Henry V, The Life of

Synopsis
First televised adaptation of the play broadcast in the Television World Theatre series. Directed and produced by Peter Dews, with John Neville as Henry V and Bernard Hepton as Chorus/Shakespeare.
Series
BBC Television World Theatre
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Television
Transmission details
29 Dec 1957 at 20:30 (Channel: BBC)
Duration
120 mins

Credits

Director
Peter Dews
Producer
Peter Dews
Writer
William Shakespeare
Art Direction
Guy Sheppard
Cast
John NevilleKing Henry V
Bernard HeptonChorus
Tony ChurchArchbishop of Canterbury
Patricia CrebKatherine
John WoodDauphin
Allan McClellandMacmorris
Della BatchelorHostess, formerly Mistress Quickly
Dudley JonesFluellen
Edgar WrefordMountjoy (Montjoy)
Geoffrey BayldonPistol
George SelwayEarl of Westmoreland
George SkillanSir Thomas Erpingham
Hugh HicksonSir Thomas Grey
Jessica DunningQueen Isabel
Joby BlanshardJohn Bates
Julian SomersDuke of Exeter
Michael BatesBardolph
Michael BatesMichael Williams
Nancie JacksonAlice
Noel JohnsonConstable of France
Peter BillingsleyHenry, Lord Scroop of Masham
Peter LambertRichard, Earl of Cambridge
Philip MorantGower
Richard CoeDuke of Bedford
Richard PalmerDuke of Gloucester
Roger MilnerNim
Ronald HinesEarl of Salisbury
Walter HuddKing Charles VI of France

Additional Details

Production type
Television and Radio Drama
Plays
Henry V
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Production cost: £4.069. Cast: 44

The Birmingham Shakespeare Library holds a rehearsal script from 2-29 December 1957.

Information received June 2013 confirms that a copy is held in the BBC Information and Archives and may be available for viewing through the BFI National Archive.
General
According to Rothwell/Melzer, Dew’s presentational Chorus (the Chorus as author-figure, in this production, it appears, Shakespeare himself) anticipates the way in which the figure was used in later productions, such as the 1979 BBC TV Shakespeare (dir. David Giles) and Kenneth Branagh’s film version (1989). Rothwell/Melzer suggest that this device also served as a means for directors to assuage "their guilt over wrenching Shakespeare from page and stage to screen" (96).
History
First US broadcast 4 November 1960 , WTTW, Chicago (NET),
Reviews
"B.B.C. Television: Henry V, " The Times, 30.12.1957, p. 10.

Kenneth Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer, Shakespeare on Screen: An International Filmography and Videography (London: Mansell, 1990), entry 177, pp. 96.

John Wyver ‘assesses the production at http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2013/06/11/television-world-theatre-the-life-of-henry-the-fifth-bbc-1957 (accessed 6/2013).

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Henry V, The Life of". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av36786 (Accessed 25 Nov 2024)