The Borgias

The BBC took quite a few risks with this ten part dramatisation of the lives of the infamous Borgia family that dominated Vatican politics in the late 15th century. Aside from established "Bond" villain Adolfo Celi as patriarch Alexander VI, they avoided using a cast of familiar-faced actors to tell this story and it largely works. It starts with the death of Innocent VIII and takes us through the machinations of the electoral college which serves well to introduces to the other players: sons Cesare (Oliver Cotton) and Jofre (Louis Selwyn) and daughter Lucrezia (Anne-Louise Lambert) as well as his principal cardinal antagonists for the throne of St Peter - Orsini (Martin Potter) and Della Rovere (Alfred Burke) - all of whom feature prominently as we proceed through a pint-sized guide to European dynastic politics. What Celi delivers right from the outset is a characterful demonstration of a man who is as meticulous as he ruthless - but he is hardly unique on that score amongst a cardinalate that was much more about political power, wealth and nepotism than it had anything to do with Jesus or his father. Unlike many of their earlier grand scale dramas, the one ventured outdoors far more, used real locations and the standard of studio set productions is much enhanced from the days of wobbly walls and dangling booms. The writing is kicked off by the steady hand of John Prebble who…

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