All’s Well that Ends Well

Summary

1981 BBC production of All’s Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare, presented in the BBC Television Shakespeare series.

Theatre play

All’s Well that Ends Well by William Shakespeare [more information]

Play synopsis

'Helena, the low-born ward of a Spanish countess, is in love with the countess’s son Bertram, who is indifferent to her. Bertram goes to Paris to replace his late father as attendant to the ailing King of France. Helena, the daughter of a recently deceased doctor, follows Bertram, ostensibly to offer the King her services as a healer. The King is skeptical, and she guarantees the cure with her life: if he dies, she will be put to death, but if he lives, she may choose a husband from the court. The King is cured and Helena chooses Bertram, who rejects her due to her poverty and low status. The King forces him to marry her, but after the ceremony Bertram immediately goes to war in Italy without so much as a goodbye kiss. He says he will only be her husband after she bears his child and wears his family ring. In Italy, Bertram is a successful warrior and also a successful seducer of local virgins. Helena follows him to Italy, befriends Diana, a virgin Bertram has his eye on, and they arrange for Helena to take Diana’s place in bed. Diana obtains Bertram’s ring in exchange for one of Helena’s. In this way Helena, without Bertram’s knowledge, consummates their marriage and wears his ring. Helena returns to the Spanish countess, who is horrified at what her son has done, and claims Helena as her child in Bertram’s place. Helena fakes her death, and Bertram, thinking he is free of her, comes home. He tries to marry a local lord’s daughter, but Diana shows up and breaks up the engagement. Helena appears and explains the ring swap, announcing that she has fulfilled Bertram’s challenge; Bertram, impressed by all she has done to win him, swears his love to her. Thus all ends well. There is a subplot about Parolles, a disloyal associate of Bertram’s. A recurring theme throughout the play is the similarity between love and war - conquering / seducing / betraying / outmaneuvering’. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All%27s_Well_That_Ends_Well.

Production history

Written between 1604 and 1605.

Date of transmission

Sunday 4 January 1981

Time

7.15-9.50pm

Series

BBC Television Shakespeare

Channel

BBC2

Production company

BBC

Credits

Director

Elijah Moshinsky

Producer

Jonathan Miller

Lighting

John Summers

Playwright

William Shakespeare

Composer

Stephen Oliver

Designer

David Myerscough-Jones

Costume Designer

Colin Lavers

Make-up Artist

Suzan Broad

Script Editor

David Snodin

Cast

Max Arthur	Second Gentleman
Yves Aubert	Third Bachelor
Paul Brooke	Lavache
Joolia Cappleman	Mariana
Ian Charleson	Bertram
Angela Down	Helena
Valentine Dyall	Astringer
Nickolas Grace	Soldier
Pippa Guard	Diana
Michael Hordern	Lafeu
Peter Jeffrey	Parolles
Dominic Jephcott	Second French Lord
Celia Johnson	Countess of Rousillon
Rosemary Leach	Widow of Florence
Robert Lindsay	First French Lord
Terry McGinity	First Gentleman
Peter Sands	Fourth Bachelor
John Segal	Second Bachelor
James Simmons	First Bachelor
Donald Sinden (1923-2014)	King of France
Kevin Stoney	Steward

Audiovisual sources

Title

All’s Well that Ends Well (BBC, 1981)

Archive

BBC Information and Archives [more information]

Address

White City
London
UK

Telephone

+44 (0)20 8008 2288

Website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/informationandarchives/

Access

BBC Information and Archives is not open to the public.

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 1 January 1981 (Magazine)

Title

Radio Times, 10 December 1981 (Magazine)

Linking notes

mentioned in article, ‘Well-met by Moonlight’, pp. 11-12