"Dormouse anyone?"
Rome, HBO's new toga-shedding saga on BBC2 desperately wants us to know how well researched it is. Exotic and erotic it may be, but as yet it's far from epic. Michael Apted's cast of British thesps look generally bored with proceedings. If it wasn't for the fact that we know so many of these characters (and their outcomes) from far better dramas, this opening sortie would hardly have stimulated multi-episodic levels of enthusiasm.
