# Plebs (2013)

> Three desperate young men in ancient Rome chase sex, jobs and status in a sitcom that treats the city like a modern metropolis.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/42533

## Facts

- Seasons: 5
- Episodes: 38
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: comedy
- Created by: Sam Leifer, Tom Basden
- Network: ITV2
- Cast: Tom Rosenthal, Ryan Sampson, Tom Basden, Karl Theobald, Jon Pointing, Doon Mackichan, Sophie Colquhoun, Joel Fry
- TMDB rating: 7.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2731624/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: mild
- Tone: irreverent, breezy, sardonic, bawdy, warm

## What critics say

Critics broadly enjoy Plebs for its irreverent anachronistic humour and likeable leads, though the later seasons are considered weaker than the early ones.

## Synopsis

Plebs (2013-2019) is a British sitcom created by Sam Leifer and Tom Basden for ITV2. Set in the first century BC, it follows three desperate young men from the suburbs of ancient Rome who try to get laid, hold down jobs and climb the social ladder in the big city. Tom Rosenthal plays Marcus, the restless protagonist, alongside Ryan Sampson as the loyal Grumio and Tom Basden as the sardonic Aurelius, with Doon Mackichan as the imperious Flavia adding friction. Across five seasons and thirty-eight episodes, each half-hour is a self-contained comic scrape: a shaky job, a botched romance, a landlord who keeps collecting rent, a scheme that backfires in the forum. The comedy runs on anachronism, with modern slang and office attitudes dropped into a classical world, which gives the show a breezy, irreverent, sardonic register. Its warmth comes from the bond between the three friends, who keep failing upward. Fans of Blackadder, Spaced and The Inbetweeners will find resonance in its crude, character-driven humor and its affection for hopeless underdogs.

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