Tag Archive: David Suchet


RICHARD II by William Shakespeare – directed by Rupert Goold  (BBC Two)

Richard loses his crown.

This is why you pay out for a TV license. Well, as I live in Italy, I don’t actually have one but if I was still in the UK I’d happily cough up the fee to fund quality productions like this.

Okay, a play written in 1595 is not exactly contemporary drama yet when Patrick Stewart as the aptly named Gaunt pronounces on England’s fading glory, he could easily be making a speech about the state of the nation today:  “this dear dear land is now leased out….. that England, that was wont to conquer others, hath made a shameful conquest of itself.”  Continue reading

Despite the triumphant eight hour version of Bleak House in 2005, there was talk of the BBC cutting back on costume dramas and putting Charles Dickens adaptations on hold.

Thankfully, there seems to have been a rethink at Broadcasting House and so we were treated to a marvellous three part version of Great Expectations over Christmas and can look forward to The Mystery of Edwin Drood soon.

The BBC is to Dickens what Fox television is to reactionary journalism and the festive period is the ideal time of year to watch these dramas.

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