The BBC Television Shakespeare: A Hilarious Journey Through the Bard’s Greatest Hits
Welcome to the grand spectacle of Shakespeare as brought to life by the BBC, where every sonnet is a potential sitcom and every tragic hero might just trip over his own soliloquy. This ambitious series, which aired from 1978 to 1985, is like a time machine that transports you to an era where tights were fashionable, and the only thing more dramatic than the plots were the actors’ mustaches.
Plot Spoilers Ahead!
Imagine if your high school English teacher decided to produce Shakespeare’s entire oeuvre with a budget of roughly £10 and a cast of enthusiastic but somewhat confused actors. Each play, from the well-known “Hamlet” to the less popular “Titus Andronicus” (which is basically the Shakespearean equivalent of a horror film), gets its moment in the spotlight. Spoiler alert: everyone dies, and it’s usually pretty messy.
Hamlet: The Original Emo Kid
Let’s start with “Hamlet,” where our moody prince spends more time contemplating life and death than actually doing anything. Seriously, he could have solved his family drama with a good therapist instead of a dagger. By the end, everyone’s either dead or about to be, and you’ll be left wondering if anyone in Denmark knows how to do laundry without bloodshed.
Romeo and Juliet: Teenage Love Gone Wrong
Next, we have “Romeo and Juliet,” a classic tale of two teenagers who fall in love faster than you can say “miscommunication.” Spoiler: If they had just texted each other instead of relying on messengers, they could have avoided all that tragic nonsense. Instead, they both end up dead, leaving us to wonder if the real tragedy was their choice in friends.
Macbeth: The Ambitious Couple
Then there’s “Macbeth,” where ambition runs amok, and the couple that slays together stays together—until the guilt drives them insane. Spoiler alert: Lady Macbeth’s washing hands ritual is the original “clean up your act” advice, and let’s just say it doesn’t end well for either of them. Who knew that a bit of ambition could lead to so much bloody chaos?
A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Love is Confusing
In “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” we’re introduced to a love potion that causes all sorts of comedic mayhem. Spoiler: If you think love triangles are complicated now, just wait until you see these characters trying to sort out who loves who under the influence of fairy magic. The real takeaway? Don’t trust anyone who claims to have a magic potion for love.
Final Thoughts
The BBC Television Shakespeare is less of a straightforward adaptation and more of a Shakespearean buffet, where you can sample all the best (and worst) bits of the Bard’s work while laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. It’s a delightful reminder that while Shakespeare may have been a genius, he also had a flair for the dramatic that can make even the most tragic endings feel a bit like a comedy of errors.
So, if you ever find yourself in need of a good laugh, a dose of history, or a reminder that life is often absurd, dive into this series. Just remember: if you start feeling too much empathy for the characters, it’s probably time to switch to a romantic comedy.