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 Neville	King Henry V
Bernard Hepton	Chorus
Tony Church	Archbishop of Canterbury
Patricia Creb	Katherine
John Wood	Dauphin
Allan McClelland	Macmorris
Della Batchelor	Hostess, formerly Mistress Quickly
Dudley Jones	Fluellen
Edgar Wreford	Mountjoy (Montjoy)
Geoffrey Bayldon	Pistol
George Selway	Earl of Westmoreland
George Skillan	Sir Thomas Erpingham
Hugh Hickson	Sir Thomas Grey
Jessica Dunning	Queen Isabel
Joby Blanshard	John Bates
Julian Somers	Duke of Exeter
Michael Bates	Bardolph
Michael Bates	Michael Williams
Nancie Jackson	Alice
Noel Johnson	Constable of France
Peter Billingsley	Henry, Lord Scroop of Masham
Peter Lambert	Richard, Earl of Cambridge
Philip Morant	Gower
Richard Coe	Duke of Bedford
Richard Palmer	Duke of Gloucester
Roger Milner	Nim
Ronald Hines	Earl of Salisbury
Walter Hudd	King 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)