As with The Borgias (1981), the BBC intended the series to be the I, Claudius (1976) of the 1980s but it was poorly received. It has never been repeated or released on home video.
The series takes place from 145 BC to 30 BC.
The various Ptolemies and Cleopatras of ancient Egypt were not given regnal numbers to distinguish them, hence the importance of the nicknames (Pot Belly, Chickpea, etc.) given the characters in the series.
Although David Horovitch (Chickpea), Sue Holderness (Cleopatra IV), Amanda Boxer (Cleopatra Tryphaena) and Ian McNeice (Alexander) play Michelle Newell's children in the series, they are all older than her in real life. Furthermore, Horovitch is two years older than Richard Griffiths, who plays his father Pot Belly.
Michelle Newell (Cleopatra III / Cleopatra VII) is the only actor to appear in all eight episodes of the series. In second place is Graham Crowden (Theodotus), who appears in all except for 46 BC (1983) and 35 BC (1983).