''ShakespeaRe-Told'' is the

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 the separate components or providing a convenient "label" for a collection of disciplines. Uses of ...

for a series of four television adaptations of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 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 network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

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.

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 an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...

) as feuding anchors.

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

(

Billie Piper Billie Paul Piper (born Leian Paul Piper; 22 September 1982) is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest woman ...

), 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. Role Traditionally, a queen ...

(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), with Joe Macbeth ( James McAvoy) as the

sous chef A sous-chef is a chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the ...

and his wife Ella (

Keeley Hawes Claire Julia Hawes (born 10 February 1976), known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including ''Our Mutual Friend'' (1998) and '' Tipping the Velvet'' (2002), Ha ...

) as the '' Maître d'''. Joe and his fellow chef Billy Banquo (

Joseph Millson Joseph Millson (born 27 April 1974) is an English actor and singer. He trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup, London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Eng ...

) are annoyed that Duncan takes the credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm ( Toby Kebbell) 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 from Yorkshire. Early in her career, Wainwright worked as a playwright, and as a scriptwriter on the long-running radio serial drama ''The Archers''. In t ...

* Directed by David Richards *Broadcast 21 November 2005 * Katherine Minola (

Shirley Henderson Shirley Henderson (born 24 November 1965) is a Scottish actress. Her accolades include two Scottish BAFTAs, a VFCC Award and an Olivier Award, as well as BAFTA, BIFA, London Critics' Circle, Chlotrudis, Gotham, and Canadian Screen Award ...

) is a politician who hopes to become the Leader of the Opposition. 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). Petruchio is a fortune seeker who enters into a marriage with a strong-willed young woman ...

(

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in '' Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet' (1996), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), '' A Knight's Tale ''(2001), '' Th ...

) 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'' (2004–2012), Lila West in the Showtime series ''Dexter'' (2007), Gaia in the Starz miniseries '' Spartacus: ...

) 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 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 *Directed by Ed Fraiman *Broadcast 28 November 2005 *

Theo Theo is a given name and a hypocorism. Greek origin Many names beginning with the root "Theo-" derive from the Ancient Greek word ''theos'' (''θεός''), which means god, for example: *Feminine names: Thea, Theodora, Theodosia, Theophania, ...

( 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, Paula (g ...

( Imelda Staunton) 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 ( Rupert Evans). Despite their own disagreements, the fairy rulers of the woods around Dream Park, Titania (

Sharon Small Sharon Small is a Scottish actress known for her work in film, radio, theatre, and television. Perhaps best known for her portrayal of Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers in the BBC television adaptation of '' The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'' b ...

) and

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairies in 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, Queen of the Fairi ...

(

Lennie James Lennie Michael James (born 11 October 1965) is a British actor, screenwriter, and playwright. His work includes playing Morgan Jones in the television series, '' The Walking Dead'' and in its spin-off, '' Fear the Walking Dead'', and starring ...

), 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. 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, Lancashire. He trained at the Br ...

) — 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 comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

appears as

Nick Bottom Nick Bottom is a character in Shakespeare's ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' who provides comic relief throughout the play. A weaver by trade, he is famously known for getting his head transformed into that of a donkey by the elusive Puck. Bott ...

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
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare-Told 2005 British television series debuts 2005 British television series endings Films 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