MOSTLY FILM: Blood From An Angry Sky

How many American TV producers have I bemused online over the years? As of this morning, that number has doubled.

The first one was back in 2000, when I wrote an article in praise of the Sammo Hung cop show Martial Law. At the end of the piece I posted a collection of links, including one to the site of the show's executive producer Lee Goldberg. I described the site as follows: "Lots of pictures and useful info, but be warned he's assuming that you've already seen season 2 and casually gives away its ending, the bastard." Useful tip: if you're going to call someone a bastard online, don't do it next to a link to their homepage. The email he sent me in response on August 1st 2000 thankfully took the comment in the right spirit ("I laughed my ass off"), and he even had a copy of the article reproduced on his site for a few years.

And now I can add Steven S. DeKnight to the section of my address book headed Hollywood Power List. DeKnight is the creator of the TV show Spartacus, which is the subject of an article I wrote for Mostly Film this week. At the time of writing, it's been up for a day, and seems to have attracted some online interest - but the most delightful discovery is that it's been retweeted by DeKnight himself. (Although I'm sure the use of the phrase 'knockers and killing' by Mostly Film's Social Networking Team must have been part of what appealed to him.)

Spartacus: Blood From An Angry Sky is a retrospective piece timed to coincide with the October 1st release of the latest season on home video. For once, I haven't crammed the article with YouTube links, although there are lots of clips out there, as the framegrab above proves. Still, that leaves plenty more material for this Bonus Content section: starting with the musical number that gives the piece its title, plus an additional verse, and an amateur rendition.

But rather than jizz away the whole show in illegal clips, let's keep things above board and stick to the official trailers provided by Starz, the US network responsible for Spartacus. Here's how the first season, Blood And Sand, was introduced to the world in 2010.

In 2011 came Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena, the prequel miniseries focussing on the house of Batiatus in the years before Spartacus arrived.

2012 saw Liam McIntyre take over from the late Andy Whitfield in Spartacus: Vengeance.

Which means we've got one more season still to come, as Spartacus: War Of The Damned is scheduled to start on Starz (and, hopefully, Sky One in the UK) in early 2013. Fancy a preview? Of course you do.

And also coming soon... well, it was kind of inevitable if you think about it.