Will Shakespeare (TV series)

Will Shakespeare
Also known as	Life of Shakespeare William Shakespeare: His Life & Times
Created by	John Mortimer
Written by	John Mortimer
Directed by	Mark Cullingham Robert Knights
Starring	Tim Curry Ian McShane Nicholas Clay Lynette Davies Paul Freeman John Normington Ron Cook Richard Cordery Ronald Herdman Roger Lloyd-Pack
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	6
Production
Producer(s)	Cecil Clarke Lorna Mason (associate producer) Peter Roden (co-producer)
Production company(s)	ATV, RAI
Distributor	BWE Video
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	13 June – 18 July 1978

Will Shakespeare, also known as Life of Shakespeare and William Shakespeare: His Life & Times, was a 1978 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 successfully the previous year on Jesus of Nazareth.

Cast

Tim Curry as William Shakespeare
Ian McShane as Christopher Marlowe
Nicholas Clay as the Earl of Southampton
Lynette Davies as the Countess of Southampton
Paul Freeman as Richard Burbage
John Normington as Alex Cooke
Ron Cook as Jack Rice
Richard Cordery as Henry Condell
Ronald Herdman as Sam Crosse
Roger Lloyd-Pack as Jack Heminge
Patience Collier as Elizabeth I

Writing

Each episode was based around the creation of a single play, and the idea of Shakespeare's real life experiences influencing his writing was used as the central plot device.^[1] As there are few known facts about the life of Shakespeare, Mortimer embellished upon known stories or legends about the playwright's life. These included 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 Ltd 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 home video 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.

References

1 2 Michael Brooke. "Will Shakespeare (1978)". BFI. Retrieved 2008-04-20.
↑ "Life of Shakespeare (1978)". IMDB. Retrieved 2008-04-20.

External links

BFI screenonline page on Will Shakespeare (1978)
Life of Shakespeare (TV Mini-Series 1978) at the Internet Movie Database

Works by John Mortimer

Novels	Rumpole's Return (1980) Paradise Postponed (1985) Summer's Lease Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders (2004)

Short fiction collections	Rumpole of the Bailey (1978) The Trials of Rumpole (1979) Rumpole (1980) Regina v Rumpole (1981) Rumpole and the Golden Thread (1983) Rumpole's Last Case (1987) Rumpole and the Age of Miracles (1988) Rumpole a La Carte (1990) Rumpole On Trial (1992) Rumpole and the Angel of Death (1995) Rumpole Rests His Case (2002) Rumpole and the Primrose Path (2003)

Plays	The Dock Brief (1958) A Voyage Round My Father (1971)

Films	Ferry to Hong Kong (1960) The Innocents (1961) The Dock Brief (1962) Guns of Darkness (1962) Lunch Hour (1962) The Running Man (1963) Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) A Flea in Her Ear (1968) John and Mary (1969) Maschenka (1987) Tea with Mussolini (1999)

TV	Shades of Greene (series) (1975–76) Rumpole of the Bailey (series) (1975, 1978–92) Will Shakespeare (1978) Rumpole's Return (1980) The Ebony Tower (1984) Die Fledermaus (1990) Don Quixote (2000)

Radio plays	The Dock Brief (1957)

William Shakespeare

Plays

Tragedies	Antony and Cleopatra Coriolanus Hamlet Julius Caesar King Lear Macbeth Othello Romeo and Juliet Sir Thomas More* Timon of Athens Titus Andronicus Troilus and Cressida

Comedies	All's Well That Ends Well As You Like It The Comedy of Errors Cymbeline Love's Labour's Lost Measure for Measure The Merchant of Venice The Merry Wives of Windsor A Midsummer Night's Dream Much Ado About Nothing Pericles, Prince of Tyre* The Taming of the Shrew The Tempest Twelfth Night The Two Gentlemen of Verona The Two Noble Kinsmen* The Winter's Tale Cardenio* Love's Labour's Won

Histories	King John Edward III* Richard II 1 Henry IV 2 Henry IV Henry V 1 Henry VI* 2 Henry VI* 3 Henry VI* Richard III Henry VIII*

See also	Problem plays Late romances Characters A–K L–Z Chronology Performances Settings Quarto publications First Folio Second Folio

Poems

Life
and works

Legacy

* Shakespeare and other authors
Lost

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