Much Ado About Nothing

Alternative title
Shakespeare Re-Told Shakespeare Retold
Synopsis
A modern television interpretation of Shakespeare’s play, with contemporary dialogue, presented as a screwball comedy and set in a provincial newsroom. Beatrice and Benedick discuss and analyse Sonnet 116 in the course of the drama.
Series
Shakespeare-Told
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Television; Video
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Year of release
2005
Transmission details
7 Nov 2005 at 18:30 (Channel: BBC1)
Duration
90 mins

Credits

Director
Brian Percival
Producer
Diederick Santer
Writer
David Nicholls
Cast
Sarah ParishBeatrice (Beatrice)
Damian LewisBenedick (Benedick)
Tom EllisClaude (Claudio)
Billie PiperHero (Hero)
Derek RiddellDon (Don John)
Martin JarvisLeonard (Leonato)
Nina SosanyaMargaret (Margaret)
Olivia ColmanUrsula (Ursula)

Additional Details

Production type
Television and Radio Drama
Historical period
Contemporary
Plays
Much Ado About Nothing
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Combined on 1 DVD with the other three dramas in the series. DVD extras include cast interviews and filmographies; Shakespeare biography; Shakespeare on Film; picture gallery. Also available as a download from BBC Store
History
Shown on BBC America in August 2006.
Reviews
Wray, Ramona ‘Shakespeare and the Singletons, or, Beatrice meets Bridget Jones: Post Feminism, Popular Culture and Shakespea(Re)-Told’ in Burnett, Mark Thornton & Wray, Ramona (eds) Screening Shakespeare in the Twenty-First Century. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006. (pp 185-205).

`This woefully scripted entry in the BBC’s ShakespeaRe-Told series of modernised adaptations places Much Ado...into an inhospitable new environment and reduces it to a mirthless amalgam of second-rate sitcom and soap opera’ Rosenthal, Daniel. 100 Shakespeare Films (London: BFI, 2007), p. 158.

Online Availability

Online URL
https://store.bbc.com/shakespeare-told
Online price
£3.99
Online format
Download

Production Company

Name

Horsebridge Productions

Archive

Name

Learning on Screen Off-Air Recording Back-up Service

Email
services@bufvc.ac.uk
Web
http://bufvc.ac.uk/tvandradio/offair External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7393 1514
Fax
020 7393 1555
Address
For Learning on Screen Members only
77 Wells Street
London
W1T 3QJ

Distributor

Name

Acorn Media UK

Email
customerservices@acorndvd.com
Web
http://www.acorndvd.com/ External site opens in new window
Fax
020 7627 250
Address
55 Drury Lane
London
WC2B 5SQ
Notes
Founded in 1997, Acorn specialises in distributing archival television programmes, predominantly licensed from the BBC and ITV. Sale on DVD and Blu-Ray, in Region 2 PAL format, direct and via retail outlets.
Name

BBC Store

Web
https://store.bbc.com/ External site opens in new window
Notes
NB. From May 2017 programmes are no longer available to buy on BBC Store. From November 1st 2017 the store will close completely and programmes bought from BBC Store will no longer be available to watch. Customers who have bought items from BBC Store will be contacted by email and refunded for their purchases either by full cash refund or Amazon video vouchers.

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets

Online Retailer

Name

Moviemail

Web
https://www.simplyhe.com/3000-moviemail External site opens in new window
Phone
0844 848 2000
Address
Simply Home Entertainment
PO Box 7741
Ringwood
BH24 9FA
UK
Notes
As of December 2016 the Moviemail web presence is incorporated within the Simply Media website

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av36439 (Accessed 25 Nov 2024)