I, Claudius (1976) [1 of 13]

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Episode 1 - A Touch of Murder (20 Sep. 1976) In 54 AD, elderly and lame from birth Emperor Claudius is writing his biography and the history of his family. He recalls an encounter with the Sibyl, who recognizes him from his stutter and tells him that his account will be famous in 1900 years time. Back in Rome in 24 BC, Emperor Augustus is celebrating the anniversary of the battle of Actium, when he and his friend Agrippa defeated Antony and Cleopatra. However, now Augustus is tipping his young nephew Marcellus as his heir. This displeases the emperor's wife, the formidable Livia, who wants the succession to pass to her son from her first marriage, Tiberius, even though Tiberius believes that Augustus dislikes him. Agrippa is also annoyed and leaves Rome. When Marcellus falls ill Livia insists on nursing him and he dies soon after, as she has clearly poisoned him. This provokes a riot among the citizens but it is quelled by the return of Agrippa, who calms the crowd down. A grateful Augustus gives Julia, Marcellus's widow to Agrippa as his wife, which once more angers Livia, seeing the union as yet another obstacle to her ambitions as there was once a time when Julia and Tiberias seemed destined to be married.
I, Claudius is a 1976 Television adaptation of Robert Graves' 1934 novel I, Claudius and its 1935 sequel Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman and Directed by Herbert Wise. It stars Derek Jacobi as Claudius, with Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, George Baker, Margaret Tyzack, John Hurt, Patricia Quinn, Ian Ogilvy, Kevin McNally, Patrick Stewart, and John Rhys-Davies. The series covers the history of the early Roman Empire, told from the perspective of the elderly Emperor Claudius who narrates the series.

Plot : The series opens with Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, attempting to find an heir, and his wife, Livia, plotting to elevate her own son Tiberius to this position. An expert poisoner, Livia uses the covert assassination and betrayal of all rivals to achieve her aims, beginning with the death in 22 BC of Marcellus. The plotting, double-crossing, and murder continue for many decades, through the reign of Tiberius, the political conspiracy of his Praetorian Prefect Sejanus, and the depraved rule of the lunatic emperor Caligula, culminating in the accidental rise to power of his uncle Claudius. Claudius' enlightened reign is marred by the betrayals of his adulterous wife Messalina and his boyhood friend Herod Agrippa. Eventually, Claudius comes to accept the inevitability of his own assassination and consents to marrying his scheming niece, Agrippina the Younger, clearing the way for the ascent of his mad stepson, Nero, whose disastrous reign Claudius vainly hopes will bring about the restoration of the Roman Republic.