For most of Poison is Queen, Livia is firmly on the back foot. This is something we haven’t seen before. Up until now, she’s manipulated and poisoned at will without seemingly breaking sweat. But the fact that Augustus now knows about her machinations (even though he can’t quite bring himself to openly confront her) means she’s put on the defensive.

Claudius’ brother Germanicus (David Robb) returns to Rome in triumph from Germany. He’s received with fervor at the Senate (the first time we see this impressive set) and later, quietly ensconced with Claudius, he learns the truth about Postumus (Livia was responsible for his banishment on a trumped-up rape charge).

It’s one thing that Germanicus accepts Claudius’ word on this (after all, he can offer no proof) but credibility is stretched even further when Germanicus offers to go to Augustus and tell him. It’s more than a little frustrating that this happens off-screen and given that Augustus has been married to Livia for fifty years (and has heard rumours about her conduct before) it’s difficult to imagine quite how Germanicus won him round. Let’s suppose that Augustus already had his own suspicions and Germanicus’ visit merely hardened them.

Augustus pays a visit to the exiled Postumus, who’s been living in lonely seclusion on a rock in the middle of nowhere for the last three years. Once again John Castle doesn’t hold back (although you can’t blame Postumus – stuck there for three years with only the guards and some seabirds for company would be enough to drive anyone slightly round the bend).

Augustus tells Postumus that he can’t return to Rome straight away – first he needs to speak to the Senate and get his exile rescinded. Given Augustus’ autocratic dominance of the state this seems like a feeble excuse, but as he’s hardly a man in the first flush of youth (or health) maybe that’s the reason for his hesitancy.

Although the likes of Germanicus, Postumus and Tiberius all have their moments (Tiberius throws a delightful hissy fit when he tells his mother that he’s sick of death of being Augustus’ lapdog and has no interest in becoming Emperor!) most of the episode revolves around the interactions of Augustus/Livia/Claudius.

Claudius speaks to both Livia and Augustus, although his relations with the latter are much more congenial than with the former. Augustus has belatedly realised that Claudius is not quite the fool he appears and (but for Augustus’ death) there’s a sense than an even closer rapprochement might have grown up between them. No such luck with Livia though, who still treats her grandson with undisguised contempt (and unlike Augustus seems not to have realised that Claudius has a sharp brain).

Everything is leading up to that scene. Thanks to Brian Blessed, it’s a technical triumph. The camera focuses solely on Augustus for several minutes as Livia (heard but not seen) delivers a lengthy monologue. As she continues to speak, Augustus dies right before our eyes. Many actors have been called upon to die on stage or screen over the decades, but none have done it as effectively as Blessed here. Under the unforgiving glare of the camera, not even a twitch is detectable. Mind you, some claim there is – and maybe if you analysed it frame by frame you’d find something, but you’d have to be a churlish sort to do so.

Despite Livia’s complicity (“don’t touch the figs” she memorably tells Tiberius) she also sheds tears after closing Augustus’ eyes. Maybe that suggests Livia still possesses a spark of humanity, but only the merest spark ….

Elsewhere, there are effective cameos from James Bree and Jonathan Burn whilst Patrick Stewart (sporting a fine head of hair – albeit not his own) makes his debut as Sejanus, a character who will have a major role to play during the reign of Tiberius.