roman crowds. The masterstroke is when a form appears in blurred distant archway and strides forward. The cheers crescendo into a roar as the figure is reveal to be Augustus. The direction subtly tells us that everything started with, came from, and would never again be as good as under this first remarkable emperor.

I remember becoming obsessed with Livia's speech to the gladiators. Such a great comic monologue, and Sian Phillips' delivery was mesmerizing.

Absolutely one of THE best miniseries ever. The story draws you in, and keeps you captivated, and the cast - Derek Jacobi, Sian Phillips, Brian Blessed, Patrick Stewart, Margaret Tyzack,,and so many other wonderful actors.

Thanks for the course in directing and production. I've watched this excellent series several times without being aware of the effort used for visual storytelling, and that shows that the producers and directors have succeeded.

This is likely the greatest series ever made by the BBC. The cast for I, Claudius was simply outstanding. A Who's Who of fabulous actors. It is a masterpiece and your video here just goes on to emphasise that even more. Great video and new subscriber here.

I get chills every time I think of that show. It really was impactful to me. I never considered the masterful camera work, though. Now, through your video, I see that every part of the show was indeed absorbing, even the direction. Thanks for pointing this out to me!

I Claudius is IMO the best drama series ever produced for TV. Not only great camera work and acting, but the writing -- which is where it all starts -- was superb. I still think of some of the lines. I'm glad you included the clip of Messalina's execution at the end -- the most creatve and dramatic use of the camera ever! It all proves how limitations necessitate creativity. It's not in spite of the limitations, but because of them, that it worked so well. And the focus was on story, not spectacle.

One of the finest, if not best, television dramas ever made. There is certainly nothing to compare on The BBC now.

I saw this as a young kid, i found it to be very intriguing, horrific and generally awesome since i was fascinated with old rome.

One of my favorite shows of all time. Thanks for covering its excellent camerawork

Fantastic breakdown of directing and blocking. The director and cinematographer really understood the writing and the characters motivations. I noticed that the framing was always anchored to the center of the screen, regardless of camera movement and blocking. This provides us as viewers with a main point of reference so that our eyes are not wandering around the screen searching for the focus of the action. This allows us to relax our minds and be engaged with the storytelling.

About 30 years ago, when I was 14 years old, my mom and I took a vacation to England. One of the sights we saw was the Museum Of The Moving Image in London. The souvenir I got from the gift shop is a short BBC manual on directing a television program. Blocking is a big part of the manual. I still use that manual for the social media videos I sometimes shoot for clients.

Man, I love you. I hope future directors are watching your videos and taking notes ❤️

I love this show so much! It was so well acted, directed, shot, written.... Just beautifully done. Ignited a love of history in me.

Thanks for the new insights as I can remember the camera angles as well as the dialogue from this brilliant TV series. If characters are believable then imagination can fill in what is obviously a 'stage' for performers.

Saw this as a child, bought the DVD's as an adult. Stellar acting, indeed.

Thank you for that camera insight into my favourite and the best drama series ever made.

Hard to believe that’s Brian Blessed who later got the big hairdo and huge beard from then on and was a madman on the first Black Adder series. He’s phenomenal.

yeah, when the camera switches to the point of death as characters lose their lives it just hits hard, even when those characters are monsters. I love this series.

Thank you for putting this together! You've described so well why I Claudius feels such a 3D experience. We're in among the actors at all times, looking around naturally.

Thankyou very much for opening my eyes to the cleverness in this series. The director did a fantastic job with this, and with what money he had (and a shout out to the camera ops certainly - they were hefty back then). I do so much miss the this standard of presenting actors that acted, and acted superbly - not 'stars' or 'screen idols' in cut-aways to each other, only reacting to someone off-camera repeating their co-star's lines. Bravo for showing us there are much better ways of making scenes come alive.

Wow - What absolutely spectacular review of this exemplary directing. Fantastic video.

Thank you for giving me such a specific reason to watch this superb series again. This adds a whole new dimension of appreciation that I wouldn't have thought possible. Such a rewatchable gem.

One of the best productions ever made for TV. I was delighted to find it and watch it all the way through again last year. It is good theater with excellent dialogue in a box. As you have pointed out a mastery of camera angles and use of space.

I LOVED "I Claudius!!" I saw it many, many years ago and to this day the story, the acting and the actors have never left the corners of my mind. An excellent drama production that stands out above all others. I am so glad to have stumbled across this video today, it brings back fully how outstanding the series was.

I saw the title of this video. What a ridiculous thing to say, I thought. These days, we have some of the highest quality television ever made. I opened the video, eager to see you make your case so that I could disprove it in the comments. Then I watched the video. You make an excellent point, and you illustrate it very clearly. Wonderful work in I, Claudius. And wonderful work from you in demonstrating the brilliance of the choreography of actors and camera. Liked, saved and subbed! Happy to admit my uninformed knee-jerk reaction was incorrect :)

Easily one of the best things ever filmed for TV. Crazy how I still remember the dialogue and character names from every scene you showed, even though I was 10 when this came out.

Such a great series. I have it on DVD and have watched it many times. One of my favorite scenes is when Claudius is telling Livia that he's going to publicly read one of his histories that he's written and she tells him no. He says that he's "better when I'm rehearsed" and Livia responds: "So's a trained monkey but it still looks and acts every inch a monkey."

Wow, this was brilliant, thank you! I only saw I, Claudius many years after it first aired, by which time there were those who said it looked 'dated'. But as you say, it might not have had the budget or camera technology of more recent productions, but it was goddamn captivating, in a way that no such recent production has been. I don't know anything about direction or production in film (or video), but I think I know something damn good when I see it. The I, Claudius series was a masterpiece. And despite its 'lack' of big-budget sets, etc., I can still completely lose myself in its scenes. After watching your analysis here, I can see that one important element that facilitates that experience is just how the camera becomes the character, and how actors' movements and positioning were incredibly deliberate and obviously choreographed. Because of this, you've helped me to understand why many modern productions, no matter how opulent or lavish, feel like they're betraying the medium of cinema, in that shots are largely static, while closeups or longer shots simply swap actors. This begs the question, why even bother making a movie? A series of stills could perhaps tell the story sufficiently well and not cost as much. ;-) Sarcasm aside, this makes me wonder whether perhaps these techniques are no longer being learned by future filmmakers? Or is it perhaps that studios simply want everything to have the look of another nauseating superhero flick? Anyway, I'm grateful we can always return to proper storytelling like this. Cheers!

This is my first episode of your content, but you've earned a subscriber. I had never heard of this show, but what a captivating job you've done of pointing out the artistry that would have otherwise gone un-noticed. Keep up the good work!

If you want to see another series that the British put out during this timeframe you should definitely try to watch "Smiley's People." Great cast and wonderfully filmed it may be the best take on anything that LeCarre ever wrote. I definitely think that there have been a couple very good movies based on his work but the length of this mini-series gives it so much more depth and detail. It's a 9 out of 10 at the worst.😊

A multitude of elements came together to make it the recognised classic. One element which hasn't yet been discussed fully is the technology: Several four-tube colour cameras fed to a gallery and thence to (edited) videotape: 576 line analogue television in an academy format (4:3) with a (transmitted) bandwidth of 5.5Mhz: Line scanning was interlaced with two fields at 50Hz, which meant that there was high motion resolution which gave the audience a more associated, viceral sensation to the action, with actor engagement. Most directors in film are dismissive and look down their noses at high frame rates of this 'new' medium of television, discounting and insulting the look as: 'The soap opera effect.' I think they are missing a trick. High frame rates do away with a multitude of problems associated with recording low frame rates; and allows audiences to see actors, act.

Your explanation re: camera blocking was all new to me. It isn't something I was aware of until now, however it makes me appreciate this SPLENDID t.v. series more now than ever before.

That snake on the mosaics and the wonderful discordant theme tune was great. Settling down for a treat in 1976 as a young teenager.

I recall a media story at the time saying Peter O'Toole visited the set and predicted that critics would hate it but the public would love it. Turned out everyone loved it.

I've only ever heard of this show name dropped by George R.R. Martin once, but I definitely need to check it out. It's awesome how similar this is to the way Orson Welles blocked in his later films like Touch of Evil, The Immortal Story and the Trial for example.

@Moviewise - so glad this viral moment has happened at last for you! I will humblebrag that I was an early subscriber, and you've made me quit all other video essayists as this channel delivers the most insightful and entertaining analysis of films and storytelling. Congratulations!

Thanks for this video. It's a must-watch for any budding director. I've lamented the lost art of blocking, too. I remember my mother watching a three-hour marathon of the sitcom "Ghosts." Every time I'd come into the room, on the TV there'd be another flat shot of characters rooted in place. I wanted to talk back to the screen, "Hey, one word, folks: blocking!" They made an effort to have the photography look cinematic, and then directed it like a home video: "Everyone line up and say happy birthday to gran-gran!"

Well thought out and produced on your part. This was on PBS when I probably was 10, I can remember being shooed away at least 5 times, now that I’ve watched it again after all these years, I understand why I was sent away, and I understand why they couldn’t quit watching it.