Deposing of a King, The

Synopsis: Second 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 Richard II, Acts III-V.
Series: Age of Kings, An
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Television
Transmission details: 12 May 1960 at 21:00 (Channel: BBC)
Duration: 60 mins

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.
Figures: Reaction Index 80 (BBC Audience Research). The Reaction Index is a measurement of the quality
and success of the programme with the audience who had watched it. It is based on a range of 0 to 100.)
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

David William	King Richard II
Tom Fleming	Henry Bolingbroke (Bolingbroke)
Anthony Valentine	Exton’s man
Eileen Atkins	Lady attending the Queen
Geoffrey Bayldon	Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
George A. Cooper	Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
Gordon Gostelow	Lord Willoughby
Gordon Gostelow	Gardener
John Greenwood	Duke of Aumerle
Julian Glover	Groom of King Richard’s stable
Juliet Cooke	Queen
Maggie Barton	Lady attending the Queen
Mary Law	Duchess of York
Michael Graham Cox	Keeper of the prison at Pomfret
Michael Graham Cox	Abbot of Westminster
Robert Lang	Sir Piers Exton
Sean Connery	Harry Percy
Terence Lodge	Servant

British Universities Film & Video Council