The Tragedy of Richard the Third (1983) (TV)

Director:

Jane Howell

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Release Date:

23 January 1983 (UK)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Richard Duke of Gloucester, youngest brother of King Edward IV, will stop at nothing to get the crown...

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | William Shakespeare | Remake | Shakespeare's Richard III | Based On Play

Cast

Peter Aldwyn	...	Second Company
Peter Benson	...	King Henry VI
Brian Binns	...	Second Company
Gerald Blackmore	...	Second Company
Stephen Brigden	...	Second Company
Anthony Brown	...	Sir Richard Ratcliffe
David Burke	...	Sir William Catesby
Michael Byrne	...	Duke of Buckingham
Anne Carroll	...	Jane Shore
Paul Chapman	...	Earl Rivers
Michael Cogan	...	Second Company
Ron Cook	...	Richard III
Rowena Cooper	...	Queen Elizabeth
Arthur Cox	...	Lord Grey, Lord Mayor of London
Stuart Cox	...	Second Company
Annette Crosbie	...	Duchess of York
David Daker	...	Lord Hastings
Brian Deacon	...	Henry, Earl of Richmond
Jeremy Dimmick	...	Young Duke of York
Jonathan Evans	...	Second Company
Tenniel Evans	...	Lord Stanley
Derek Farr	...	Sir Robert Brakenbury, Earl of Surrey
Mark Fletcher	...	Second Company
Dorian Ford	...	Edward, Prince of Wales
Julia Foster	...	Queen Margaret
Derek Fuke	...	Sir Thomas Vaughan
Michael Gardiner	...	Second Company
Nigel Gomm	...	Trumpeter
David Goodwin	...	Second Company
Barry Grantham	...	Second Company
Alex Guard	...	Marquess of Dorset
Nick Hall	...	Second Company
Bernard Hill	...	Sir William Brandon
Paul Jesson	...	George, Duke of Clarence
Angus Kennedy	...	Second Company
Patsy Kensit	...	Lady Margaret Plantagenet
Hamish Kerr	...	Second Company
Hus Levant	...	Second Company
Brian Little	...	Drummer
Rusty Livingstone	...	Page to Richard
David Ludwig	...	Second Company
Peter Macklin	...	Second Company
Oengus MacNamara	...	Halberdier, Lord Lovell
Stephen Paine	...	Drummer
Brian Protheroe	...	King Edward IV
John Rankin	...	Second Company
Nick Reding	...	Ghost of the Prince of Wales
Martin Rutledge	...	Second Company
Peter Searles	...	Second Company
Frank Walsh	...	Trumpeter
Zoë Wanamaker	...	Lady Anne
Mark Wing-Davey	...	Sir James Tyrrel
Peter Wyatt	...	Duke of Norfolk

Also Known As:

Richard III (UK)
The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: The Tragedy of Richard the Third (USA) (video title)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#9.2)" (1996)

I beg to differ.

I love Shakespeare, both classically performed and the recontextualised adaptations of recent years, but this production, made with a large budget (British television-wise) with a talented director and a superb cast somehow manages to fail spectacularly to bring Shakespeare's classic play to life. I would not envy Jane Howell's task of directing Richard III using the (almost) complete text as a shooting script, but I think she could have approached it in a more imaginative fashion, making better use of television conventions. Save for the close-up and the shot-reverse shot technique, Howell prefers to display what is simply "Filmed Theater", with a set that offers little to a medium as visual as television. The performances, though excellent, don't really come across with the power and passion they no doubt would in the theater, and the end result is a four hour long dirge that does no credit to Shakespeare's sharp and vibrant play.