There is actually some cut funnily enough. After scanning through ep2 it seems that BBC only used about 15 minutes of it, leaving the other 30 on the cutting room floor - some of it explaining who is marching at the end and why.
Bear in mind, your watching the sex scenes of 2 episodes thrown into one as well.
Not really. The first 3 episodes have been condensed into 2. So BBC Episode 2 will pick up halfway through HBO episode 2 and continue on into 3.
I think it's daft of the BBC to do this, it just makes for a disjointed show.
Deadwood, as a comparison, moves even slower than Rome, yet thankfully Sky haven't touched it with a pair of scissors.
I've watched the 1st 2 from a download, but not the BBC version.
I would consider myself fairly well up on things Roman but I honestly can't see what could have been cut from those episodes without losing the plot.
If anything there should have been more on the relationships & past history between Ceaser, Pompey,Cato & Cicero.
BTW if you get a taste for this sort of stuff Colleen McCullough's Rome series is a great read.
I don't see how the BBC can do that though. The end of Ep2 on my HBO broadcast shows Ceaser and his men setting off on the march (And shows why they are doing it). Then there's a man who runs through Rome screaming 'Ceaser is in Italy!'. It pretty much ends the same place the BBC episode does, so they can't backtrack and stick 30 minutes of footage into episode 2. I think that next week they'll broadcast as normal.
I used that very link on monday to enquire why I should watch a 3-into-2 version when HDTV un-cut version are readily available.
I have just check my mail and received the following reply.
--
Dear Mr Tanner
I'd be happy to give you a call and let you know why we have made 2 episodes from HBO's 1-3. Our version is actually better and more tailor made for the UK market. No key scenes have been cut.
Would you let me have your number.
Kind regards
Frances
Frances Pardell
BBC Drama Publicity
--
I have replied that a phone call would be nice but please could you wait a few hours as episodes 1 through 9 are downloaded so that I may compare and contrast the HBO version with the new and improved BBC offering.
Our version is actually better and more tailor made for the UK market. No key scenes have been cut.
The programme was certainly not improved by cutting Pompey's wife's death scene, and nothing that stupid woman could say would make me believe otherwise.
Watching the BBC's version last night the viewer could have been forgiven for thinking that Pompey really didn't give a damn that his wife had died, but (having just downloaded episode 1) when you see the scene the BBC cut you would know that was not the case.
Therefore I would argue that in cutting that scene the BBC has actually influenced how the viewer might feel about that particular character.
" 'No key scenes' - my arse!" as Jim Royale might have said.
I have compained using the feedback form on the BBC Rome mini-site, I can't believe that they are not going to show the full programme when they paid for a portion of the production.
Don't think so - to be honest the cutting lost the plot, literally!
Saving the naughty bits didn't help - did we need to know that some woman gets drenched in bulls blood during a religous service or would it have been nice to understand why Pompey and Caesar fell out.
The legionary is told that the best brothels are in a certain place by his centurion - fine. Was it essential for us to see him riding a **** and pouring wine down her back just to make sure he went??
As opposed to telling us who was marching where in the final scene???
I missed the end of the show last night. Typical BBC not keeping to schedual meant my recording cut about 5 mins from the end. Recording cut out when Titus (i think) was playing dice out side the brothel. Did i miss much after that.
This is a bit of a fiasco but there are definitely two sides to the story.
My initial feeling was that it was a mistake to cut 3 episodes into 2 simply because watching it last night it 'felt' very rushed in comparison to the US version I watched. It was also very disheartening when you compare America's stunning HDTV widescreen approach as opposed to our pitiful 4:3 'pan and scan' broadcast.
However, some of you may or may not be aware that after the 3rd episode, HBO got rid of most of the production team and replaced it with a fresh one. From their point of view they probably 'saved' the show before the original team got too complacent and produced episode-after-episode of slow history lessons. After-all, it's an entertainment TV series, lets call a duck, a duck.
So if you take this into account, the BBC probably re-cut the first 3 episodes so that they better match the rest of the series (which picks up the pace a lot), as opposed to viewers settling down to a pace that isn't a genuine representation of episodes to follow.
I used that very link on monday to enquire why I should watch a 3-into-2 version when HDTV un-cut version are readily available.
I have just check my mail and received the following reply.
--
Dear Mr Tanner
I'd be happy to give you a call and let you know why we have made 2 episodes from HBO's 1-3. Our version is actually better and more tailor made for the UK market. No key scenes have been cut.
Would you let me have your number.
Kind regards
Frances
Frances Pardell
BBC Drama Publicity
--
I have replied that a phone call would be nice but please could you wait a few hours as episodes 1 through 9 are downloaded so that I may compare and contrast the HBO version with the new and improved BBC offering.
Should get a call tomorrow.
They probably want to speak to you about downloading illegally off the internet. Good luck.
Forget Gibbons, for an equally majestic and superbly written version of events in this series (and those preceeding it) try Tom Holland's Rubicon. Just as good as any ficticious novel.
Gibbons doesn't give much detail before the 2nd century and virtually nothing from the late republic.
The bloke he was playing dice with was cheating so he got stabbed by Titus(?), this led to a fight and much burning of premises. Titus escaped the hue and cry by hiding in a fountain.
Am I the only one who thinks this jibe is getting just a little bit tired?
I'm no prude but I couldn't help but feel that the sex scenes were mainly there for the sake of being there.
Am I the only one who thinks this jibe is getting just a little bit tired?
I'm no prude but I couldn't help but feel that the sex scenes were mainly there for the sake of being there.
That is because you are dead below the waist. Shut your eyes next time you hear soft tone background music.
Am I the only one who thinks this jibe is getting just a little bit tired?
I'm no prude but I couldn't help but feel that the sex scenes were mainly there for the sake of being there.
Yes you are. (according to some FMs) but then so am I and frankly anyone who considers the humping anything but gratutious and rather pathetic really is quite sad.
Alternate, anyone who found the scenes anything but rather cheap titilation should try to either find something a little more risque (I could supply some links but I would get banned), or has an overactive imagination.
Comments
Not really. The first 3 episodes have been condensed into 2. So BBC Episode 2 will pick up halfway through HBO episode 2 and continue on into 3.
I think it's daft of the BBC to do this, it just makes for a disjointed show.
Deadwood, as a comparison, moves even slower than Rome, yet thankfully Sky haven't touched it with a pair of scissors.
I would consider myself fairly well up on things Roman but I honestly can't see what could have been cut from those episodes without losing the plot.
If anything there should have been more on the relationships & past history between Ceaser, Pompey,Cato & Cicero.
BTW if you get a taste for this sort of stuff Colleen McCullough's Rome series is a great read.
Dear Daily Mail ...
I used that very link on monday to enquire why I should watch a 3-into-2 version when HDTV un-cut version are readily available.
I have just check my mail and received the following reply.
--
Dear Mr Tanner
I'd be happy to give you a call and let you know why we have made 2 episodes from HBO's 1-3. Our version is actually better and more tailor made for the UK market. No key scenes have been cut.
Would you let me have your number.
Kind regards
Frances
Frances Pardell
BBC Drama Publicity
--
I have replied that a phone call would be nice but please could you wait a few hours as episodes 1 through 9 are downloaded so that I may compare and contrast the HBO version with the new and improved BBC offering.
Should get a call tomorrow.
The programme was certainly not improved by cutting Pompey's wife's death scene, and nothing that stupid woman could say would make me believe otherwise.
Watching the BBC's version last night the viewer could have been forgiven for thinking that Pompey really didn't give a damn that his wife had died, but (having just downloaded episode 1) when you see the scene the BBC cut you would know that was not the case.
Therefore I would argue that in cutting that scene the BBC has actually influenced how the viewer might feel about that particular character.
" 'No key scenes' - my arse!" as Jim Royale might have said.
Maybe BBC employee's are from Saturn? 'cos I don't get the logic they're using!!
Don't think so - to be honest the cutting lost the plot, literally!
Saving the naughty bits didn't help - did we need to know that some woman gets drenched in bulls blood during a religous service or would it have been nice to understand why Pompey and Caesar fell out.
The legionary is told that the best brothels are in a certain place by his centurion - fine. Was it essential for us to see him riding a **** and pouring wine down her back just to make sure he went??
As opposed to telling us who was marching where in the final scene???
My initial feeling was that it was a mistake to cut 3 episodes into 2 simply because watching it last night it 'felt' very rushed in comparison to the US version I watched. It was also very disheartening when you compare America's stunning HDTV widescreen approach as opposed to our pitiful 4:3 'pan and scan' broadcast.
However, some of you may or may not be aware that after the 3rd episode, HBO got rid of most of the production team and replaced it with a fresh one. From their point of view they probably 'saved' the show before the original team got too complacent and produced episode-after-episode of slow history lessons. After-all, it's an entertainment TV series, lets call a duck, a duck.
So if you take this into account, the BBC probably re-cut the first 3 episodes so that they better match the rest of the series (which picks up the pace a lot), as opposed to viewers settling down to a pace that isn't a genuine representation of episodes to follow.
Were you watching on analogue?
BBC2 broadcast's pretty much all it's shows, including US ones in 16:9
They probably want to speak to you about downloading illegally off the internet. Good luck.
Gibbons doesn't give much detail before the 2nd century and virtually nothing from the late republic.
Considering the HBO are keen on stopping piracy that is exactly what I thought when the email asked for his phone number:)
The bloke he was playing dice with was cheating so he got stabbed by Titus(?), this led to a fight and much burning of premises. Titus escaped the hue and cry by hiding in a fountain.
Am I the only one who thinks this jibe is getting just a little bit tired?
I'm no prude but I couldn't help but feel that the sex scenes were mainly there for the sake of being there.
That is because you are dead below the waist. Shut your eyes next time you hear soft tone background music.
Yes you are. (according to some FMs) but then so am I and frankly anyone who considers the humping anything but gratutious and rather pathetic really is quite sad.
Alternate, anyone who found the scenes anything but rather cheap titilation should try to either find something a little more risque (I could supply some links but I would get banned), or has an overactive imagination.
but anyway, it was still very good wasn't it?
Yes. The BBC version was so much better than the one intended by the director.
yeah - you can't argue with evolution
Now where's that Daily Mail address.....