In 1964 BBC Television recorded the Royal Shakespeare Company's History plays cycle The Wars of the Roses. The production was shot in the RSC's Stratford-upon-Avon theatre, temporarily transformed into a multi-camera television studio, and it remains the only major production for British television to have been recorded in that manner. As well as detailing The Wars of the Roses’ unique production process, this article analyses the ways in which that approach determined a hybrid screen language for the series. It proposes that the television production exposes a tension between the plays' theatrical origin and competing imperatives of television presentation.
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Comedy of Errors, The.1964. First broadcast on 1 January by BBC. Directed by Clifford Williams and Peter Duguid, written by William Shakespeare and produced by Peter Luke.
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Wars of the Roses, The: Edward IV.1965. First broadcast 15 April by BBC1. Directed by John Barton and Peter Hall, and by Robin Midgley and Michael Hayes, written by John Barton in collaboration with Peter Hall (based on the play by William Shakespeare) and produced by Michael Bakewell.
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Wars of the Roses, The: Henry VI.1965. First broadcast 8 April by BBC1. Directed John Barton and Peter Hall, and by Robin Midgley and Michael Hayes, written by John Barton in collaboration with Peter Hall (based on the play by William Shakespeare) and produced by Michael Bakewell.
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Wars of the Roses, The: Richard III.1965. First broadcast 22 April by BBC1. Directed by John Barton and Peter Hall, and by Robin Midgley and Michael Hayes, written by John Barton in collaboration with Peter Hall (based on the play by William Shakespeare) and produced by Michael Bakewell.
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