I hadn't heard of this, but I should have realised it was at least 10 years old. TV Shakespeare has evolved a lot since this production, which - although it doesn't boast the sort of cast which the BBC could have mustered in the 70s or 80s - does include several notables and was clearly cast on ability, not diversity. As with his Hamlet, David Tennant shows here that he actually can act, and can handle Shakespeare's dialogue (funnily enough, these are the 2 Shakespeare plays I studied at A level). There is no stupid gimmick guiding the production: it is actually set in the Middle Ages, with appropriate costumes and some beautiful medieval-style music.
But there had to be a catch, and it comes about halfway through when the King starts snogging one of his aides (can't remember whether it's Bagot, Bushy or Green but it seems most likely to be Bushy). And, without actually altering the text of the play, they proceed to work a bit of a gay love story in there. It seems to be the received wisdom these days that, if a classic writer did not stress race, sexual orientation, substance abuse or other themes characteristic of our delightful modern world, it is not because they were either not conscious of them or not interested in them - it was only because, in the climate of the time, they didn't dare be explicit about them. So modern writers and producers actually convince themselves that they would have the original author's blessing in pursuing whatever hints of such issues they - in their woke consciousness - believe they find in the work (a particularly notorious example was the Beeb's new production of Great Expectations this year). But you can find anything in anything if you look hard enough.
However, they don't lean on this so much as to spoil the play. Other than that, the production tries too hard to wring laughs from what is really a very sombre and tragic story, and as part of that Tennant's performance is a little too florid and modern - he plays the king as a pampered C21st drop-out. But overall it's pretty good, and the three hours skip along smoothly enough.
But there had to be a catch, and it comes about halfway through when the King starts snogging one of his aides (can't remember whether it's Bagot, Bushy or Green but it seems most likely to be Bushy). And, without actually altering the text of the play, they proceed to work a bit of a gay love story in there. It seems to be the received wisdom these days that, if a classic writer did not stress race, sexual orientation, substance abuse or other themes characteristic of our delightful modern world, it is not because they were either not conscious of them or not interested in them - it was only because, in the climate of the time, they didn't dare be explicit about them. So modern writers and producers actually convince themselves that they would have the original author's blessing in pursuing whatever hints of such issues they - in their woke consciousness - believe they find in the work (a particularly notorious example was the Beeb's new production of Great Expectations this year). But you can find anything in anything if you look hard enough.
However, they don't lean on this so much as to spoil the play. Other than that, the production tries too hard to wring laughs from what is really a very sombre and tragic story, and as part of that Tennant's performance is a little too florid and modern - he plays the king as a pampered C21st drop-out. But overall it's pretty good, and the three hours skip along smoothly enough.