First viewed : 1 September 1987
This controversial US mini-series was belatedly shown on BBC One over consecutve nights, two years after being aired in the US. It had a strong cast with George C Scott in the title role, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as his daughter, Robert Downey Jr and Gabriel Byrne as one his sons and Raul Julia as his son-in-law. While Scott achieved a remarkable likeness that couldn't be said about Gunnar Moller as Hitler and gorgeous blonde Virginia Madsen
was about as far from resembling Clara Petacci as it was possible to imagine.
The series was criticised for concentrating on the dictator's private life and glossing over the nature of his regime and status as Hitler's chief ally ( actually more of an Achilles heel than a prop ) in World War Two. That's fair comment although historians are generally agreed that Mussolini actually thought that Nazi theories on race were nonsense and dragged his heels when it came to implementing anti-semitic policies. Though ruthless enough, he doesn't merit the same level of opprobrium as his ally.
The series was also mocked for its supposedly seamless insertion of colourised contemporary footage. As the Sunday Telegraph's critic observed "It was of course completely unnoticeable as long as you were blind". It didn't amount to much more than a few minutes' footage of tanks rolling anyway.
I don't think it's been repeated.
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