ShakespeaRe-Told
Encyclopedia
ShakespeaRe-Told is the umbrella title
for a series of four television adaptations of William Shakespeare
's plays broadcast on BBC One
during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of The Canterbury Tales
, each play is adapted by a different writer, and relocated to the present day. The plays were produced in collaboration by BBC Northern Ireland
and the central BBC drama department
. In August 2006, the four films aired on BBC America.
. A Region 1 release followed on 24 July 2007 from BBC Warner.
Umbrella title
An umbrella title is a formal or informal name connecting a number of individual items with a common theme. It is most often used in lieu of listing separately the separate components or providing a convenient "label" for a collection of disciplines.-Academia:...
for a series of four television adaptations of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's plays broadcast on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of The Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales (TV Series)
The Canterbury Tales is a series of six single dramas that originally aired on BBC One in 2003. Each story is an adaptation of one of Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th century Canterbury Tales which are transferred to a modern, 21st century setting, but still set along the traditional Pilgrims' route to...
, each play is adapted by a different writer, and relocated to the present day. The plays were produced in collaboration by BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland.The organisation is one of the three national regions of the BBC, together with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales. Based at Broadcasting House, Belfast, it provides television, radio, online and interactive television content...
and the central BBC drama department
BBC television drama
BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom...
. In August 2006, the four films aired on BBC America.
Much Ado About Nothing
- Adapted by David NichollsDavid Nicholls (writer)-Background:Nicholls is the middle of three siblings. He attended Barton Peveril sixth-form college at Eastleigh, Hampshire, from 1983 to 1985 , and playing a wide range of roles in college drama productions...
- Broadcast 7 November 2005
- Set in a local news studio, with Beatrice (Sarah ParishSarah ParishSarah Parish is an English actress.Parish is known for her work on such TV series as: Peak Practice, Hearts and Bones, Cutting It, Doctor Who, Mistresses, Merlin and the new ITV medical drama Monroe....
) and Benedick (Damian LewisDamian LewisLewis was born in St John's Wood, London, the son of Charlotte Mary and J. Watcyn Lewis, a City broker. His paternal grandparents were Welsh. His maternal grandfather was Lord Mayor of London Ian Frank Bowater and his maternal grandmother's ancestors include Bertrand Dawson, 1st Viscount Dawson of...
) as bickering anchors. Hero (Billie PiperBillie PiperBillie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
), the weathergirl and daughter of station manager Leonard (Martin Jarvis), becomes engaged to Claude (Tom EllisTom Ellis (actor)Tom Ellis is a Welsh actor best known for playing Dr. Oliver Cousins in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Detective Sergeant Sam Speed in a Life on Mars parody on the The Catherine Tate Show...
), the sports presenter. Jealous visual effects manager Don (Derek RiddellDerek RiddellDerek Riddell is a Scottish television actor.He was born in Glasgow, the son of actress Hope Ross and former St Mirren footballer Ian Riddell...
), plots to break up Hero and Claude, whilst the others attempt to get Beatrice and Benedick together. Hero and Claude eventually repair their friendship, though Hero refuses to consider marriage again, the ending is left ambiguous about their future as they are the best man and maid of honour (respectively) for the finale: the wedding of Beatrice and Benedick.
Macbeth
- Adapted by Peter MoffatPeter MoffatPeter Moffat is a British playwright and screenwriter. His first play was called Fine and Private Place and was broadcast on BBC Radio in 1997. His best-known plays are Nabokov's Gloves and Iona Rain....
- Broadcast 14 November 2005
- Set in a three-star restaurant owned by celebrity chef Duncan Docherty (Vincent ReganVincent Regan-Career:Regan was born in Swansea on 16 May 1965, the son of Irish immigrants. As a youth he moved to Ireland with his parents, but returned to Britain and attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich in Suffolk....
), with Joe Macbeth (James McAvoyJames McAvoyJames McAvoy is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until the early 2000s. His notable television work includes State of Play, Shameless, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune...
) as the sous chef and his wifeLady Macbeth (Shakespeare)Lady Macbeth is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Macbeth . She is the wife to the play's protagonist, Macbeth, a Scottish nobleman. After goading him into committing regicide, she becomes Queen of Scotland, but later suffers pangs of guilt for her part in the crime...
Ella (Keeley HawesKeeley HawesKeeley Hawes is an English actress and model, known for many television roles. She is best known for her roles as Zoe Reynolds in Spooks and Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes and Lady Agnes in the remake of Upstairs, Downstairs...
) as the Maître d'. Joe and his fellow chef Billy BanquoBanquoBanquo is a character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally to Macbeth and they are together when they meet the Three Witches. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his...
(Joseph MillsonJoseph MillsonJoseph Millson is an English actor and singer. He trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup.-Theatre:* The Lifted Veil at the National * Pillars of the Community at the National...
) are annoyed that Duncan takes credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm (Toby KebbellToby KebbellTobias Alistair P. "Toby" Kebbell is a British actor.-Life and career:Kebbell, the fourth of five children, was born in South Elmsall, on the A638 between Doncaster and Wakefield, Yorkshire, but grew up in Nottinghamshire...
) has, in their opinion, no real flair for the business. Then they encounter three supernatural binmen who predict that Macbeth will get ownership of the restaurant, as will Billy's children. Joe and Ella are inspired to kill Duncan, but the binmen subsequently warn that Macbeth should be wary of Peter MacduffMacduff (thane)Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth . Macduff plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act...
(Richard ArmitageRichard Armitage (actor)Richard Crispin Armitage is an English actor famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North in Spooks...
), the head waiter.
The Taming of The Shrew
- Adapted by Sally WainwrightSally WainwrightSally Wainwright is a British BAFTA nominated television writer and playwright. She won 2009 Writer of the Year Award given by the RTS in 2009 for Unforgiven.She was born in Halifax.Original television productions include:*Scott & Bailey...
- Broadcast 21 November 2005
- Katherine Minola (Shirley HendersonShirley HendersonShirley Henderson is a Scottish actress. She is perhaps best known for her role as Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire .-Early life:...
) is a politician who hopes to become the Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom). She is told that her abrasive personality is bad PRPublic relationsPublic relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
and that it might be good for her image to get married. When penniless nobleman PetruchioPetruchioPetruchio is the male romantic lead in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew . Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman named Kate and then proceeds to "tame" her temperamental spirit...
(Rufus SewellRufus SewellRufus Frederik Sewell is an English actor. In film, he has appeared in The Woodlanders, Dangerous Beauty, Dark City, A Knight's Tale, The Illusionist, Tristan and Isolde, and Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence. On television, he starred in the 2010 mini-series The Pillars of the Earth...
) shows up, interested at first in Katherine's money, sparks fly as Katherine seems to have met her match. The relationship and battle of wills bring big surprises for both parties. Katherine's sister Bianca (Jaime MurrayJaime MurrayJaime Murray is an English actress, best known for playing Stacie Monroe in Hustle and Lila Tournay in season two of the Showtime series Dexter. She has also had recurring roles as H.G...
) is a supermodel whose manager is Petruchio's friend, Harry (Stephen TompkinsonStephen TompkinsonStephen Tompkinson is a British actor. He is best known for his work in comedy and drama productions such as Drop the Dead Donkey, Ballykissangel, Grafters, In Deep, Wild at Heart and DCI Banks....
). TwiggyTwiggyLesley Lawson née Hornby known as Twiggy is an English model, actress, and singer. In the early-1960s she became a prominent British teenage model of swinging sixties London with others such as Penelope Tree....
has the role of Katherine and Bianca's mother. David MitchellDavid Mitchell (actor)David James Stuart Mitchell is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is half of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb, whom he met at Cambridge University. There they were both part of the Cambridge Footlights, of which Mitchell became President. Together the duo star in the...
played Kate's hapless secretary Tim.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Adapted by Peter BowkerPeter BowkerPeter Bowker is a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the television serials Blackpool , a musical drama about a shady casino owner; Occupation , which follows three military servicemen adjusting to civilian life after a tour of duty in Iraq; and Desperate Romantics , a...
- Broadcast 28 November 2005
- TheoTheseusFor other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
(Bill Paterson) and PollyHippolytaIn Greek mythology, Hippolyta or Hippolyte is the Amazonian queen who possessed a magical girdle she was given by her father Ares, the god of war. The girdle was a waist belt that signified her authority as queen of the Amazons....
(Imelda StauntonImelda StauntonImelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her performances in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path, the Harry Potter film series and Vera Drake...
) visit Dream Park inclusive leisure facility to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Hermia (Zoe TapperZoe TapperZoe Tapper is an English actress who first came to prominence playing Nell Gwynne in Richard Eyre's award-winning film Stage Beauty in 2004. She is known for portraying Anya Raczynski in Survivors and Mina Harker in Demons.-Background:...
) to JamesDemetriusDemetrius, also spelled as Demetrios, Dimitrios, Demitri, and Dimitri , is a male given name.Demetrius and its variations may refer to the following:...
(William AshWilliam AshWilliam Ash MBE, was a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot, writer, and Marxist.Born into a lower middle-class family in Dallas, Texas, Ash was a migrant worker during the U.S Great Depression and took a University course, doing privileged pupils' essays in order to gain money and also for his personal...
). The engagement party is, much to the irritable Theo's horror, disrupted by Hermia's true love XanderLysander (Shakespeare)Lysander is one of the iconic lovers in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. A handsome young man of Athens, Lysander is in love with Hermia and plans to run away from her father with her to escape Athenian law and wed. But his plans are disrupted when Oberon decides to have some...
(Rupert EvansRupert EvansRupert Evans is an English actor, who is well known in the United Kingdom for his television career.Evans was born in Staffordshire, England. He attended Milton Abbey School, in Dorset, and went on to train at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art...
). Despite their own disagreements, the fairyFairyA fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
rulers of the woods around Dream Park, Titania (Sharon SmallSharon SmallSharon Small is a Scottish actress acclaimed for her dramatic work in film, radio, theatre and television. Her best-known TV role is that of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers in the BBC television adaptation of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries by Elizabeth George.-Education and personal life:Small...
) and Oberon (Lennie JamesLennie JamesLennie James is an English actor and playwright.-Career:James attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1988...
), have a duty to ensure a happy ending, so Oberon gets PuckPuck (Shakespeare)Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is a character in William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream that was based on the ancient figure in English mythology, also called Puck. Puck is a clever and mischievous elf and personifies the trickster or the wise knave...
(Dean Lennox KellyDean Lennox KellyDean Lennox Kelly is an English actor, He is the brother of actor Craig Kelly.Dean is best known for his role as Kev Ball in Channel 4’s Shameless.-Career:...
) — portrayed as a sort of magical wide boyWide boyWide boy is a British term for a man who lives by his wits, wheeling and dealing. According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is synonymous with spiv. The word 'wide' is in this sense means wide-awake or sharp-witted...
— to try to sort things out with "love juice" eyedrops, while Oberon and Theo discuss their marriages. Puck's efforts inevitably lead to more confusion. Comedian Johnny VegasJohnny VegasJohnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
appears as Nick BottomNick BottomNick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream who provides comic relief throughout the play, and is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of an ass by the elusive Puck within the play.- Overview :...
who, like the other MechanicalsMechanical (character)A mechanical is any of six characters in A Midsummer Night's Dream who perform the play-within-a-play Pyramus and Thisbe. Named for their occupations as skilled manual laborers, they are a group of Amateur actors from around Athens, looking to make names for themselves by having their production...
, is a Dream Park security guard who hopes to make it onto the entertainment staff.
DVD
On 26 December 2005, a Region 2 DVD of the episodes was released by Acorn Media UKAcorn Media UK
Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....
. A Region 1 release followed on 24 July 2007 from BBC Warner.