It was a little jarring on Rome last night when Pullo looked up to see Octavian and, lo and behold, he had changed from Max Pirkis to Simon Woods. I suppose that dreary thing called historical accuracy demands that the young Caesar now be a bit more mature and manly than the young Pirkis could deliver. Too bad, he gave one of the best performances in a show that has gone from brilliant to bad in record time. But if we must say toodaloo to Pirkis’ aspiring emperor, I suppose we could do a lot worse than Woods’ grown-up version. He’s certainly dashing, and his scene with Allen Leech as Marcus Agrippa had a kind of softcore Abercrombie & Fitch-ish energy to it (But who was that Clifton Webb clone lounging around the tent whining about poetry?)
Anyway, there is plenty of fuming and fussing over on the HBO bulletin boards today as a result of this switch. Granted, it’s not as shocking as that time on Dynasty when Stephen, played by Al Corley, went in for some facial reconstruction and then turned into Jack Coleman when the bandages came off.Overall, this second season has been a disappointment. I’m not a prude, but do we really need another torture scene? (More to the point, does poor Lindsay Duncan really need another torture scene?) Will Kevin McKidd ever do anything other than scowl? Why does Polly Draper’s no-longer-amusing Atia get so much screen time? Where are Sian Phillips, Brian Blessed and Derek Jacobi when you need them?
Decline and Fall, indeed.
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