In late 2010 and early 2011, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a radio adaptation of Rober Graves’ two novels I, Claudius and Claudius the God. The broadcast was a part BBC Radio 4’s Classical Serial strand; a strand in which English-language literature classics are adapted into multi-episode radio dramas where each episode is one hour long. Each episode is broadcast twice; first at 3-4 pm on Sunday and then a second time at 9-10 pm the following Saturday.
I, Claudius and Claudius the God were adapted into a total of six episodes by Robin Brooks, and the episodes were broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 28 November 2010 and 2 January 2011.
The production was directed by Jonquil Panting, and Tom Goodman Hill did the role of Claudius. Derek Jacobi – who played Claudius in BBC’s highly aclaimed 1976 TV-series I, Claudius – returned for the radio adaption, but this time playing the role of Augustus.
Music
Music for the radio series was composed by the British-Australian composer David Pickvance.
Episodes
| Episode title | First broadcast | |
| 1 | Augustus | 28 November, 2010 |
| 2 | Tiberius | 5 December, 2010 |
| 3 | Sejanus | 12 December, 2010 |
| 4 | Caligula | 19 December, 2010 |
| 5 | Claudius | 26 December, 2010 |
| 6 | Messalina | 2 January, 2011 |
Audiobook
The radio series was released as a BBC Audiobook on 6 January, 2011.
It received a 2012 Audie Award in the category Audio Dramatization. The Audie Award is an annual award given out in 29 different categories by the not-for-profit Audio Publishers Association. Both audiobooks and other types of spoken-word entertainment are eligible, provided that they sold in the United States.
Cast
Starring
- Tom Goodman-Hill as Claudius
- Derek Jacobi as Augustus
- Harriet Walter as Livia
- Tim McInnerny as Tiberius
- Samuel Barnett as Caligula
Others (in alphabetic order)
| Adeel Akhtar as Euodus |
| Alison Pettitt as Julia |
| Christine Kavanagh as Antonia |
| Claire Harry as Agrippinilla (Agrippina the Younger) |
| Harvey Allpress as Young Claudius |
| Hattie Morahan as Agrippina the Elder |
| Henry Devas as Postumus/Callistus |
| Iain Batchelor as Soldier |
| Jessica Raine as Messalina |
| Jude Akuwudike as Cato/Cassius Chaerea/Plautius/Burrhus |
| Robin Soans as Narcissus |
| Ryan Watson as Britannicus |
| Sally Orrock as Calpurnia |
| Sam Dale as Athenodorus/Sejanus/Tacitus |
| Sean Baker as Thrasyllus/Pomponius/Cremutius/Asiaticus |
| Tony Bell as Macro/Frontinus |
| Trevor Peacock as Pollio |
| Zubin Varla as Herod Agrippa |