Fall of a Protector, The

Synopsis: Tenth episode in a fifteen-part televised series comprising Shakespeare’s history plays from Richard II to Richard III (the two tetralogies), effectively presenting a chronological history of British royalty from 1377 to 1485. This episode covers Henry VI, Part 2, Acts 1-III.
Series: Age of Kings, An
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Television
Transmission details: 8 Sep 1960 at 21:00 (Channel: BBC)
Duration: 60 mins

Director

Michael Hayes

Producer

Writer

Music

Art Direction

Contributor

Arthur Bliss; Eric Crozier; Lionel Salter

Cast

Terry Scully	King Henry VI
Mary Morris	Queen Margaret
John Ringham	Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester (Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester)
Edgar Wreford	Duke of Suffolk (William de la Pole)
Alan Rowe	Duke of Somerset
Anthony Valentine	Petitioner
Anthony Valentine	Neighbour
Audrey Noble	Simpcox’s wife
David Andrews	Petitioner
Derek Ware	Peter Thump
Frank Windsor	Earl of Warwick
Gordon Gostelow	Earl of Salisbury
Jack May	Richard, Duke of York (Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York)
Jeffry Wickham	Sheriff (Sheriff of London)
Jeremy Bisley	John Southwell
Jerome Willis	Mayor (Mayor of Saint Albans)
Jerome Willis	Sir John Stanley
John Greenwood	Prentice
John Greenwood	Messenger
John Murray Scott	Spirit
John Warner	Saunder Simpcox (Simon Simpcox)
Julian Glover	Thomas Horner
Kenneth Farrington	Duke of Buckingham
Leon Shepperdson	Beadle
Nan Mariott-Watson	Mother Jordan (Margery Jourdain)
Nancie Jackson	Eleanor, Duchess of Gloucester
Noel Johnson	Duke of Exeter
Patrick Garland	Sir John Hume
Robert Lang	Beaufort (Cardinal Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester)
Terence Lodge	Bolingbroke, a conjurer (Roger Bolingbroke)
Terry Wale	Neighbour
Timothy Harley	Citizen of London
Timothy Harley	Prentice
Tony Garnett	Neighbour
Tony Garnett	Post

Notes: Commercially available on DVD as part of a 5-disc box set from BBC Warner (released March 2009). A written transcript of the series is being held at the Birmingham Central Library as part of their Shakespeare Collection.
General: As Michael Brooke notes, this production was "the most conceptually ambitious Shakespeare project ever attempted for either film or television." Each episode involved expenses of £4.000 and a cast of 600. The rehearsal period took thirty weeks.
History: Transmitted in the US on PBS’ WNEW-TV channel 8 September 1961.
Awards: Directors Guild of Great Britain Award for Excellence in Directing (Peter Dews)

1962 The George Foster Peabody Award
Textual information: Script editor Michael Cozier cut the texts into 60 -75 minute episodes which, for the most part, comprised half a complete play.
Reviews: Michael Brooke, "Age of Kings, An (1960)", http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/527213/index.html

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