Serial M, in four parts:
- The Slave Traders - 1/16/65, 13.0m viewers
- All Roads Lead to Rome - 1/23/65, 11.5m
- Conspiracy - 1/30/65, 10.0m
- Inferno - 2/6/65, 12.0m
Sound Bytes:
"The Romans was the first broad use of humor since the series began, a well-intentioned disaster which helped the demise of the historical adventures." - fan Paul Mount, quoted in Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text by Tulloch and Alvarado (St. Martin's Press, 1983)
"Some people have criticized The Romans as not being Doctor Who material but, at the time, we thought it worked as Doctor Who... I think that ever since the show started, there's always been an element of humor in it. To write an out-and-out comedy was a bit daring, but you have to break new ground and the only way to do that is to try it." - Christopher Barry, quoted in Doctor Who: The Sixties by Howe, Stammers and Walker (Virgin, 1992)
"That second half of The Romans is no picnic." - my brother Marc
Comments:
I used to hate The Romans. In fact, when I reviewed it for an earlier incarnation of this Web site, I slapped it with a vicious "C" rating and raged that "following on the heels of Marco Polo and The Aztecs, this lame forerunner of Xena fails to impress."
Nowadays, my opinion of this rather controversial serial varies depending on my mood. I've always liked the first episode, in which the Doctor and his companions "borrow" a Roman villa and lounge there for a while, eating grapes and bickering cheerfully. It's nice to see that the TARDIS crew gets to relax now and again, isn't it? The Discontinuity Guide points out, in its somewhat witty fashion, that "Barbara and Ian frolic around the villa in very post-coital fashion, blissed out on wine." And who am I to dispute the charming notion that the two schoolteachers get busy in the private space between scenes?
But I'm afraid that my brother Marc's expert commentary, cited above, is quite correct; The Romans does not manage to sustain itself through its second half. Derek Francis is initially amusing as Emperor Nero (he enters with a belch), but his hamming gets tiresome after a while. Strangely, he spends much of episode three in hot pursuit of Barbara. It seems that most of the human Doctor Who villains lust after her -- maybe because she's got so much class.
Some reviews praise Hartnell's performance, citing his natural gift for comedy, but I rather think he's weak in this story. He trips over quite a lot of his dialogue, and chuckles knowingly into the camera far too much for my liking. This is the kind of comedy where the performers are having a lot more fun than the audience, I suspect.
The production values don't really help. The sets aren't bad, necessarily, but they're obviously too small to convey the required sense of grandeur (somehow this wasn't as much of a problem in The Aztecs). Also, that old enemy of credibility -- fuzzy stock footage -- rears its ugly head on several occasions.
As far as silly stories go, I much prefer The Gunfighters. Still, The Romans isn't quite as bad as I used to think.
Grade: C+