Queen Cleopatra

Queen Cleopatra, the series. Lets start with the obvious, she was Macedonian Greek. The MSM have been bleating and moaning, squealing at anyone daring to point out the obvious. They say no one can be sure but we have historical documents that do describe her and busts, that make it pretty clear who she was and who she was not. Putting this aside, is this series any good? I'd say its alright. I think it tries to justify its choices by adopting an overly serious tone. It does call on academics to, I'm guessing, amongst other things, validate its position. The results a series that's not serious (or plausible) enough to be treated as an historical recreation but just serious enough, to rob this series of any joy and life, it could otherwise have had as simple entertainment. I'll add I'm not criticising the actors, they are paid to do a job and to be fair, they do it very well. In summary, to my mind implausibly revisionist, moderately watchable and well acted.

A simplistic drama/documentary view of Cleopatra and her entanglements with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony which has yet again ignited the black debate. No one really knows if Cleopatra was African black, as it were, yet even the Egyptians are enraged that she is portrayed in this way, although the actress, Adele James is of mixed race and therefore coffee coloured. I say simplistic because it's an accurate historical account of Cleopatra's life for anyone who wants a quick history lesson, but it's tainted by modern verbiage from the quasi academics who provide historical input. It's odd that so many people are stuck in a never ending argument about Cleopatra's colour, yet no one, as far as I can see, has even mentioned the fact that she married two of her brothers. We'll finish it tonight, not having watched something amazing, which it certainly isn't, because it definitely has an agenda, but because we have learned a little more about that epoch.