526 The Borgias

First  viewed  : Autumn  1981

It  wasn't  a  great  autumn  for  the  Beeb. While  ITV  had  Brideshead  Revisited  , BBC  2  unleashed  The  Borgias   on  an  unsuspecting  world.  I  can't  say  too  much  about  this  notorious  TV  turkey  because  I  only  dipped  into  it   but  I  clearly  remember  the  derision  it  provoked.

It  was  promising  material  for  a  drama  series; the  story  of   the  notorious  Renaissance  dynasty offered  a  spicy  blend  of  sex  and  violence  to  rival  the  successful  I  Claudius   of  a  few  years earlier  but  it  didn't  work  out  that  way. The  main  target  was  Sicilian  actor  Adolfo  Celi  who played  the  incest-loving  Pope  Rodrigo  Borgia  ( or  Alexander  VI ).  Celi  was  previously  best known  to  English-speaking  audiences  as the  chief  villain  in  Thunderball. He  was  quite  fluent in  English  but  his  heavy  accent  made  him  difficult  to  follow  especially  in  the  quieter  scenes and  his  declarations  of  "I  am  ze  pop ! "  made  it  a  bit  of  a  catchphrase  at  the  time. Celi's difficulties  rather  over-shadowed  a  tremendous  performance  by  Oliver  Cotton  as  his  murderous  son  Cesare.

The  series  was  also  notorious  for  some  over  the  top  sex  scenes. I  recall  our  excitable  English  teacher  Mrs  Mortimer  mentioning  her  shock  at  an  orgy  later  in  the  series.

Granada  must  have  been  laughing  all  the  way  to  the  bank. Apart  from the  Sunday  night  repeats  at  the  time , the  series  has  never  been  re-broadcast. However,  an  American  version  with  the  same  title  was  made  in  2011  and  ironically  the  part  of  Rodrigo  went  to  Jeremy  Irons.