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Roman Mysteries (TV series): Difference between revisions
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[[File:Roman_Myst_Series_2_6285.jpg|frame| Lupus, Jonathan, Nubia, and Flavia]]
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''[[The Roman Mysteries (TV series)|Roman Mysteries]]'' is a [[CBBC]] television series based on ''[[The Roman Mysteries]]'' 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.
'''Series 1'''
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== Some of the major differences from the books include: ==
* The children are older.
* Lupus is mute but his tongue has not been cut out.
* Because '''The Thieves of Ostia'' was not adapted, the meeting of the children takes place at a different time (just before the eruption of Vesuvius) and under different circumstances.
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* {{spoiler|Jonathan returns home at the end of "The Enemies of Jupiter".}}
* "The Gladiators of Capua" and "The Fugitive from Corinth" are set in Ostia, rather than Rome and Greece, respectively.
* Pulchra appears in "The Trials of Flavia Gemina" in Jonathan's place.
* Several minor characters have been omitted or combined for the television episodes.
* In "The Slave Girl from Jerusalem", a new character, Floridius, was introduced for comic relief.
* When bought as a slave, Nubia's head has not been shaved and she is clothed.
* The adults tend to play a smaller role.
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* [[Artful Dodger]] - Lupus's life as a beggar boy and innate intelligence makes him sneaky and street smart.
* [[Big Bad]] - Some of the books have villians and others do not, however the villian whose kidnapping ring forms one of the recurring plot lines of the series is refered to by the characters is "The Big Buyer". {{spoiler|After the "Big Buyer" is captured, it is revealed that there is a "Bigger Buyer" who is in fact ultimatly in charge of the kidnapping.}}
* [[Big Fancy House]] - Villa Limona is a a luxurious villa owned by Felix, an exceptionally rich and powerful person.
* [[Bittersweet Ending]], [[Death Is a Sad Thing]] - {{spoiler|Miriam is a victim of [[Death by Childbirth]] at the end of '''The Slave-girl from Jerusalem''}}
* [[Black Vikings]] - Averted in the books, which contain a realistic depictions of the racial and cultural mix of the Roman Empire. However, in the TV adaptation, there are two examples of black Roman patricians.
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* [[The Chase]] - ''The Colossus of Rhodes'', ''The Fugitive from Corinth''
* [[Chekhov's Volcano]] - ''The Secrets of Vesuvius''
* [[Clear Their Name]] - ''The Slave-girl from Jerusalem'' is about a slave girl accused of murder. Flavia and her friend try to prove her innocence.
* [[Dark and Troubled Past]] - Both Lupus and Nubia suffered traumatic events in their past that continue to haunt them throughout the series.
* [[Death by Childbirth]] - Flavia's mother, in Flavia's [[Backstory]].
* [[Deliberately Cute Child]] - Sometimes Flavia uses this trick during the course of an investigation.
* [[Deliberate Values Dissonance]] - All the characters are upset about free Romans being kidnapped and enslaved, but most of them give little thought to the enslavement of non-Romans or those born to slavery. Notable exceptions are Nubia, who was herself a slave, and Dr. Mordecai, who is against all slavery. This is an accurate potrayal of the values of the time period.
* [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]] - Both the series title and many of the individual story titles
* [[The Exotic Detective]] - Flavia is exotic in that she is a [[Kid Detective]] and an ancient Roman.
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* [[Historical Fiction]] - This series is set in [[The Roman Empire]], beginning in the year 79 AD. Most of the events take place Ostia (port city of Rome), with the occassional trip to the City of Rome and other locations within the empire.
* [[The Hero]] - Flavia
* [[Heroic Dolphin]] meets [[Friendly Playful Dolphin]] - In the episode ''The Dolphins of Laurentum'', the main characters swim and play with dolpins, and {{spoiler|Lupus even rides one.}} A dolphin rescues {{spoiler|Lupus after he nearly drowns from staying underwater too long while diving. It is also strongly implied that the same dolphin discouraged Lupus from deliberatly leaving behind another diver who had been trapped by a giant octopus, though in fairness to Lupus he had a good reason for wanting the trapped person to die.}} A ship is named Delphina.
* [[Heroic Self-Deprecation]] - Jonathan has a tendency towards pessimism and poor self esteem.
* [[Hurting Hero]] - Lupus is the main example at the beginning of the series. Jonathan also becomes one.
* [[I Call It Vera]] - The door-slave (and former gladiator) Caudex has a sword he calls "Flora"; named, we are told, after an ex-girlfriend with a sharp tongue.
* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]] - "The X of Y"; usually, but not always, "The <people> of <place>".
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* [[Meaningful Name]] - A number of characters have names whose meanings in Latin or Greek reflect their characteristics. Just a few are listed here.
** Lupus, the name of the wild character, means wolf. This is also a partial example of [[Animal Theme Naming]] although it does not fit that trope perfectly because Lupus is the only one with an animal name.
** Felix is a very fortunate (both rich and lucky) man, as one might expect from the [[wikipedia:Felix
** Marcus Geminus and Gaius Geminus are [[wikipedia:Gemini|twin brothers]]
** Flavia is a [[wikipedia:Flavia
* [[The Medic]] - Dr. Mordecai is a physician and sometimes treats the other major characters.
* [[Music for Courage]] - The Four Detectives play music for refugees in ''The Pirates of Pompeii''.
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* [[Pride]] - Pride of the hubris variety is one of the explicit themes of ''The Enemies of Jupiter''.
* [[Prophetic Dreams]] - Jonathan has prophetic dreams in several of the books. Flavia has a prophetic dream that forms the basis of ''The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina.'' A prophetic dream also plays a major role in ''The Enemies of Jupiter.''
* [[The Queen's Latin]] - Considering it is a British TV series with British actors, the TV adaptation can be forgiven for having British accents. However, it is a bit odd when the Irish actor playing Flavia's father/uncle has an Irish accent unlike any of the other characters.
* [[Rags to Riches]] - {{spoiler|Lupus goes from being a [[Street Urchin]] to owning his own ship.}}
* [[Secondary Character Title]] - Most of the episode titles, when they refer to a character, refer to a secondary character or groups of characters that are pivotal to the plot but are not one of the series's four main characters.
* [[Sea Stories]] - Most of the series would not qualify, however ''The Colossus of Rhodes'' would. Not only is it about ship voyage through the Mediterranean Sea, but the story also incorporates explicit parallels to one of the [[Sea Stories]] of [[Classical Mythology]], namely ''Jason and The Argonauts''.
* [[Sherlock Scan]] - Flavia does this to identify Pliny.
* [[Shout-Out]] - [[A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum|"A funny thing happened on the way to the forum."]]
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* [[The Speechless]] - Lupus is unable to talk for reasons not revealed for several episodes. It is notable that in the books, Lupus can not talk because his tongue was cut out, however in the TV series his tongue is still intact.
* [[Sibling Triangle]] - As part of the [[Backstory]], both Gaius and Marcus Flavius fell in love with the same woman. She married Marcus and died giving birth to Flavia.
* [[Street Urchin]] - Several examples appear in the series, however the most notable is Lupus, who becomes one of the four main characters.
* [[Tomboy]] - Flavia is a mild tomboy by modern standards but is most especially a tomboy by Roman standards.
* [[Team Dad]] - Marcus Flavius Geminus
* [[Team Pet]] - Nipur, Scuto and Tigris are [[Canine Companion|Canine Companions]] of Nubia, Flavia and Jonathan respectivly.
* [[The Heart]]- Nubia
* [[This Is My Name on Foreign]] - {{spoiler|Lupus's actual name is Lukos. However, both names simply mean "wolf." This does not follow the trope perfectly, because it is not an alias that Lupus picks for himself.}}
* [[Translation Convention]] - Latin is translated into English. Other languages are spoken in the original language however are usually given subtitles in English.
* [[Twin Switch]] - Gaius briefly poses as Marcus in one ''The Dolphins of Laurentum''.
* [[Unreliable Expositor]] - A number of characters state scientific, medical or geographic facts that are now known to be inaccurate, but do correspond to what educated people in the 1st century AD Rome actually believed.
* [[World of No Grandparents]] - None of the main character have grandparents take any major role in the story. Most of the grandparents are dead. Given the low life expectancy of this time period, this is highly realistic.
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[[Category:Historical Fiction]]
[[Category:Ancient Rome]]
[[Category:The Roman Mysteries]]
[[Category:TV Series]]
[[Category:Detective TV Series]]
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