Simon Schama's Shakespeare

Original version

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC HD

BBC Four

BBC Two Scotland

BBC Two Northern Ireland

BBC Two England

England

BBC Four HD

Simon Schama

Ashley Gething

Judi Dench

Simon Russell Beale

Tobias Menzies

Roger Allam

Harriet Walter

Simon Schama's Shakespeare: Episode 2: Hollow Crowns

Documentaries

Hollow Crowns

Episode 2

Episode 2: Hollow Crowns

BBC Two - Simon Schama's Shakespeare, Hollow Crowns

Simon explores Shakespeare's attitude to the other great subject of his day - kingship.

Simon looks at how Shakespeare's most profound tragedies may have been inspired by the bard's experiences writing for the courts of Elizabeth I and James I.

Simon Schama argues that it is impossible to understand how Shakespeare came to belong 'to all time' without understanding just how much he was of his time. 

Schama explores Shakespeare's attitude to the other great subject of his day - kingship. He will look at the ways in which Shakespeare's most profound tragedies - Richard II, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear - may have been inspired by his own experiences writing for the courts of Elizabeth and James I.

Elizabeth - the consummate royal actress in decline - was to prove a powerful muse, while James's own obsessions and inviolable sense of his own grandeur, inspired Shakespeare to probe deeper into the royal mind than anyone before or since. It was as if seeing their frailty, vanity and folly first-hand fired his imagination - inspiring him to explore the great themes of power and ambition, in plays which show kings murdering their way to the throne and going mad. 

Shakespeare dared to strip away the mask of royalty to reveal the flawed men underneath. Somehow, he got away with it - and revealed profound truths not just about kings but about the rest of us too. 

Aswell as this an extraordinary cast of actors deliver some of Shakespeare's most moving and profound soliloquies.

BBC Two

Knowledge, drama, comedy and the arts for a broad adult audience.

BBC Two is a lively channel of depth and substance, carrying a range of knowledge-building programming complemented by great drama, comedy and arts.

Factual

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: History

Simon Schama says to understand Shakespeare we must appreciate how he was of his time.

Simon Schama argues that it is impossible to understand how Shakespeare came to belong 'to all time' without understanding just how much he was of his time.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Simon Schama's Shakespeare

Episode 2: Hollow Crowns

Contributors

Genres

Formats

Series

BBC Two Wales

About BBC Two