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The Best Episodes of The BBC Television Shakespeare

Every episode of The BBC Television Shakespeare ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The BBC Television Shakespeare!

The Best Episodes of The BBC Television Shakespeare

The BBC Television Shakespeare is a series of British television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, created by Cedric Messina and produced by BBC...

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  1. Background image for Julius Caesar
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #1 - Julius Caesar

    S1:E4

    Shakespeare's great political thriller tells the story of the conspiracy against Caesar, his assassination and the defeat of his conspirators.

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    Director:Herbert Wise
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for Measure For Measure
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #2 - Measure For Measure

    S1:E5

    Shakespeare's classic comedy occasionally veers into more troublesome territory, as the characters face dark and ambiguous moral choices.

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    Director:Desmond Davis
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #3 - Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

    S2:E6

    Shakespeare's classic tale of betrayal, murder and revenge, set in Elsinore Castle in Denmark.

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    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for The Merchant of Venice
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #4 - The Merchant of Venice

    S3:E2

    BBC televisation of William Shakespeare's classic comedy about prejudice, love, loss and gain.

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    Director:Jack Gold
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for All's Well That Ends Well
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #5 - All's Well That Ends Well

    S3:E3

    Shakespearean comedy. A woman goes to extraordinary lengths to win the man she loves. Helena, a ward of the Countess, has set her sights on Bertram, the Countess's son.

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    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Antony and Cleopatra
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #6 - Antony and Cleopatra

    S3:E6

    Shakespeare's classic story of Mark Antony, Roman military leader and triumvir, who is madly in love with Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt.

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    Writer:Unknown
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The BBC Television Shakespeare

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  8. Background image for The Third Part of Henry the Sixt
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #7 - The Third Part of Henry the Sixt

    S5:E5

    The BBC Production of William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part III. Richard, Duke of Gloucester, aspiring to usurp the English crown plots to murder the deposed king in this concluding part of the Henry VI trilogy.

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    Director:Jane Howell
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for The Tragedy of Richard III
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #8 - The Tragedy of Richard III

    S5:E6

    The rise and fall of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, whose murderous Machiavellian schemes help him to the throne of England, but make him far too many enemies along the way.

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    Director:Jane Howell
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for The Tragedy of Richard III
    9.0/10(1 votes)

    #9 - The Tragedy of Richard III

    S5:E7

    The rise and fall of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, whose murderous Machiavellian schemes help him to the throne of England, but make him far too many enemies along the way.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for King Richard the Second
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #10 - King Richard the Second

    S1:E2

    Derek Jacobi is King Richard II in the second of the BBC's new productions of Shakespeare.

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    Director:David Giles
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth containing his Death: and the Coronation of King Henry the Fift
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #11 - The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth containing his Death: and the Coronation of King Henry the Fift

    S2:E2

    Classic play by William Shakespeare, starring Jon Finch and Anthony Quayle. This is the third play in a tetralogy of history plays by William Shakespeare, along with Richard II, Henry IV, Part I, and Henry V.

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    Director:David Giles
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Twelfth Night
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #12 - Twelfth Night

    S2:E4

    BBC televisation of the classic comedy of mistaken identities by William Shakespeare.

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    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for The Taming of the Shrew
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #13 - The Taming of the Shrew

    S3:E1

    Classic comedy by William Shakespeare. Petruchio is determined to mold the shrewish Katharina into a suitable wife, both for her dowry and for the challenge of overcoming her fearsome reputation.

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    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for The Winter's Tale
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #14 - The Winter's Tale

    S3:E4

    Classic play by William Shakespeare, considered either a comedy or a romance. One of Shakespeare's last works, the play also contains tragic elements that weave throughout the work.

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    Director:Jane Howell
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Timon of Athens
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #15 - Timon of Athens

    S3:E5

    When wealthy and famously generous nobleman Timon of Athens discovers the true state of his financial position, his former friends abandon him, and in disgust he retreats to a cave to rail against humanity.

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    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for Othello
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #16 - Othello

    S4:E1

    Tragedy by William Shakespeare. The promotion of Moorish general Othello sparks bitter jealousy in his supposed friend, Iago. He subsequently plots to secure the downfall of Othello by provoking him into believing his wife Desdemona is being unfaithful.

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    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for Troilus and Cressida
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #17 - Troilus and Cressida

    S4:E2

    A love story set against the backdrop of the seemingly endless Trojan wars. Anton Lesser and Suzanne Burden take the title roles of William Shakespeare's war satire.

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    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for A Midsummer Night's Dream
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #18 - A Midsummer Night's Dream

    S4:E3

    Part one of Shakespeare's classic play starring Helen Mirren and Robert Lindsay.

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    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for King Lear
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #19 - King Lear

    S5:E1

    Classic play by William Shakespeare about an ageing King who decides to divide his Kingdom between his three daughters.

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    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for The First Part of Henry the Sixt
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    #20 - The First Part of Henry the Sixt

    S5:E3

    A television presentation of the first part of Shakespeare's Henry VI. Henry V is dead and war continues with France. The Wars of the Roses are threatening and the Duke of York taunts the Earl of Somerset.

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    Director:Jane Howell
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Romeo & Juliet
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    #21 - Romeo & Juliet

    S1:E1

    Patrick Ryecart and Rebecca Saire play the star crossed lovers in one of Shakespeare's best-loved plays.

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    Director:Alvin Rakoff
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for The First Part of King Henry the Fourth with the Life and Death of Henry Surnamed Hotspur
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #22 - The First Part of King Henry the Fourth with the Life and Death of Henry Surnamed Hotspur

    S2:E1

    Televisation of one of Shakespeare's most popular plays, featuring the opportunistic miscreant, Sir John Falstaff. Second play in a tetralogy of history plays by William Shakespeare, along with Richard II, Henry IV, Part II, and Henry V.

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    Director:David Giles
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for The Life of Henry the Fift
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #23 - The Life of Henry the Fift

    S2:E3

    Classic play by William Shakespeare about Henry V, the monarch he admired above all others. Part of a tetralogy of history plays by Shakespeare, along with Richard II, Henry IV, Part I, and Henry IV, Part II.

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    Director:David Giles
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for The Tempest
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #24 - The Tempest

    S2:E5

    William Shakespeare's swansong play about the nature of revenge, reconciliation and forgiveness.

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    Director:John Gorrie
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for The Second Part of Henry the Sixt
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    #25 - The Second Part of Henry the Sixt

    S5:E4

    The BBC's screen production of William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part II.

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    Director:Jane Howell
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"Julius Caesar" is the best rated episode of "The BBC Television Shakespeare". It scored 9/10 based on 1 votes. Directed by Herbert Wise and written by Unknown, it aired on 2/11/1979. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "Measure For Measure".