mon 24/03/2025

ancient Rome

Dispatches: Train Journeys from Hell, Channel 4/ Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Sky 1

Railing against the railways: Richard Wilson confronts the horrors of not travelling First Class

It would take the cunning of the insane to invent the British railway network. Privatised 18 years ago, it offers the worst of all worlds - persistent overcrowding and cancellations, outdated rolling stock and fares rising vertiginously as...

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Spartacus, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera House

Roll up, roll up for the ancient Roman circus of a production almost as old as I am. Thrill to the catchy tunes and the oom-pah basses of flash Aram Khachaturian, played with the kind of lurid splendour you thought could only be faked on Soviet-era...

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Spartacus: Blood and Sand, Bravo

I always liked that line in the 1960 Spartacus movie when Spartacus's lover Varinia (Jean Simmons) is bidding a silent farewell to the crucified rebel gladiator. "Tell da lady no loidering," growls the Roman sentry standing guard nearby. I can'...

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