An interesting article about making the Channel 5 series Eight Days That Made Rome has been shared on the Broadcast website, along with this great photo of Joseph Millson behind the scenes. Catch up with Joseph's Spartacus the Revolt episode on my5.tv if you missed it. 

We had just three days allocated to shoot the drama for each episode. Producing contemporary drama in a limited setting in this timeframe could be daunting enough. Throw in the additional requirements of a historical series (costumes, props, animals, specialist locations and so on) and the scale of the challenge quickly grows.

We’ve shot in Nu Boyana studios in Bulgaria before and returned there to take full advantage of its extensive Roman sets, complete with forums, amphitheatres and triumphal arches. This allowed us to invest resources into other areas of design, and help bring the set to life and fulfi l each director’s vision of Rome.

To help us get the maximum from our limited shoot days, we collaborated with some of the best stunt co-ordinators, performers and horse-riders in Bulgaria. They understood the constraints of our budget and were forever forthcoming with creative ideas, proposing clever ways to wring the most from our resources to make the drama as impactful and spectacular as possible. 

It was crucial to schedule cast rehearsals prior to filming, giving actors the opportunity to meet and get to know each other before diving into three non-stop days of filming. This allowed our cast to arrive in Bulgaria motivated and prepared, ready to hit the ground running, with ideas and goals firmly set.