Will Shakespeare (TV series)

Last updated

Will Shakespeare
Will Shakespeare (TV series).jpg
DVD cover
Also known asLife of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare: His Life & Times
Created by John Mortimer
Written byJohn Mortimer
Directed byMark Cullingham
Robert Knights
Starring Tim Curry
Ian McShane
Nicholas Clay
Lynette Davies
Paul Freeman
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducerCecil Clarke
Production companies ATV, RAI
Original release
Network ITV
Release13 June (1978-6-13) –
18 July 1978 (1978-7-18)

Will Shakespeare, also known as Life of Shakespeare and William Shakespeare: His Life & Times, is a 1978 British historical drama series created and written by John Mortimer. Broadcast in six parts, the series is a dramatisation of the life and times of the great poet William Shakespeare, played by Tim Curry, and was co-produced by Lew Grade's ATV and RAI and distributed internationally by ITC. The two production companies had collaborated the previous year on Jesus of Nazareth .

Contents

Cast

Writing

Each episode is based around the creation of a play and the idea of Shakespeare's life influencing his writing is used as the central plot device. [1] As there are few known facts about the life of Shakespeare, Mortimer embellished upon stories or legends about the playwright's life. These include a supposed apprenticeship with Christopher Marlowe and a homoerotic relationship with the Earl of Southampton.

Mortimer also invented a character whom the Dark Lady of Shakespeare's sonnets was supposedly based upon. The wife of a judge, she falls in love with Shakespeare after seeing his performance as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet , adding a secondary storyline elaborating on class divisions. [1]

Original literary material

In 1977, Hodder and Stoughton published Will Shakespeare as written by John Mortimer, author of the Rumpole series. Coronet published the paperback edition in 1977, ISBN   0-340-21979-3.

Video release

The series was initially released on VHS under the title William Shakespeare: His Life & Times. [2] A Region 1 DVD release of the series, by A & E television, was released in 2008, simply titled Will Shakespeare. Network Studio released a Region 2 DVD of the series in 2009 under the same title.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Michael Brooke. "Will Shakespeare (1978)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
  2. ↑ "Life of Shakespeare (1978)". IMDb. Retrieved 20 April 2008.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.