The Cleopatras is a British television

British television

Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...

 series produced by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 in 1983.

The eight-part serial was a historical drama set in ancient Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 and charted the ruling dynasty of the Cleopatras. Intended to be the I, Claudius

I, Claudius (TV series)

I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time...

of the 1980s, The Cleopatras met with a decidedly mixed critical reaction.

The production was written by Philip Mackie

Philip Mackie

Philip Mackie was a British film and television screenwriter. He was born in Salford in Lancashire, England...

, directed by John Frankau and produced by Guy Slater.

Cast

The Cleopatras
Cleopatra III Cleopatra III of Egypt Cleopatra III was a queen of Egypt 142–101 BC.Cleopatra III was also known as Cleopatra Euergetis while associated with her husband Ptolemy VIII or her son Ptolemy X. She is attested as Cleopatra Philometor Soteira while associated with her eldest son Ptolemy IX... /Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII of Egypt Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period...	Michelle Newell Michelle Newell Michelle Newell is a British actress probably best known for her role in the BBC mini-series The Cleopatras and as Gill Gregory in Coronation Street...
Cleopatra II Cleopatra II of Egypt Cleopatra II was a queen of Ptolemaic Egypt.-Family:Cleopatra II was the daughter of Ptolemy V and likely Cleopatra I. She was the sister of Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon. She would eventually marry both of her brothers.Her first marriage was with her brother Ptolemy VI in ca....	Elizabeth Shepherd Elizabeth Shepherd Elizabeth Shepherd is an English character actress whose work has spanned the stage and both the big and small screens. Her surname has been alternately billed as "Shephard" and "Sheppard"....
Cleopatra Thea Cleopatra Thea Cleopatra Thea surnamed Eueteria was the ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire. She ruled Syria from 125 BC after the death of Demetrius II Nicator...	Caroline Mortimer Caroline Mortimer Caroline Mortimer is a British actress.Caroline Mortimer was the daughter of the novelist Penelope Mortimer from her first marriage to the journalist Charles Dimont and the stepdaughter of the playwright Sir John Mortimer...
Cleopatra Selene	Prue Clarke Prue Clarke Prue Clarke is a British actress.She first appeared on screen in 1974's Fall of Eagles. Since then her television credits have included Casualty, The Cleopatras, Doctors, Down to Earth, Holby City, Love Hurts and Midsomer Murders.-External links:...
Cleopatra IV Cleopatra IV of Egypt Cleopatra IV was Queen of Egypt briefly from 116-115 BC, jointly with her husband Ptolemy IX Lathyros. She later became queen consort of Syria as the wife of Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.-Biography:...	Sue Holderness Sue Holderness Sue Holderness is an English actress. Since 1985 she has played the role of Marlene Boyce in the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses and its spin-off The Green Green Grass .-Career:...
Cleopatra Berenike Berenice IV of Egypt Berenice IV Epiphaneia born and died in Alexandria, Egypt. She was a Greek Princess of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Berenice was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and probably Cleopatra V Tryphaena, sister of the famous Cleopatra VII , Arsinoe IV, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. Berenice loved...	Pauline Moran Pauline Moran Pauline Moran is an English actress known for her role as Miss Lemon in the British television series Agatha Christie's Poirot....
Cleopatra Tryphaena Cleopatra VI of Egypt Cleopatra VI Tryphaena was an Egyptian Ptolemaic queen. She may be identical with Cleopatra V.There were at least two, perhaps three Ptolemaic women called Cleopatra Tryphaena:-Tryphaena, daughter of Ptolemy VIII Physcon and Cleopatra III:...	Amanda Boxer Amanda Boxer Amanda Boxer is an English actress who is best known for her television work and her performance in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at the Almeida Theatre and The Painter by Rebecca Lenkiewicz at the Arcola Theatre....
Other characters
PotBelly Ptolemy VIII Physcon Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II , nicknamed , Phúskōn, Physcon for his obesity, was a king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt. His complicated career started in 170 BC, when Antiochus IV Epiphanes invaded Egypt, captured his brother Ptolemy VI Philometor and let him continue as a puppet monarch...	Richard Griffiths Richard Griffiths Richard Griffiths, OBE is an English actor of stage, film and television. He has received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actor and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor...
Julius Caesar Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....	Robert Hardy Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy, CBE, FSA is an English actor with a long career in the theatre, film and television. He is also an acknowledged expert on the longbow.-Early life:...
Mark Antony Mark Antony Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...	Christopher Neame Christopher Neame Christopher Neame is an English actor.-Education:Neame was educated at The King's School, Canterbury, an independent school in Canterbury in Kent.-Life and career:...
Chickpea Ptolemy IX Lathyros Ptolemy IX Soter II or Lathyros was king of Egypt three times, from 116 BC to 110 BC, 109 BC to 107 BC and 88 BC to 81 BC, with intervening periods ruled by his brother, Ptolemy X Alexander....	David Horovitch David Horovitch David Horovitch is an English actor best known for playing the character of Inspector Slack in Miss Marple.-Life and career:...
Demetrius Demetrius II Nicator For the similarly named Macedonian ruler, see Demetrius II of Macedon. For the Macedonian prince, see Demetrius the Fair.Demetrius II , called Nicator , was one of the sons of Demetrius I Soter, brother of Antiochus VII Sidetes and his mother could have been Laodice V...	Stephen Greif Stephen Greif Stephen Greif is an award-winning English actor.His television appearances include Waking the Dead , Spooks , Mistresses 2 , He Kills Coppers , Holby City , The Last Days of Pompeii as Sporus, Judge John Deed , Space Race , EastEnders , The Bill and...
Ptolemy XIV Ptolemy XIV of Egypt Ptolemy XIV , was a son of Ptolemy XII of Egypt and one of the last members of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt. Following the death of his older brother Ptolemy XIII of Egypt on January 13, 47 BC, he was proclaimed Pharaoh and co-ruler by their older sister and remaining Pharaoh, Cleopatra VII of...	Daniel Beales
Grypus	James Aubrey James Aubrey (actor) James Aubrey was an English stage and screen actor. He trained for the stage at the Drama Centre London. He made his professional acting debut in a 1962 production of Isle of Children. Aubrey made his screen acting debut in the 1963 adaptation of Lord of the Flies. Aubrey performed with the Royal...
Servant	Jonathan Adam-Baker
Roman Soldier	Martin Anthony
Octavia	Karen Archer
Sophron	John Arnatt John Arnatt - Biography :John Arnatt was born in Petrograd on 9 May 1917. His parents were Francis Arnatt and Ethel Marion Arnatt . He attended Epworth College. Arnatt trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art...
Dancer	Maureen Bacchus
Flautist	Adam Bareham
Servant / Soldier	Richard Bates
Irene	Lois Baxter Lois Baxter Lois Baxter is a British actress, best known for playing Marie Stanton in Coronation Street from 1976 to 1977, and Lady Caroline in the period drama When the Boat Comes In....
Ptolemy XIV	Lauren Beales
Philocles	John Bennett John Bennett (actor) John Bennett was an English actor. Born in Beckenham, Kent, he was educated at Bradfield College in Berkshire, then trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, followed by a wide Rep experience including Bromley, Bristol Old Vic, Dundee, Edinburgh Festival and Watford before going to...
Citizen	Hugh Beverton
Rufinius	Trevor Bowen Trevor Bowen Trevor Bowen , is an English actor and screenwriter who has appeared frequently in United Kingdom television dramas since the mid 1960s.-Early life:...
Demetrius	Roger Brierley Roger Brierley Roger Brierley was a British chartered accountant-cum-actor.Though never a major star, he appeared in many television productions over a forty year period. He twice appeared in Doctor Who, as Trevor in The Daleks' Master Plan and as the voice of Drathro in The Mysterious Planet...
Dancer	Tony Britts
Ventidus	David Buck David Buck David Buck was an English actor. His most famous role was in the animated film The Lord of the Rings , for which he provided the voice of Gimli...
Officer	Trevor Butler
Gnaeus Pompey	Phillip Cade
Guard Commander	Burt Caesar
Eupator	Gary Carp
Canidius	Antony Carrick
Servant-in-charge	Patrick Carter
Messenger	P. J. Cassell
Achillas	Tony Caunter Tony Caunter Anthony Peter "Tony" Caunter is a British actor best known for his role as Jack Shepherd in the Yorkshire TV sitcom Queenie's Castle and also his portrayal of Roy Evans in EastEnders from 1994-2003....
Perigenes	Geoffrey Chater Geoffrey Chater Geoffrey Chater is a British actor who was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire. He has starred in both film and television projects...
Theodotus	Graham Crowden Graham Crowden Clement Graham Crowden was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric 'offbeat' scientist, teacher and doctor characters.-Early life:...
Roman Matron	Jennifer Croxton
High Priest	Richard Cubison Richard Cubison Richard Cubison is a British actor who has been active on television and in films since 1980.His first television role came in 1980 when he played a "heavy" in an episode of Minder...
Officer	Roger Davenport
Timotheus	Anthony Dawes
Henchman	Derek Deadman Derek Deadman Derek Deadman is a British actor. He appeared as Rankin in two episodes of the RAF sitcom Get Some In! in 1975 and 1978. He played Ringo in 39 of the 66 episodes of the TV series Never the Twain between 1981 and 1991, and appeared as the barman of The Leaky Cauldron, Tom, in Harry Potter and the...
Diomedes	Peter Dennis Peter Dennis Peter Dennis was a Screen Actors Guild Award and Drama-Logue Award winning English film, television, theatre, and voice actor. His extensive career spanned both sides of the Atlantic with projects ranging from Sideways to The Avengers. He was perhaps best known for his more than three decades...
Roman soldier	Fraser Downie
Flavius	Keith Drinkel Keith Drinkel Keith Drinkel is a British actor, born in York on 14 November 1944. He was educated at St Michael's College, Leeds and is now based in Brighton....
Ammonius	Frank Duncan
Amyntas	Paul Easom
Appollodorus	Graham Faulkner Graham Faulkner Graham Faulkner is a British former actor.His first and greatest role was as Francis of Assisi in Franco Zeffirelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon . After that, he virtually retired from acting. He played a small number of very minor roles, but has not been involved in film or television since 1984...
Dancer	Anthea Ferrell
Roman Matron	Rosemary Frankau
Octavian	Rupert Frazer
Butler	Derek Fuke
Official	Jeffrey Gardiner
Sergeant	Michael Gardiner
Posidonius	Frank Gatliff
Seleucus	Nicholas Geake
Arsinoe	Francesca Gonshaw Francesca Gonshaw Francesca R. Gonshaw is an artist, writer and actress currently living and working in London.- Acting :She studied dramatic art at A.L.R.A and achieved early recognition whilst working for the BBC...
Servant/ Soldier	Gavin Harding
Iras	Carol Harrison Carol Harrison Carol Harrison is a British actress and writer. She is known mostly for her work on British television, in particular her role as Louise Raymond in BBC's EastEnders.-Career:...
Roman Matron	Phyllida Hewat
Achoreus	Arthur Hewlett Arthur Hewlett Arthur Hewlett was a British actor.He is best remembered for his roles on television, including Quatermass and the Pit, Police Surgeon, The Avengers, The Saint, No Hiding Place, The Baron, The Troubleshooters, Menace, Follyfoot, The Changes, Blake's 7, Doctor Who Arthur Hewlett (12 March 1907...
Seleucus	Colin Higgins
Messenger	David Hobbs
Thermus	Charles Hodgson
Counsellor	Owen Holder
Munatius Plancus	John Hughes
Captain	Michael Hughes
Maid	Seeta Indrani Seeta Indrani Seeta Indrani is an English dancer and actress.-Performance:After graduation as a dancer from the London Contemporary Dance School, she took the role of Cassandra in the original 1981 West End production of Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber...
Cato	Godfrey James Godfrey James Godfrey James is an English actor.His film appearances include: Witchfinder General, Blood on Satan's Claw, The Oblong Box, The Land That Time Forgot, Séance on a Wet Afternoon and At the Earth's Core....
Candius	Michael Jayes
Dancer	Dinah Jones
Guard	Ray Jones
Onias	Harold Kasket Harold Kasket Harold Kasket, was a British actor in films and later TV from the 1940s. Kasket usually played Arabs or mainland European types in many films and TV programmes such as Maigret, The Saint, Danger Man, Z-Cars, Department S and The Tomorrow People. His last role was in the TV mini series War and...
Handmaiden	Sherril Keller
Roman Matron	Freda Knorr
Counsellor	Stephen Lawrence
Mardan	Nigel Lea-Jones
Ahenobarbus Ahenobarbus Ahenobarbus was the name of a plebeian family of the Domitia gens in the late Republic and early Principate of ancient Rome. The name means "red-beard" in Latin...	Matthew Long
Executioner	Ian Longmur
Alexander Zebinas	Donald MacIver
Athenaeus	Phillip Manikum
Criton	Jack May Jack May Jack May was an English actor. Born in Henley-on-Thames, he was educated at Forest School, Walthamstow and after war service with the Royal Indian Navy in India was offered a place at RADA, but he instead went to Merton College, Oxford...
Alexander	Ian McNeice Ian McNeice Ian McNeice is a prolific English screen, stage, and television character actor.-Early life:McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire. McNeice's acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse...
Quintus Dellius	John Moffatt John Moffatt (actor) John Moffatt is an English actor and playwright, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Hercule Poirot on BBC Radio....
Marsyas	Tony Osoba Tony Osoba Tony Osoba is a Scottish actor best known for his role as Jim 'Jock' McClaren in the popular 70s British sitcom Porridge, and appeared in its sequel Going Straight. Osoba was the first black Scottish actor to appear on primetime television when he appeared in the series.His other roles include...
Fonteius Capito	Roger Ostime
Aristrachus	Brian Oulton Brian Oulton Brian Oulton was an English character actor.Born in Liverpool, he made his acting debut in 1939 as a lead actor...
General Chaeteas	Morris Perry Morris Perry Morris Perry is an English actor, best known for his roles on television.Perry was born in Bromley, Kent, England. Credits include: The Avengers, Z-Cars, Champion House, The Champions, The Persuaders!, Doctor Who , Special Branch, The Sweeney, Survivors, The Professionals, Secret Army,...
Lucullus	Donald Pickering Donald Pickering Donald Ellis Pickering was an English actor.Pickering had appeared in many television, film and radio roles...
Lycon	Nigel Plaskitt Nigel Plaskitt Nigel Plaskitt is a British actor, puppeteer, producer, and both stage and television director.His voice and puppetry talents have appeared on television shows such as Pipkins, Spitting Image and Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet...
Archelaus	Graham Pountney Graham Pountney Graham Michael Pountney is a British actor.His television credits include: Angels, Maybury, The Cleopatras, Howards' Way, Peak Practice, Doctors, Sea of Souls, Hustle and New Tricks.-External links:...
Alexander the Younger	David Purcell
Memmius	Roy Purcell
Geminius	Martyn Read
Pothinius	John Ringham John Ringham John Henry Ringham was a British character actor of both television and stage who appeared in over a hundred screen appearances in a wide variety of roles....
Hermes	David Rowlands
Pythagoras Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos was an Ionian Greek philosopher, mathematician, and founder of the religious movement called Pythagoreanism. Most of the information about Pythagoras was written down centuries after he lived, so very little reliable information is known about him...	John Savident John Savident John Savident is a British actor, best known for playing the part of Fred Elliott in the soap opera Coronation Street from 1994 to 2006. And also was a frequent guest on Soccer AM alongside fellow actor Jack 'The Rigger' Spooner....
Cyzicenus	Granville Saxton
Ptolemy Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...	Graham Seed Graham Seed Graham Seed is an English actor.He trained at RADA and is best known for his role playing Nigel Pargetter in the BBC radio series The Archers from 1983 until January 2011, although actor Nigel Carrington briefly played the role when Graham Seed took a break in the late 1980s...
Memphites	Sadik Soussi
Charmian	Shirin Taylor Shirin Taylor Shirin Taylor is a British actress, best known for playing Jackie Ingram in the television soap opera Coronation Street from 1990 to 1992.She also appeared in the Doctor Who serials The Stones of Blood and Dragonfire.-External links:...
Sextus	Patrick Troughton Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton was an English actor most widely known for his roles in fantasy, science fiction and horror films, particularly in his role as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which he played from 1966 to 1969,...
Dancer	Norma Vee
Dion	Ewart James Walters	Gabinius	Moray Watson Moray Watson Moray Watson is an English actor.Watson's father was killed in Belgium in World War II. He was educated at Eton College and made his first appearance on stage whilst still a student at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art at a matinee performance in memory of Ellen Terry at Hythe, Kent...
Bolis	Arthur White Arthur White (actor) Arthur White is an English actor of stage and screen, best known for his occasional role as police archivist Ernie Trigg in the crime drama A Touch of Frost, alongside his real life younger brother Sir David Jason. His parents were Arthur R White and Olwen Jones...
Scipio Africanus	Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead is an English actor. He has appeared in a huge range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at the Shakespeare Globe, St...
Cicero Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...	Manning Wilson

See also

• List of historical drama films
• History of Ptolemaic Egypt
• Ptolemaic dynasty
  Ptolemaic dynasty
  The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...
  
  

External links

• Television Heaven