Spartacus is over - as the violent and visceral Starz drama reached its climax, the Thracian warrior met his final fate. But don't despair - now you can enjoy his bloody quest for vengeance all over again from the very beginning...
Spartacus: War of the Damned and Spartacus: The Complete Collection are both coming to DVD and Blu-ray on Monday, April 29 - so Digital Spy got the star of the show Liam McIntyre on the phone for a look back at all three amazing seasons...
In our interview, Liam talks the highs and lows of his time on Spartacus, paying tribute to the show's original star - the late Andy Whitfield - and his plans for the future.
How does it feel to have come to the end of your Spartacus journey?
"It's... profound, I suppose is the best world I have for it. It's been incredible and heart-wrenching and just an incredible story for me - it's something that I never expected to ever happen in my wildest dreams, in my whole career, let alone pretty much first up.
"It's also extremely tragic, because for me, an element of this is... it's the last time that the show will be in the public eye, which to me is sad because Andy Whitfield's passed away and this is his last big thing.
"You just don't want people to forget about stuff like that. It's an easier thing to remember when the show's current, but as it passes out of the public consciousness, you just think, 'I just hope they remember Andy for the great actor he was'. So there's a sadness there.
"Then there's a sense of new beginnings for all the actors and the crew that have been involved - I guess we're all quite excited about what the future now holds from this incredible series we've had the good fortune to be part of. I guess it just makes you grateful for all the things you have, really."
You mentioned Andy - was he in your thoughts as you filmed your final scenes?
"Yes, and in a way, it made those last scenes extra special. I remember sitting there, trying to find the emotional place that I had to go to, and thought, 'This is it, man - this is the journey that you carry for two people and you've gotta do it right now, otherwise you've let yourself down and you've let down someone that's no longer here'.
"It wasn't quite so negative as that sounds, but it gave you strength, in a weird way, that you've got this huge responsibility that's bigger than you. Of course, Andy was on everybody's mind, because he was fundamentally part of the fabric of the show.
"The show's always been a big family, right up the final day of shooting, and you never forget your family, I suppose. That goes for Andy and everybody else involved."
Fans were shocked when it was announced that War of the Damned would be the final Spartacus season. Do you think now is the right time to wrap up the series?
"Yeah, it was a shock to everyone else, as well - certainly the cast were thinking... 'Really? It's been going so well and last year was really successful and the characters are really fun to play - so that'll be a shame'.
"I know up till midway through the final season, I was going, 'Oh, they'll change their minds when they see some of these episodes, they'll revise it'. But as we got to episode five or six, I kind of got it.
"I can see how this show could become, if not boring, then a little bit routine, a little bit procedural - they fight some Romans, run away from them, move to another part of the country, fight some Romans, run away from them and so on... It could potentially drag its heels a bit.
"But the way they've positioned this series, I really don't think it's dragged at any place. I mean, there's the amazing episodes and the merely good episodes, but I really think it's clipped along well and I'm very proud of it.
"The last episode... it felt really right and I personally don't see how I or anyone else involved in it could end this show any better. But I hope all the fans who love the show are angry as hell that it's finished, because that's a testament to how good that last episode is, y'know?
"I hope that people want more Spartacus, because then we've done our job right. I do think it's a really good final episode and a good place to leave the legacy."
The ending must have been tricky to pull off, given that viewers on some level knew what to expect?
Well, Titanic seemed to work out pretty well, and we had a good idea [what was going to happen] going into that. It was cool though, because that was part of our thinking.
"It's hard to end a show where history predicates a lot of the story. But the fate of the Titanic is quite well documented, so it's quite instructional in its history, whereas Spartacus is from a lot longer ago and the accounts are not first-hand, they're second-hand accounts. It's got a little bit more flexibility.
"Steven [S DeKnight] spent a lot of time - and successfully - using that to his advantage, so there were times watching that last episode where you weren't sure if it was going to deviate [slightly] from history or if it's going to go full Inglourious Basterds and screw history or if it's going to stick to what people think is the true story.
"The thing I've always found fun is that a lot of people think the true story is a literal translation of the 1960s Spartacus film - they created what people think is the history of Spartacus, even though they themselves infused it with a lot of invention and creativity - that's fantastic, but it's not necessarily what was written down."
What kind of impact do you feel Spartacus has had on the television landscape?
"For Starz, I think it's been particularly important, because it really gave them a place to hang their hat - and that's before I came along. Before the first season, Starz had done some great stuff and was a great network, but this was something that really gave them an identity.
"It's like the way HBO has The Sopranos or something like that. Not that we're like The Sopranos - it's a different type of show - but it's an identifiable show that the network can say, 'That's ours', and stand up and be proud of it. I'm happy to be part of that - that's great for them and it's great that they're going forward with a lot of very interesting shows.
"I was a fan of Spartacus before I got involved with it for that reason - that it was a different kind of story on television. Some stories take themselves too seriously, some stories can become convoluted... but Spartacus was always everything turned up to eleven, more violent, more gory, more sexy... but the story was really heightened as well and I didn't think anything had been done quite like it on TV.
"I personally feel that there's a lot more stuff like it on TV now under slightly different guises. There's a lot of influence of it in Game of Thrones and shows like The Vikings - they've very different shows and they're wonderful shows in their own right, but I would struggle to believe that those creative teams have never seen Spartacus and thought, 'That's a good idea...'
"The creative team on Spartacus really generated a style and way of filming a show that was fresh and is now being used and changed and re-engineered into new shows, especially on Starz and on a few other networks. So this show has a pretty cool legacy.
"I'm excited to see shows like Game of Thrones and The Vikings, and Starz has Black Sails coming up - they'll all be spiritual successors to Spartacus in their own way, with their own styles and their own stories."
Is there anything you won't miss about playing Spartacus, like daily workouts at the gym?
"Oh, I still do that - that unfortunately has become one of my new normals! The video-gaming kid in me isn't happy, but I guess the general well-being of my body seems to thank me! The funny thing about Hollywood - they kind of expect you to look like that all the time!
"But I won't miss getting coated in four layers of fake tan every day. I won't miss almost losing my eye on the last week of shooting! There's a few gripes, but God, I'm probably the luckiest man in the world. There's far too much that I'll miss, and mostly it's the people and the camaraderie.
"It was a really well-run set, a really great story to tell and one of history's greatest characters. It's like saying, 'Bond, James Bond', I suppose - 'I am Spartacus' is one of those things as an actor that you don't dare dream saying on film!
"I'll definitely miss the guy, but I've always thought that have a short attention span and I guess that's the beauty of film and TV... that's okay, because there's always another character to play."
How is your future looking, post-Spartacus?
"Oh, it's bright - in a way that it would never have been without this show - and that's another thing I'm grateful for. I've met with incredible people, very talented people, and I get to talk to people about developing stories that I used to write when I was younger.
"I'm waiting to hear if I have a cool movie role right now - hopefully it will be announced soon. Or it may not be, that's the way of this world. But there's a lot of exciting stuff that I can't wait to experience as the next couple [of] years unfold."
Spartacus: War of the Damned and Spartacus: The Complete Collection come to DVD and Blu-ray on April 29.
