The Cleopatras

The Cleopatras

Limited Series 1983 · 8 eps · ★ 3.8 · Drama

Ended

The Cleopatras is a 1983 BBC Television historical drama serial created and written by Philip Mackie. Set in Ancient Egypt during the latter part of the Ptolemaic Dynasty, the eight-part series follows the lives of a series of queens belonging to the Ptolemaic Dynasty of ancient Egypt, culminating in its final active ruler Cleopatra VII. Intended to be the I, Claudius of the 1980s, The Cleopatras met with a decidedly negative critical reaction, and was regarded and portrayed as a gaudy farce. It also produced a number of complaints due to scenes of nudity.

Created by Philip Mackie

Network: BBC Two

Your Rating

Cast

Michelle Newell Cleopatra
Graham Crowden Theodotus
Richard Griffiths Pot Belly
Robert Hardy Julius Caesar
Christopher Neame Mark Antony
Shirin Taylor Charmian
Elizabeth Shepherd Cleopatra, the Mother
Pauline Moran Cleopatra Berenike
Amanda Boxer Cleopatra Tryphaena
Prue Clarke Cleopatra Selene
Francesca Gonshaw Arsinoe
James Aubrey Grypus

More from Philip MackieSee all →

The £20,000 Kiss

The £20,000 Kiss · 1962

The £20,000 Kiss

An up and coming politician is caught in a compromising photograph taken by a maid, who turns out to be part of a sophisticated blackmail ring. When the girl is found murdered, he holds an incriminating old dueling pistol.

Shades of Greene

Shades of Greene · 1975

Shades of Greene

Shades of Greene is a British television series based on short stories written by the author Graham Greene. The series began in 1975, with each hour-long episode featuring a dramatisation of one of Greene's stories, many of which dealt with issues such as guilt and the Catholic faith, as well as looking at life in general. Actors to have appeared in the series include John Gielgud, Leo McKern, Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, and Roy Kinnear. The series began on 9 September 1975 and ran for two seasons.

The Organization

The Organization · 1972

The Organization

The Greatrick Organization is a faceless, multi-million-pound concern dedicated to making more millions. In its headquarters are an assortment of middle and junior executives. Their lives may look cozy enough, but appearances are deceptive. All they have to do is carry on being loyal corporate slaves until they're 60, but there are a hundred different ways to put a foot wrong...

Raffles

Raffles · 1977

SeriesComedyCrime

Raffles was a 1977 television adaptation of the A. J. Raffles stories by Ernest William Hornung. The series was produced by Yorkshire Television and written by Philip Mackie. The episodes were largely faithful adaptations of the stories in the books, though occasionally two stories would be merged to create one. In Victorian-era London, gentleman thief A. J. Raffles, a renowned cricketer, and his friend, the eager but naive Bunny Manders, test their skills in relieving the wealthy of their valuables whilst avoiding detection, especially from the persistent Inspector Mackenzie.

The Caesars

The Caesars · 1968

SeriesDramaWar & Politics

The Caesars is a British television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network in 1968. Made in black-and-white and written and produced by Philip Mackie, it covered similar dramatic territory to the later BBC adaptation of I, Claudius, dealing with the lives of the early emperors of Ancient Rome, but differed in its less sensationalist depictions of historical characters and their motives.

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes · 1971

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

SeriesMysteryCrime

An anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

All the Way Up

All the Way Up · 1970

Fred Midway may be a bit short on brains, but he's got plenty of ambition. However, before he can gain promotion as a salesman, he must make his family more socially acceptable.

Clue of the Silver Key

Clue of the Silver Key · 1961

Clue of the Silver Key

The police investigate the murder of a wealthy old man.

Clue of the Twisted Candle

Clue of the Twisted Candle · 1960

Clue of the Twisted Candle

A man is murdered in a room with no windows and a steel lined door which locks only from the inside.

The Right Person

The Right Person · 1955

The Right Person

MovieThrillerDrama

In Copenhagen, a former resistance fighter seeks the traitor responsible for betraying his comrades during World War II.

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

ITV Saturday Night Theatre · 1969

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

Anthology series of dramatic works.

Napoleon and Love

Napoleon and Love · 1974

Napoleon and Love

Napoleon and Love is a British television miniseries produced by Thames Television for ITV, lasting for nine episodes from 5 March to 30 April 1974. The series stars Ian Holm in the title role as Napoleon and depicts his relationships with the women who featured in his life as a backdrop to his rise and fall.

Mr. Rose

Mr. Rose · 1967

SeriesCrimeDrama

Retirement has given Mr Rose the time not only to cultivate a cottage garden in Eastbourne but also to write his memoirs. And it’s the impending publication of those memoirs that brings a number of figures crawling out of the woodwork and back into his life: criminals and former colleagues alike, who know that his vast personal library of case files holds a wealth of incriminating detail.

The Naked Civil Servant

The Naked Civil Servant · 1975

The Naked Civil Servant

MovieDramaComedy

Story of the life of Quentin Crisp, an Englishman who was brave enough to live his life according to his own style even in the hostile days of WW2.

Clue of the New Pin

Clue of the New Pin · 1961

Clue of the New Pin

TV journalist Tab Holland assists Scotland yard with the murder of a reclusive millionaire whose corpse is discovered locked in a vault. The key to the vault is mysteriously found on the table beside the corpse.

An Englishman's Castle

An Englishman's Castle · 1978

An Englishman's Castle

SeriesDramaSci-Fi & Fantasy

In an alternate 1978 wherein Germany won World War II and has occupied the United Kingdom, successful television writer Peter Ingram works on a popular soap opera, An Englishman's Castle, set in Blitz-era London. Ingram lives a quiet, boring life, deliberately oblivious to the subtle rule of the local Nazis. His eyes are opened when the woman he is involved with reveals that she is not only a Jew but also a member of the Underground.

More Like This

We Own This City

We Own This City · 2022

We Own This City

SeriesCrimeDrama

The story of the rise and fall of the Baltimore Police Department's Gun Trace Task Force — and the corruption and moral collapse that befell an American city in which the policies of drug prohibition and mass arrest were championed at the expense of actual police work.

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet · 1998

SeriesDramaSci-Fi & Fantasy

With the growing threat of viral epidemic and the possibility of worldwide environmental catastrophe, humanity has an unprecedented ability to destroy itself, and vampires need to take control of their threatened food source. CIB is a clandestine, elite government unit that hunts vampires, referred to as 'Code Fives' or 'leeches'. DS Michael Colefield joins the team after his partner is turned, blending a realistic, scientific approach with modern vampire mythology, including their inability to appear on video or audio recordings.

Sanditon

Sanditon · 2019

The spirited and impulsive Charlotte Heywood moves from her rural home to Sanditon, a fishing village attempting to reinvent itself as a seaside resort.

Carnivàle

Carnivàle · 2003

SeriesSci-Fi & FantasyMystery

Carnivàle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. In tracing the lives of two disparate groups of people, its overarching story depicts the battle between good and evil and the struggle between free will and destiny; the storyline mixes Christian theology with gnosticism and Masonic lore, particularly that of the Knights Templar.

Before

SeriesDramaMystery

After tragically losing his wife, child psychiatrist Dr. Eli Adler encounters a troubled young boy who seems to have a haunting connection to Eli's past.

Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston

Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston · 2026

Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston

SeriesDocumentaryDrama

A historical exploration about the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and the preserved Roman city it left behind.

The Bletchley Circle

The Bletchley Circle · 2012

The Bletchley Circle

SeriesDramaMystery

The Bletchley Circle follows the journey of four ordinary women with extraordinary skills that helped to end World War II. Set in 1952, Susan, Millie, Lucy and Jean have returned to their normal lives, modestly setting aside the part they played in producing crucial intelligence, which helped the Allies to victory and shortened the war. When Susan discovers a hidden code behind an unsolved murder she is met by skepticism from the police. She quickly realises she can only begin to crack the murders and bring the culprit to justice with her former friends. The Bletchley Circle paints a vivid portrait of post-war Britain in this fictional tale of unsung heroes.

How is it so far?

Your ratings make Midnight smarter