''ShakespeaRe-Told'' is the umbrella title for a series of four television adaptations of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's plays broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

during November 2005. In a similar manner to the 2003 production of ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

'', 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 is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. BBC Northern Ireland is one of the four BB ...

and the central BBC drama department. In August 2006 the four films aired on BBC America.

Episodes

''Much Ado About Nothing''

*Adapted by David Nicholls *Directed by Brian Percival *Broadcast 7 November 2005 *Set in a local news studio, with Beatrice (

Sarah Parish Sarah Parish (born 7 June 1968) is an English actress. She is known for her work on television series including '' The Pillars of the Earth'', '' Peak Practice'', '' Hearts and Bones'', ''Cutting It'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Mistresses'', ''Merlin'' ...

) and Benedick (

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is a British actor, musician and producer. He rose to prominence portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries ''Band of Brothers (miniseries), Band of Brothers''. Lewis won a Prime ...

) as feuding anchors.

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

(

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer who is best known for her portrayal as Rose Tyler in ''Doctor Who'' (2005–2006, 2008, 2010). She initially gained recognition as a singer a ...

), the weathergirl and daughter of station manager Leonard ( Martin Jarvis), becomes engaged to Claude ( Tom Ellis), the sports presenter. Jealous visual effects manager Don ( Derek 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 A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts. Tudors and Stuarts Traditi ...

(respectively) for the finale: the wedding of Beatrice and Benedick.

''Macbeth''

*Adapted by Peter Moffat *Directed by Mark Brozel *Broadcast 14 November 2005 *Set in a three Michelin star restaurant owned by celebrity chef Duncan Docherty (

Vincent Regan Vincent Regan (born 16 May 1965) is a Welsh film and television actor. Early life Regan born 16 May 1965 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. He attended Nicholas Breakspear School, St.Albans, Hertfordshire, then St Joseph's College, Ipswich, before ...

), with Joe

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

(

James McAvoy James McAvoy (; born 21 April 1979) is a Scottish actor and director. He made his acting debut as a teen in '' The Near Room'' (1995) and appeared mostly on television until 2003, when his film career began. His notable television work inclu ...

) as the

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command of a kitchen, ranking directly below the head chef in the Kitchen Brigade system developed by Auguste Escoffier. In large kitchens, sous-chefs are typically left in charge of managing members o ...

and his wife Ella ( Keeley Hawes) as the ''

Maître d' (spelled according to post-1990 spelling rules) is a commonly used honorific for lawyers, judicial officers and notaries in France, Belgium, Switzerland and French-speaking parts of Canada. It is often written in its abbreviated form ''Me'' o ...

''. Joe and his fellow chef Billy

Banquo Lord Banquo , the Thane (Scotland), Thane of Lochaber, is a semi-historical character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play ''Macbeth''. In the play, he is at first an ally of Macbeth (character), Macbeth (both are generals in the King's army) an ...

( Joseph Millson) are annoyed that Duncan takes the credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm (

Toby Kebbell Tobias Alistair Patrick Kebbell''Births, Marriages & Deaths: Toby is married to Arielle Wyatt. They got married in 2020 and they have one child together. Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 9 July 1982) is an English ...

) 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 Macduff ( Richard Armitage), the head waiter.

''The Taming of the Shrew''

*Adapted by

Sally Wainwright Sally Anne Wainwright (born 1963) is an English television writer, producer, and director. She is known for her dramas, which are often set in her native West Yorkshire, and feature "strong female characters". Wainwright has been praised for th ...

* Directed by David Richards *Broadcast 21 November 2005 * Katherine Minola ( Shirley Henderson) is a politician who hopes to become the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

. She is told that her abrasive personality is bad PR and that it might be good for her image to get married. When penniless nobleman

Petruchio Petruchio ( ; an anglicisation of the Italian name Petruccio, ) is the male protagonist in Shakespeare's '' The Taming of the Shrew'' (c. 1590–1594). Plot In the play, Petruchio comes to the town of Padua in the hopes of marrying a wealthy ...

(

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British actor. In film, he has appeared in ''Carrington (film), Carrington'' (1995), ''Hamlet (1996 film), Hamlet'' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), ''Dark City (1998 film), Dark City'' (1 ...

) 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 Murray Jaime Erica Murray (born 21 July 1976) is an English actress. She is known for playing Stacie Monroe in the BBC series ''Hustle (TV series), Hustle'' (2004–2012), Lila West in the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''Dexter (TV series), ...

) is a supermodel whose manager is Petruchio's friend, Harry (

Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in '' Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in '' Ballykissangel'' (1996� ...

Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949), widely known by the nickname Twiggy, is an English model, actress, and singer. She was a Culture of the United Kingdom, British cultural icon and a prominent teenage model during th ...

has the role of Katherine and Bianca's mother. David Mitchell played Kate's hapless secretary Tim.

''A Midsummer Night's Dream''

*Adapted by

Peter Bowker Peter Bowker (born 5 January 1959) is a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the television serials ''Blackpool (TV series), Blackpool'' (2004), a musical drama about a shady casino owner in the Northern England, north of En ...

*Directed by Ed Fraiman *Broadcast 28 November 2005 * Theo ( Bill Paterson) and

Polly Polly is a given name, most often feminine, which originated as a variant of Molly (name), Molly (a diminutive of Mary (name), Mary). Polly may also be a short form of names such as Polina (given name), Polina, Polona (given name), Polona, Pauline ...

(

Imelda Staunton Dame Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre pr ...

) visit Dream Park inclusive leisure facility to celebrate the engagement of their daughterTheseus and Hippolyta are not Hermia's parents in the original. Hermia ( Zoe Tapper) to James ( William Ash). The engagement party is, much to the irritable Theo's horror, disrupted by Hermia's true love

Xander Xander is an abbreviated form of the name Alexander and pronounced like "Zander". Alexander is the Latin form of the Greek name "Alexandros". The name's meaning is interpreted from "alexein" which means "to defend" plus "andros" which translates ...

( Rupert Evans). Despite their own disagreements, the

fairy A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

rulers of the woods around Dream Park, Titania ( Sharon Small) and

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

( Lennie James), have a duty to ensure a happy ending, so Oberon gets Puck (

Dean Lennox Kelly Dean Lennox Kelly (born 30 November 1975) is an English actor and voice over artist. He is known for his television roles as Kev Ball in '' Shameless'' and Meredith Rutter in '' Jamestown''. Early life Kelly is from Lytham St Annes, Lancashir ...

) — portrayed as a sort of magical wide boy — 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 Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, angry comedic rants, and use of surreal humour. Ve ...

appears as Nick Bottom who, like the other Mechanicals, 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 UK. A Region 1 release followed on 24 July 2007 from BBC Warner.

Notes

External links

The BBC's official ''ShakespeaRe-Told'' site
* * * * {{Authority control 2005 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings Television shows based on works by William Shakespeare Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare Works based on Much Ado About Nothing Works based on The Taming of the Shrew Works based on Macbeth Works based on A Midsummer Night's Dream