British Universities Film & Video Council

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Parkinson [12/01/1980]

Synopsis
Chat show hosted by Michael Parkinson. Jonathan Miller is the first guest and talks for c17 minutes. He states that he prefers directing plays and operas to performing. He directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Vienna and believes that there is a different approach to Shakespeare and the classics on the continent. He speaks of his new job producing and directing plays in the BBC Television Shakespeare series. His interest rests in Shakespeare’s use of language to express human relations when today language is often used as an instrument of repression. He talks of the great use of humour in tragedies, for example King Lear. He believes that that there is no definitive version of Shakespeare. He considers himself a bad performer. Other guests were Janet Suzman (who does not talk about Shakespeare), Ian Dury, Max Wall and Rob Wilton.
Series
Parkinson
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Television
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Stage directing; BBC Television Shakespeare series

Credits

Director
John Hughes
Producer
John Fisher
Contributor
Jonathan Miller; Michael Parkinson

Production Company

Name

BBC

Notes
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7255 1444
Fax
020 7436 0165
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
View this record on the Shakespeare site for additional details

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