The Eagle of the Ninth

Loved the book when i first read it as a child in the 70's and thankfully didn't have to wait long to see the series shown in Australia. Rosemary is still one of my favorite authors and i love everyone in this series. Marcus and Esca are great and i even named my dog after Esca-and she was a girl. Best version. Glad i now have it on DVD.

This was made back in the day when the BBC would produce a Sunday evening serialisation of a well known story. This time it's Rosemary Sutcliff's tale of the search by "Aquila" (Anthony Higgins) and his recently spared slave "Esca" (Christian Rodska) for the lost eagle of the ninth Roman legion. His father was one of it's, now rather disgraced, commanders and when "Aquila" hears rumour that this valuable golden symbol has been spotted amongst the tribes in the north of Britain - far beyond the safety of Hadrian's Wall, he decides that, injured as he is, he must restore his family honour and undergo the perilous search to retrieve it. "Esca" was once a tribal prince and sworn enemy of the invaders, but takes a vow of honour to help his new master and off they go on their hazardous quest. With thousands of unwelcoming Scottish glens before them, and the winter weather closing in, they have a big enough challenge on their hands to find the eagle let alone managing to fetch it back safely. Though some of the production is a bit stage bound, and shot using fixed camera positions a lot of the time, the characterisations are well delivered by the not immediately convincing Higgins, the warrior-like Rodska and by David Hayman and Victor Carin as their dangerous adventure hots up. It's fairly faithful to the original story and reminded me that having the net in a gladiatorial battle was not as hopeless as it might seem. It's a good watch.

Had looked for it a long time on DVD, just found it on Amazon UK, which is what brought me here.

To the other reviewer - yes it was shown in the South of the UK. I lived in the Midlands at the time and recall talking to my brother about it when it broadcast.

It followed the book very well as I recall (unlike, say, the Eagle remake) even down to the dialog.

I'm getting all nostalic to see it again.

I would have been 9 when this was shown and most definitely something I would have watched - however I cant for the life of me recall it! Being a BBC Scotland production, I wonder, as living in east anglia, if this wasn't shown in my area?

Yes, this production must certainly have been networked by the BBC on the original transmission date as I welll remember watching it back in 1977 (and was living in the west of England at that time). Very well done in all respects - though perhaps the relationship between Roman officers and soldiers (even in an Auxiliary cohort) was portrayed as a little too familiar. This would not have been the case at the time. Roman society was deeply differentiated by class and social status and this would have been even more marked in a military context.

I read the novel as a child back in the 1950s (I have always been a great admirer of Rosemary Sutcliff's novels) and well remember the superb 1957 BBC radio serialisation (now lost) of the book by Felix Felton, broadcast on Children's Hour.

Just as a point of interest, we now know (from archaeological excavations) that Isca Dumnoniorum (Modern Exeter) was originally founded as the base of Legio II Augusta (49-73 CE) and that by the second century (when this story is set) had been abandoned by the Roman army and become a civilian settlement) the new Cantonal capital of the Domnonian tribe.

No matter, this and some other historical anomalies do not detract in the sightest from the story. I am also pleased that the serial has now been released on DVD and may be enjoyed by a new generation of viewers.