The Hollow Crown

The BBC 2 Series of The Hollow Crown has set a new benchmark for the televising of Shakespeare. I had never previously thought that Shakespeare was successful on TV until, that is, David Tennent's Hamlet showed the way. Sam Mendes' production company Neal Street Productions have not only secured the best directing and acting talent, but have invested heavily in the sets, locations, costume, music, sound, lighting and all the other aspects of film making. So it all seems highly cinematic.The dialogue is not only beautifully spoken, it is crystal clear, something not always there on stage. All four plays have been adapted, but so are many in the theatre these days, Timon of Athens the latest.

The directors have all made the most of their plays. Rupert Goold has been a theatre director for fifteen years and an associate director at the RSC for the last two. Richard II is his first film and he has made a fabulous job of what is a pretty stodgy but very poetic play. Ben Wishaw is brilliantly unsettling as the king, well he does have all the best lines "the worst is death and death will have his day" ......... "let's talk of graves and worms and epitaphs .....". The bloodless revolution is handled superbly, and Rory Kinnear is almost apologetic as he seizes the crown. Add in David Suchet, Patrick Stewart and David Morrisey, and there is so much to admire.

Both parts of Henry IV are directed by Richard Eyre. His filming of the quiet court in dull greys compared with the noise and colour of Falstaff's tavern works incredibly well. Tom Hiddlestone was a strange choice as Hal, but he manages to convey his deliberate association with the lower classes, so as to be seen in an even better light when he becomes King. Simon Russell Beale is a slight disappointment as Falstaff. Although his performance is top class, he just does not have that big physical gruffness the role demands. But he is surrounded by greatness in Julie Walters and Maxine Peake. Jeremy Irons is terrific as the old King, and it was good to see favourite TV actors such as Alun Armstrong and the follicly challenged David Hayman as Worcester almost unrecognisable in an extraordinary wig.

Thea Sharrock has for a long time been a brilliant theatre director, but had not really tackled Shakespeare until her 2009 As You Like It at the Globe. And as far as I can tell, absolutely no experience of TV or film. But her Henry V is very good. It is subtle rather than powerful. The King delivers his famous speeches with an almost embarrassed evocation. This is a man who does not glorify in war, but sees it as a necessity for the country. Sharrock uses music to up the emotion, especially as Pistol, Bardolph and Nim say goodbye to Mistress Quickly (Julie Walters) and the unnamed boy for the war in France. This is one of the best scenes in the whole series. I had forgotten how Shakespeare had made Pistol and his friends representative of the great British public with their reaction to facing yet another war. And who else could be cast as the Chorus except for John Hurt. From an outstanding Prologue to the eve of battle and "from camp to camp through the foul womb of night ....... a little touch of Harry in the night". It just does not get any better.