The Cleopatras
| The Cleopatras | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Historical Drama |
| Written by | Philip Mackie |
| Directed by | John Frankau |
| Starring |
Michelle Newell Graham Crowden Richard Griffiths Robert Hardy Elizabeth Shepherd |
| Theme music composer | Nick Bicat |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Guy Slater |
| Running time | 50 min |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC2 |
| Original release | 19 January – 9 March 1983 |
The Cleopatras was a 1983 BBC Television eight-part historical drama serial. Written by Philip Mackie, it is set in Ancient Egypt during the latter part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty with an emphasis on the Cleopatras. Intended to be the I, Claudius of the 1980s, The Cleopatras met with a decidedly mixed critical reaction. It was regarded and portrayed as a gaudy farce.
The series was generally poorly received despite the impressive cast. The series also managed to produce a number of complaints due to the instances of nudity in the series.
The Cleopatras was novelised by Mackie in 1983 as a tie in with the series.
The title and incidental music was written and composed by Nick Bicât. In January 1983 a 7" vinyl was released to tie in with the original broadcast.
Although the show has never been rebroadcast or released on DVD, clips from The Cleopatras were featured in a 2015 BBC documentary about how Cleopatra VII has been portrayed and presented in film and on television.
Alexandria, 145 BC. Upon the death in battle of her husband and brother King Ptolemy VI, Queen Cleopatra II has to marry her younger brother, Ptolemy, to remain on the throne. Ptolemy secretly orders the murder of his nephew and heir, Eupator, the son of his wife and their brother, the late King, then impregnates his new wife with a new child (it turns out to be a boy, whom they call Memphites), and then seduces and rapes Eupator's sister, his step-daughter and niece Cleopatra III, his wife's own daughter, who becomes pregnant by him, so he decides to divorce her mother and marries her instead. They rule as an uneasy triumvirate. Ptolemy and Cleopatra III are driven out of Egypt by the mob. Ptolemy takes revenge on his sister Cleopatra II by murdering their only son Memphites, his sister's only male child and heir.
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Wikipedia