Boar Hunt, The

Synopsis: Last 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 III, Acts III-V.
Series: Age of Kings, An
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Television
Transmission details: 17 Nov 1960 at 20:45 (Channel: BBC)
Duration: 75 mins

Director

Michael Hayes

Producer

Writer

Music

Art Direction

Contributor

Arthur Bliss; Eric Crozier; Lionel Salter

Cast

Adrian Brine	Lord Lovell
Alan Rowe	Sir Richard Ratcliffe
Anthony Valentine	Marquis of Dorset
Anthony Valentine	Marquis of Dorset
Barry Jackson	Earl of Surrey
David Andrews	Hastings
Derek Ware	Messenger
Edgar Wreford	Duke of Buckingham
Frank Pettingell	Bishop of Ely
Frank Windsor	Sir Robert Brackenbury
Hugh Janes	Ghost
Jack May	Stanley, Earl of Derby
Jane Wenham	Queen Elizabeth
Jane Wenham	Queen Elizabeth
Jeffry Wickham	Sir James Blunt
Jeremy Bisley	Sir John (John, a Priest)
Jerome Willis	Henry Tudor (Earl of Richmond)
Jill Dixon	Lady Anne
Jill Dixon	Lady Anne
John Greenwood	Ghost of Prince Edward
John Greenwood	Messenger
John Murray Scott	Messenger
John Ringham	Sir William Catesby
John Sharp	Lord Mayor of London
John Sharp	Lord Mayor of London
Julian Glover	Earl of Oxford
Kenneth Farrington	Lord Rivers
Leon Shepperdson	Lord Grey (Lord Grey)
Michael Lewis	Ghost
Michael Wells	Sir Walter Herbert
Noel Johnson	Duke of Norfolk
Patrick Garland	Ghost
Paul Daneman	Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard
Robert Lang	Sir Thomas Vaughan
Terence Lodge	Messenger
Terry Scully	Ghost
Terry Wale	Christopher Unswick, a Priest
Timothy Harley	Messenger
Timothy Harley	Page

Notes: 57 actors were involved in this last instalment of the series. Production costs amounted to £4.020.
Commercially available on DVD as part of a 5-disc box set from BBC Warner (released March 2009).
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.
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
A written transcript of the series is being held at the Birmingham Central Library as part of their Shakespeare Collection.

British Universities Film & Video Council