New Zealand made sword and sandals saga Spartacus: Vengeance starts on the US channel Starz on Friday 27 January 2012 and is followed in the UK on Sky One on Monday 30 January 2012. This series marks the third instalment and is a sequel to the original Spartacus: Blood and Sand after the second series – Spartacus: Gods of the Arena – served as a prequel.
The big change for the series will be Liam McIntyre in the lead role following the death of original Spartacus actor Andy Whitfield. But Lucy Lawless is back as Lucretia in the ten-part series that starts in the aftermath of Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which saw the uprising of the gladiator slaves and the killing of Lucretia’s husband Batiatus.
Also back will be the violence and nudity that marked the first two series. In fact, a Sky One press release promises that this series will be “even more gory and gratuitous than before”, if that is possible. The “vengeance” in the title comes from the upper echelons of the Roman Republic wanting to crush the rebellion as quickly as possible, and thus they dispatch Gaius Claudius Glaber (played by Craig Parker) with an army of troops to Capua.
Actors in Spartacus: Vengeance
For Australian actor Liam McIntyre this will be his first recurring role, having appeared in a number of shorts from 2007 to 2010, during which time he played Christopher Bragi in the 2009 film Niflheim: Blood & Bullets. He has had one-off roles in TV series such as The Pacific, Neighbours and Rush and had another film appearance in 2011 as Simon in Ektopos.
New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless was nominated for a Saturn Award for playing the title role in Xena: Warrior Princess and won a Saturn Award and was nominated for a Golden Nymph for playing Lucretia in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Her career also saw her voted into the Cult TV Hall of Fame in 2011. Her acting started in the early 1990s playing a number of one-off roles, until she played Lysla in the TV movie Hercules and the Amazon Woman. A second appearance as Lyla in the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys episode “Outcast” followed before she guest starred as Xena. Since Xena, Lucy has played, among other roles, Sharon McMahon in two episodes of The X Files, Kathleen Clayton in Tarzan, D’Anna Biers in Battlestar Galactica, Marybeth Duffy in The L Word and Helen Burton in No Ordinary Family.
New Zealand actor Craig Parker is best known for playing Haldir in The Lord of the Rings films. Other roles have included Alistair Kingsley in Mercy Peak, Motodrone in Power Rangers Ninja Storm, Guy Warner in Shortland Street, Leighton Mills in Diplomatic Immunity and Darken Rahl in Legend of the Seeker.
Returning actors from Spartacus: Blood and Sand include Peter Mensah as Oenomaus, Manu Bennett as Crixus, Nick Tarabay as Ashur and Viva Bianca as Ilithyia. And Dustin Clare will also be back as Gannicus, the role he had in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena. The show will also feature Katrina Law as Mira, Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Naevia, Brooke Williams as Aurelia, Dan Feuerriegel as German gladiator Agron, Luke Pegler as Marcus, Tom Hobbs as Seppius and Hanna Mangan-Lawrence as Seppia.
Team Behind Spartacus: Vengeance
The executive producers were Rob Tapert, Joshua Donen, Sam Raimi and creator and head writer Steven DeKnight. The producer was Chloe Smith. Joseph Loduca composed the music.
Steve Rogerson - Steve Rogerson is a UK-based writer specialising in television, technology, sports and beer.
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