Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011)

The opening season of Spartacus was a crass, over the top spectacle, showering the screen with fountains of blood and bevies of naked bodies, while the cast spat profanity in every second sentence.  In its early episodes it was almost car crash TV, so bad it was compelling.

And then somewhere around episode four the show found its groove, building tension and drama and the competing machinations of its many (many) villains into an explosion of orgiastic violence as the slaves of Quintus Batiatus finally rebelled against him.

This six episode prequel series features Spartacus himself only in its opening framing sequence, and was filmed due to the real-life illness and death of actor Andy Whitfield, who played the title role in the first season.  It was hoped that he would recover during the filming of this series, but that unfortunately did not come to pass.  Gods of the Arena therefore begins as Batiatus lies dying in the aftermath of the slave revolt.  We then leap back about five years, to see the first seeds of this bloodbath.

Batiatus is a lanista, a trainer of gladiators, but one whose men are relegated to the early, less prestigious bouts of the day despite the fact that (at least in the opinion of Batiatus) they are far superior fighters to those of the more-favoured lanistae.  When Batiatus sees a Gaulish slave with a 'spark' in his eyes, he buys the man, paying well over the market price.  This is no mere impulse, but a calculated attempt to curry favour with the man's former owner, a powerful political figure whose patronage, if won, would improve the fortunes of his house.

Unfortunately for Batiatus, this stratagem does not go as planned, initiating a spiralling sequence of competing schemes of ever increasing malice and vengefulness.  This, as you might imagine given the show's heritage, leads to yet more over the top violence and gobs of opportunities for people to get naked.  Despite its continued leaning into the sensationalistic use of sex and violence, however, this is a very well-executed series, with a fine cast at its core delivering compelling performances and scripts that provide background on the motivations and machinations of the various characters we met in season one (and in some cases, will see again in season two).

If the frequent nudity, sex, CGI gore and profanity aren't a problem for you, there is a genuinely good TV show here.