Series synopsis
Roman Mysteries is a British action & adventure drama television series that premiered on BBC One on May 8, 2007. It ended on September 2, 2008. It stars Harry Stott, Francesca Isherwood and Rebekah Murrell.
Roman Mysteries is a television series based on the series of children's historical novels by Caroline Lawrence. It is reportedly the most expensive British children's TV series to date at £1 million per hour.
The series began filming in June 2006 and was first broadcast from 8 May 2007. The series is divided into "scrolls", each based on one book, starting with The Secrets of Vesuvius. The stories are told in the same order as the book series, except for book 6, The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemi ...
Premise
Roman Mysteries is a television series based on the series of children's historical novels by Caroline Lawrence. It is reportedly the most expensive British children's TV series to date at £1 million per hour.
The series began filming in June 2006 and was first broadcast from 8 May 2007. The series is divided into "scrolls", each based on one book, starting with The Secrets of Vesuvius. The stories are told in the same order as the book series, except for book 6, The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina, which is transposed to the second season. Books 11 and 12 were not adapted, and the series ends with the adaptation of Book 13. Each scroll consists of two half-hour episodes. The first scroll guest-starred Simon Callow as Pliny the Elder.
On 22 May 2007, after just two episodes, Anne Foy announced on CBBC on BBC One that the show has been postponed due to recent events in the news and would return later in the year on CBBC on BBC One. Since "The Pirates of Pompeii" was about children being kidnapped, the postponement was most likely due to the then recent disappearance of Madeleine McCann. On 19 June the series began broadcasting again from the beginning.
Filming for the second season began on 13 August 2007. The episodes are based on the novels The Gladiators from Capua, The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina, The Colossus of Rhodes, The Fugitive from Corinth and The Slave-girl from Jerusalem.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Harry Stott as Lupus
- Francesca Isherwood as Flavia
- Rebekah Murrell as Nubia
Guest cast
- Richard Ridings as Venalicius
- Simon Callow as Pliny
- Jamie Martin as Caldus
Episodes
This series spans 2 seasons with 20 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 10 | May 8, 2007 | August 14, 2007 |
| Season 2 | 10 | July 8, 2008 | September 2, 2008 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Secrets of Vesuvius (Part 1) Flavia and her friends convince Admiral Pliny of the danger of Mount Vesuvius, but can he and his fleet do anything against the might of a giant volcano? |
May 8, 2007 |
| 2 |
The Secrets of Vesuvias (Part 2) Flavia and her friends convince Admiral Pliny of the danger of Mount Vesuvius, but can he and his fleet can do anything against the might of a giant volcano? |
May 8, 2007 |
| 3 |
The Pirates of Pompeii (Part 1) In the Mount Vesuvius refugee camp, Flavia discovers that children are being abducted. |
July 3, 2007 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Gladiators of Capua (Part 1) A sinister group of gladiators has come to Ostia and Nubia believes her missing brother may be amongst them. The children smuggle themselves into the arena to find him, till Lupus is caught and put with a wild beast and Jonathan faces the strongest gladiator in single combat. There is a deadly mystery here - but can they solve it in time? |
July 8, 2008 |
| 2 |
The Gladiators of Capua (Part 2) Today is the day of the gladiatorial contest and Jonathan believes he's facing certain death. Flavia has disguised herself as a dancing girl, but that isn't a safe option when there's a big political conspiracy going on and the children have become part of it. Can they save the life of the Emperor's brother Domitian? |
July 8, 2008 |
| 3 |
The Trials of Flavia Gemina (Part 1) It's the feast of Saturnalia when all the world's turned upside down with dancing and feasting and mis-rule. An abandoned ship has washed up in Ostia - carrying ghosts or monsters or who knows what. And Flavia has another challenge when her father brings home a horrible woman he wants to marry. |
July 15, 2008 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | BBC One |
|---|---|
| First aired | May 8, 2007 |
| Last aired | September 2, 2008 |
| Runtime | 24 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Friday at 12:30:00 |