Henry VI, Part 2: The Fall of a Protector

Summary: 1960 BBC production of Henry VI, Part 2: The Fall of the Protector by Shakespeare, the tenth in the fifteen-part series An Age of Kings which was the BBC’s great national pageant of eight history plays.
Theatre play: Henry VI, Part 2 by William Shakespeare [more information]
Play synopsis: The play ‘focuses on the King’s inability to quell the bickering of his nobles, the death of his trusted adviser Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the rise of the Duke of York and the inevitability of armed conflict. As such, the play culminates with the opening battle of the War, the First Battle of St Albans’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VI,_Part_2).
Production history: Dated to 1591.
Date of transmission: Thursday 8 September 1960
Time: 9.00-10.00pm
Series: Age of Kings
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Director

Michael Hayes

Producer

Peter Dews

Playwright

William Shakespeare

Composer

Arthur Bliss (title music)

Composer

Christopher Whelen

Designer

Stanley Morris

Cast

David Andrews	Petitioner
Jeremy Bisley	John Southwell
Kenneth Farrington	Duke of Buckingham
Patrick Garland	John Hume
Tony Garnett	Neighbour / A Post
Julian Glover	Thomas Horner
Gordon Gostelow	Earl of Salisbury
John Greenwood	Messenger / Prentice
Timothy Harley	A Citizen / Prentice
Nancie Jackson	Eleanor
Robert Lang	Cardinal Beaufort
Terence Lodge	Bolingbroke
Jack May	Richard
Mary Morris	Margaret
Audrey Noble	Wife to Simpcox
John Ringham	Humphrey
Alan Rowe	Duke of Somerset
John Murray Scott	A Spirit
Terry Scully	King Henry the Sixth
Leon Shepperdson	Beadle
Anthony Valentine	Petitioner / Neighbour
Terry Wale	Neighbour
Derek Ware	Peter
John Warner	Saunder Simpcox
Nan Marriott Watson	Mother Jordan
Jeffry Wickham	Sheriff
Jerome Willis	Mayor of St Albans / Sir John Stanley
Frank Windsor	Earl of Warwick
Edgar Wreford	Duke of Suffolk

Title: Henry VI, Part 2: The Fall of a Protector (BBC, 1960)
Archive: BBC Information and Archives [more information]
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Title: An Age of Kings: Eight History Plays by William Shakespeare
Commercial availability: Released in 2013 by Illuminations in the Screen Plays series

Title: Adapting the Histories: An Age of Kings on Screen (Essay)
Author/creator: John Wyver (Author)
Reference: Published as the booklet essay accompanying the commercially available DVD set An Age of Kings: Eight History Plays by William Shakespeare, released by Illuminations in the Screen Plays series.

Title: An Age of Kings: ‘France will be lost ere long’ (Blog article)
Author/creator: John Wyver (Author)
Reference: http://screenplaystv.wordpress.com/2011/07/16/an-age-of-kings-france-will-be-lost-ere-long, published 16 July 2011

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