All Episodes of BBC Television Shakespeare
Browse all episodes of BBC Television Shakespeare
Season 1
6.6/10469 votesLoading...Romeo and Juliet
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 12/3/1978
Romeo, heir of the lordly Montague family of the Italian city of Verona, goes wearing a mask to a dance held by the Capulets, their bitter rivals in the city. There, Romeo falls head over heels for Juliet Capulet, and they are secretly married by the obliging Friar Lawrence. Following a fight, Romeo is banished from the city, and Juliet's father promises her in marriage to another young fellow, Paris. Juliet unwisely agrees to a plan suggested by Friar Lawrence, takes a drug which will make her seem dead for two days and is put into the family vault, expecting Romeo to collect her when she wakes up. However, Romeo fails to get Friar Lawrence's message, believes Juliet is dead, kills Paris, then drinks poison and dies by Juliet's side. On waking up, she finds Romeo's body and stabs herself to death. As a result (if a rather unlikely one) the Montague and Capulet lords make up their ancient quarrel and a new friendship blossoms between the warring factions.
Director: Alvin Rakoff
Writer: N/A
- 8.0/10330 votesLoading...
King Richard the Second
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 12/10/1978
Bolingbroke wrongly accuses Mowbray of killing Gloucester, the uncle of King Richard II. Richard (who in fact arranged the murder) orders a trial by combat between Bolingbroke and Mowbray, then turns this into exile for both of them. Bolingbroke's father, John of Gaunt, dies and Richard seizes his estates to pay for a campaign in Ireland. While Richard is off fighting the Irish, leaving the Duke of York as Regent, Bolingbroke invades England and the country rises in support of him. York vacillates, Richard lands in Wales, is arrested, and surrenders the crown to Bolingbroke, who becomes King Henry IV. A plot against Henry is discovered, Henry pardons his cousin Aumerle, but Richard is murdered while imprisoned at Pontefract.
Director: David Giles
Writer: N/A
7.1/10363 votesLoading...As You Like It
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 12/17/1978
Duke Frederick has driven out the lawful Duke and usurped his duchy. Rosalind (daughter of the banished Duke) falls in love with Orlando de Boys, as he is beating Frederick's champion in a wrestling match. Frederick banishes her, too, and she leaves, disguised as a youth called Ganymede, taking Frederick's daughter Celia and his jester Touchstone with her. Rosalind's troupe heads for the Forest of Arden, where Rosalind's father is living quietly, with Orlando and his brother Jaques now members of the old Duke's rustic court. Rosalind decides to live for a time as Ganymede, and she/he finds Orlando hanging poems to Rosalind on trees (no doubt he knows what he's doing?)... Ganymede promises to cure Orlando of his love, while Touchstone woos a country girl, Audrey. Meanwhile, a shepherdess called Phebe falls in love with Ganymede, scorning the love of the bumpkin Silvius. Oliver de Boys, another brother of Orlando, arrives and falls heavily for Celia. At the end, Ganymede turns himself
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.4/10261 votesLoading...
Julius Caesar
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 2/11/1979
Marcus Brutus is Caesar's close friend and a Roman praetor. Brutus allows himself to be cajoled into joining a group of conspiring senators because of a growing suspicion — implanted by Caius Cassius — that Caesar intends to turn republican Rome into a monarchy under his own rule.
Director: Herbert Wise
Writer: N/A
- 7.5/10236 votesLoading...
Measure For Measure
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 2/18/1979
This drama is classified as a comedy play by William Shakespeare. However it is also referred to as a 'problem play', because it cannot be easily described as either a tragedy or comedy. The story of the plot centres on Angelo who has been empowered by the Duke of Vienna to rule his land, whilst he wanders about disguised as a friar to investigate the moral decay of his dukedom. Resorting to an old law against fornication to enforce his strict standards of morality, Angelo proceeds to condemn fornicators to death. One of these fornicators is Claudio , a young man who has had pre-marital sex with his fiancee. Claudio's sister Isabella pleads for her brother's life. Angelo's lust is aroused and he uses his power to blackmail Isabella into his bed. Fortunately the Duke overhears. Angelo ends up in the bed of Mariana , a woman from his undisclosed past. Claudio is allowed to live happily ever after with his fiancee, and the virtuous Isabella ends up the Duke of Vienna's bride
Director: Desmond Davis
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/10146 votesLoading...
King Henry the Eighth
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 2/25/1979
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
King Henry the Fourth, Part I
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/9/1979
No description available
Director: David Giles
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
King Henry the Fourth, Part II
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 12/16/1979
No description available
Director: David Giles
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
King Henry the Fifth
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 12/23/1979
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Twelfth Night, or, What You Will
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 1/6/1980
No description available
Director: John Gorrie
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Tempest
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 2/27/1980
No description available
Director: John Gorrie
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 2/27/1980
A son avenges his father's murder, but his madness and indecision take its toll on everyone.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Taming of the Shrew
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 10/23/1980
No description available
Director: Jonathan Miller
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
All's Well That Ends Well
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 1/4/1981
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Winter's Tale
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/8/1981
King Leontes of Bohemia suspects his wife, Queen Hermione, of deceiving him with his good friend Polixenes. Leontes drives Polixenes out of his kingdom, but this leads to unforeseen consequences: the arrival of a dangerous bear, an infant abandoned in the snow, love, death, and a statue which comes to life.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Timon of Athens
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 4/16/1981
Ancient Athenian Timon is well-known for his generosity - his many friends come to all his parties and like to get presents from him. But then Timon suffers losses and finds himself in debt, and his friends melt away. He loses faith in humanity and becomes a hermit.
Director: Jonathan Miller
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Antony and Cleopatra
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 5/8/1981
Octavius Caesar (later known as Augustus), Mark Antony, and Lepidus form a triumvirate to rule the Roman Empire. Antony will rule in the east and goes to Egypt, where he becomes the lover of Queen Cleopatra. When Pompey raises an army to fight the triumvirate, Antony returns to Rome and marries Caesar's sister, Octavia. Cleopatra becomes jealous and plans to win Antony back. Caesar breaks a deal with Pompey and defeats him. Antony sends Octavia home to Rome and goes back to Cleopatra, and in Egypt he raises an army and a navy to fight Caesar. Antony's forces lose a critical sea battle when Cleopatra's ship flees. Antony hears Cleopatra has committed suicide and falls on his own sword. Cleopatra is taken prisoner and kills herself.
Director: Jonathan Miller
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Othello
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 10/4/1981
No description available
Director: Jonathan Miller
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Troilus and Cressida
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 11/7/1981
No description available
Director: Jonathan Miller
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 12/13/1981
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
King Lear
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 9/19/1982
First screened in 1982, this timeless Shakespeare story of an ageing King who decides to divide his Kingdom between his three daughters stars Michael Hordern as Lear, with Brenda Blethyn as Cordelia, Gillian Barge as Goneril, Penelope Wilton as Regan, Michael Kitchen as Edmund and Anton Lesser as Edgar.
Director: Jonathan Miller
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 12/28/1982
No description available
Director: David Hugh Jones
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
King Henry the Sixth, Part I
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 1/2/1983
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
King Henry the Sixth, Part II
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 1/9/1983
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
King Henry the Sixth, Part III
Season 1 Episode 26 - Aired 1/16/1983
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Tragedy of King Richard the Third
Season 1 Episode 27 - Aired 1/23/1983
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Comedy of Errors
Season 1 Episode 30 - Aired 12/24/1983
No description available
Director: James Cellan Jones
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Season 1 Episode 31 - Aired 12/27/1983
No description available
Director: Don Taylor
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Tragedy of Coriolanus
Season 1 Episode 32 - Aired 4/21/1984
No description available
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
The Life and Death of King John
Season 1 Episode 33 - Aired 11/24/1984
No description available
Director: David Giles
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Season 1 Episode 34 - Aired 12/8/1984
Prince Pericles, visiting Antioch, solves King Antiochus's riddle to his daughter's suitors - the answer is that the King has had an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Pericles realizes he must escape to Tyre, and from there he goes to Tarsus to relieve a famine. Pursued by Antiochus's men, his ship is wrecked on the shores of Pentapolis and he marries Thaisa, the daughter of its King. Thaisa gives birth to a daughter, Marina, at sea, and in a great storm Thaisa is thrown overboard in a sea-chest. Coming to land at Ephesus, she believes Pericles is drowned and becomes a priestess of Diana.Pericles arranges for Marina to be brought up by Cleon of Tarsus and his wife Dionyza, and returns to Tyre. Fourteen years go by, and Dionyza, jealous of Marina, is about to have her murdered, when Marina is kidnapped by pirates, who send her to a brothel in Mytilene. Cleon tells Pericles that Marina is dead. Meanwhile, in Mytilene Marina's purity triumphs, startling the governor of the city,
Director: David Hugh Jones
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Much Ado About Nothing
Season 1 Episode 35 - Aired 12/22/1984
Claudio and Benedick come home from the wars, having fought under Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon, to suppress a rebellion by his weird brother, Don John. Leonato, Governor of Messina, welcomes Claudio and Benedick into his house. Claudio woos Hero, Leonato's daughter, while Benedick quips and quarrels with Beatrice, Hero's cousin. Claudio and Hero get engaged to marry and try to trick Benedick and Beatrice into also falling in love. Don John sets out to make mischief and persuades Claudio and Don Pedro that Hero is a scarlet woman. Claudio denounces Hero in front of her family and refuses to marry her, Hero faints. Friar Francis helpfully suggests that Hero be said to have died until her name can be cleared.Left alone in the church, Benedick and Beatrice exchange vows of love and Beatrice gets Benedick to promise he will kill Claudio for the harm he has done Hero. A duel is planned, but before it can take place Don John's dastardly plot is uncovered and Hero is restored to favour, then to
Director: Stuart Burge
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Love's Labour's Lost
Season 1 Episode 36 - Aired 1/5/1985
The King of Navarre and three of his lords swear themselves to three years of study and chastity, but they begin to change their minds when the Princess of France and three of her ladies arrive at court to discuss the debts France owes to Navarre. A clown called Costard mixes up two letters, so that one from Armado to Jacquenetta (a village girl) is read to the Princess, while Jacquenetta receives a love sonnet from Berowne to Rosaline... this leads to some confusion. In the final Act, the lords meet the ladies in a mock-Russian entertainment, and news is received that the King of France has died. The Princess and her ladies prepare to leave Navarre and give their lovers a series of tasks for a year and a day.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- NaN/100 votesLoading...
Titus Andronicus
Season 1 Episode 37 - Aired 4/27/1985
Saturninus and Bassianus, sons of the late Emperor of Rome, are struggling over the succession to the throne, but Titus Andronicus, a triumphant general, is preferred. Titus has brought Tamora, Queen of the Goths, her sons and her Moorish lover, Aaron, to Rome as prisoners of war, and he orders the sacrifice of Tamara's son Alarbus. Titus then refuses the throne and supports the claim of Saturninus, offering him his daughter Lavinia in marriage, but she runs off with Bassianus. Saturninus then plans to marry Tamora, and her sons Chiron and Demetrius kill Bassianus, ravish Lavinia, and cut off her hands and tongue. Aaron plants the blame for Bassianus's murder on Titus's sons, who are sentenced to death, and Titus is tricked into cutting off his right hand as a ransom, but it fails to save them. Lucius goes off to the Goths to raise a revenging army, Lavinia accuses Chiron and Demetrius, and Titus goes mad. Tamora has a black child by Aaron, who takes it away for its safety, but they ar
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
