| Genre: | Children's Action Adventure Period |
| Creator: | Caroline Lawrence |
| Starring: | Eli Machover Rebekah Brookes-Murrell Harry Stott Francesca Isherwood |
| Composer: | Cross Wyre |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 2 |
| Num Episodes: | 20 |
| Executive Producer: | Jon East David Hunt Keith Littler |
| Producer: | David Ball Martyn Auty |
| Editor: | Adam Green |
| Location: | Malta Tunisia Bulgaria |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes (30 minutes per episode) |
| Network: | BBC One, CBBC |
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.[1]
The series began filming in June 2006[2] in Malta, Tunisia and Bulgaria, and was first broadcast from 8 May 2007.[3] 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 series. 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 series began on 13 August 2007 and the second series was first broadcast from 8 July 2008.
The series has been successful internationally, and both series have been released on DVD.
| Series | Episodes | UK airdate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First episode | Last episode | |||||
| Series 1 (2007) | 1 | 10 | ||||
| Series 2 (2008) | 2 | 10 | ||||
"Roman Mysteries is a tremendous way for younger viewers to learn about ancient history. Set in the Roman Empire in AD79, it is based on a series of novels by Caroline Lawrence that have sold more than a million copies worldwide. It isn't hard to see why – they graft child-friendly adventure on to careful research, and the same care has been taken to transfer them faithfully to the screen with the help of a strong cast and healthy-looking budget. The first episode this afternoon gives a vivid sense of gladiatorial combat, without the risk of children waking up in the middle of the night screaming."[4] The Times'Impressively staged children's drama – a sort of Rome for pre-teens – about four friends in AD79.' The Independent
'The adventure series set in ancient Rome returns, with some nice acting by the young cast...' The Mail on Sunday
'...you certainly don't have to be a child to enjoy this adventure series set in the days of the Roman Empire and boasting some very decent production values, convincing fight scenes and crucially, good storylines.' East Anglian Times