Shakespeare on TV

Macbeth on the Estate (1997)

Does Shakespeare ‘work’ on the small screen? Find out with a crash-course in the Bard on the box – a rich selection of classic televised plays and bold re-interpretations spanning five decades. Shakespeare was a stalwart of the earliest TV schedules; the BBC alone broadcast over 60 plays between the resumption of post-war transmission and the late 70s. Though few have dared to radically update such iconic texts, experimentation at the RSC and other companies in the 60s influenced approaches to adapting not just for the stage but for a burgeoning home audience. This tip-of-the-iceberg taster collection offers an insight into the wealth of creativity behind a vast body of work, with a liberal sprinkling of magic courtesy of Britain’s finest acting talent.

See our Shakespeare on Film season.

Ten to try

Othello (1955)
Gordon Heath stars in Tony Richardson’s production, a rare early survival and the first televised version to feature a black actor in the lead role.

Much Ado About Nothing (1967)
Derek Jacobi and Maggie Smith star in this studio recording of the National Theatre Company’s stage production directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

The Tragedy of King Richard II (1970)
Ian McKellen reprises his role in the Prospect Theatre Company’s 1969 Edinburgh Festival hit for the TV cameras.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1971)
Shakespeare’s comedy is transposed to a Kent castle in the 1860s, with Eileen Atkins as Titania and Ronnie Barker as Bottom.

Antony and Cleopatra (1974)
A televised version of the RSC production directed by Trevor Nunn, with Janet Suzman as the fabled Queen of the Nile.

King Lear (1975)
Michael Hordern takes the lead in Jonathan Miller’s version of one of Shakespeare’s darkest tragedies.

Next (1989)
William Shakespeare (in puppet form) performs extracts from all his plays in Aardman’s virtuoso animation, commissioned for Channel 4’s Lip-Synch series.

Romeo and Juliet (1992)
A tragic edition of Shakespeare: The Animated Tales, S4C’s award-winning series of abridged plays designed by Moscow studio Soyuzmultfilm.

Measure for Measure (1994)
Shakespeare’s ‘problem play’ gets a dystopian makeover, set in a modern police state for the BBC’s Performance strand.

Macbeth on the Estate (1997)
Penny Woolcock’s ambitious re-staging of the Scottish Play on Birmingham’s Ladywood estate, with a cast of drug dealers, street gangs — and three sinister child ‘witches.’