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This programme contains
some strong language

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Downloaded from
YTS.MX

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'400 years ago, this year, the world
famous play-writer William
Shakespeare stopped happening.

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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

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'I've been studying Shakespeare ever
since I was asked to do this
programme and it turns out

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'he's more than just a bald man
who could write with feathers.

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'And the story of whether he was
best at writing ever is more
interesting than you'd imagine.'

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But why do we still talk about
Shakespeare?

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We don't talk about Les Dennis
any more,

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even though he's still alive
and hasn't done anything wrong.

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Did Shakespeare write nothing but
boring gibberish with no relevance

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to our modern world of Tinder
and Peri-Peri Fries?

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Or does it just look, sound
and feel that way?

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That's what I'm going on
a journey to find out.

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About.

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'Along the way,
I'll probe Shakespeare's life,

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'study his Complete Works

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'and speak to Shakespearian experts
and actors.'

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Do you just learn the famous bits,

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like "To be or not to be?"

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Or do you learn all the bits
in-between, as well?

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I have to learn all the bits
in between.

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Are you fucking joking?

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No, no, no.

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I mean, it's big and it takes
a bit of time, but...  Shut up.

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So join me, Philomena Cunk,

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as I go on a journey all the way
into William Bartholomew
Shakespeare,

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the man they call
The King of the Bards.

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Deep below Stratford And Avon, in a
secret location on Henley Street,

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is a treasure trove
of Shakespearean proportions.

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That looks really old.  It is.

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So, this book dates from 1600

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and it has the records that
go back to 1558.  Yeah.

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It's written on the front
"Stratford-upon-Avon."

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It's a bit wonky, in't it?

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Like a... Suppose they didn't have
rulers, did they?

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It's a very old book
that's made from animal skin

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and then I'll just use the weights
to keep...  It's sort of like waxy
A4 paper, in't it?

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It is a little bit waxy, yeah.
That's the, the, erm...

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That's the juices of the animal...
Coming out, yeah.

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And this is the page where we have
Shakespeare's baptism recorded.

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And it's written in Latin, the
inscription...  What does that say?

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This baptism record is for William,
the son of John Shakespeare.

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This is a bit like
Who Do You Think You Are?, isn't it?

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It is in a way, yeah.

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If you're tracing your family
history,

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these are the records that will give
you the information you need.

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But he'd, sort of, call it,
Who Dost Thou Thinkest Thou Art?

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He might, yes.
And he'd go like that.

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He may well have done, yes.
Flourish.  Yeah.

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'This is the actual house
in which Shakespeare was born,

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'here, on our Planet Earth.'

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As a baby, Shakespeare showed
few signs of becoming

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the most significant figure
in literary history,

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so nobody bothered noting down
the details of his life.

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That's why we can't be sure
about his date of birth

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and don't know anything
about his childhood,

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except that he probably had one,

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otherwise he'd never have become
a grown-up.

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'The facts may be hazy, but we can
probably guess that Shakespeare

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'as a boy would have looked
much like boys today,

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'but bald and with a ruff instead
of an Angry Birds T-shirt.'

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This is the actual school
he probably went to.

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School in Shakespeare's day and age
was vastly different to our own.

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In fact, it was far easier

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because you didn't have to
study Shakespeare.

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'At the age of 18,

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'Shakespeare married his teenage
sweetheart Anne Hathaway.

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'But when did Shakespeare stop
mooning about with his wife

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'and start doing plays?'

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We don't exactly know,

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because what happened next
were Shakespeare's lost years.

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'We don't know what happened
during the lost years.

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'Shakespeare probably spent a lot
of his time staring wistfully

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'out of leaded windows
and pretending to think,

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'and then write things down
with a feather pen.'

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But we do know he eventually
came to London,

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just like his most famous character,
Dick Whittington.

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'Almost immediately, he began to
make waves in the world of theatre.'

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It's hard to believe today,

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but back then people really did
go to the theatre on purpose.

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And they went to see something
called "plays".

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'In plays, things happen in front
of you, but at actual size.

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'Unlike television,
which is smaller,

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'or cinema, which is bigger.'

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You'd think that would make plays
the most realistic form

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of entertainment in existence,

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but instead they're nothing like
real life, at all.

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And that's because everyone shouts.

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Speak the speech, I pray you,
as I pronounced it to you,

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trippingly on the tongue.

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Not proper shouting, like when
a bus won't let you on,

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or shouting because of an emotion.

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In plays, people shout no matter
how they're feeling,

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because they put the seats
too far away.

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'There were many plays
written in ancient times,

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'but the plays Shakespeare wrote
echoed through the ages

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'and not just because
they were shouted -

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'but because they were good.'

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'Now is the winter of our discontent

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'made glorious summer
by this sun of York.'

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We few,

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we happy few,

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we band of brothers.

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To be, or not to be:

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That is the question...

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Shakespeare actually invented seven
different genres of play:

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'tragedy,

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'fantasy,

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'romance,

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'comedy,

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'horror

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'and historical.'

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And Shakespearean.

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Throughout this programme,

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I'm going to be taking a look at
each genre in turn,

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in a sort of format point thing
they're making me do.

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'We'll start with horror.'

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'Popular entertainment
in Shakespeare's day
was often unpleasant,

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'involving public humiliation
and mindless cruelty to animals,

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'with no Ant and Dec
to take the edge off it all.'

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This brutality was reflected

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in some of Shakespeare's
most horriblest plays.

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'For instance, his early work
Tightarse And Ronicus

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'is so jam-packed with violence
and murder,

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'it's basically
a posh Friday the 13th.

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'Here we see Titus himself slitting
the throats of his enemy's sons,

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'while his daughter collects
their blood.

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'All of it occurring in front of
a horrified Harry Potter.'

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Graphic scenes like this
were considered shocking

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even in Shakespeare's day,

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which is quite an achievement

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considering people used to shit out
of their own windows back then.

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'But shitting out the window
wasn't all fun.

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'It encouraged rats,

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'who carried a devastating illness
called the Bionic Plague.'

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The plague killed about
10,000 people in London

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and when they'd finished coughing,
the survivors needed cheering up.

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'And luckily, Shakespeare had just
invented a new type of play

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'called a comedy.

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'Some of Shakespeare's most
successful plays were comedies.

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'Critics say his comedies
aren't very funny,

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'but to be fair that's only because

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'jokes hadn't been invented
back then.'

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Of course, if you go to watch
a Shakespeare comedy today,

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you'll hear the audience laughing
as though there are jokes in it,

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even though there definitely aren't.

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That's how clever Shakespeare is.

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'Even at this early stage
of his career,

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'there was no doubt Shakespeare
was the best at writing plays.'

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But there was enough doubt

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that he had to start his own
theatre company to put them on.

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'He also built the Globe Theatre
from old bits of another theatre,

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'inventing upcycling, and he
probably made the word up as well.

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'He was a better playwright
than he was an architect.

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'That's why he didn't put
a roof on it.

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'But, to be fair, Wimbledon didn't
get a roof until a few years ago.'

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If you've never seen Shakespeare
at The Globe,

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imagine a three-hour YouTube clip
happening outdoors,

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a long way from you in a language
you barely understand.

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And if I find it confusing, it must

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have blown the minds off some of
Shakespeare's first audiences,

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who were only slightly
more sophisticated than trees.

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'They might have been thick,

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'but Shakespeare's audiences
had loads of fun,

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'heckling the actors and cackling a
lot in a sort of mad peasanty way.'

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CACKLES

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'Like that.'
RAUCOUS CACKLING

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'And that.'

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'To tell me more about Shakespeare's
disgusting audiences,

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'I spoke to this man.'

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Who are you and what's your game?

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I'm Iqbal Khan
and I'm a theatre director.

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What was theatre like
in Shakespeare's day?

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Were all the audiences
really rowdy then, you know?

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Did they wear tunics
and have mud on their faces?

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The audiences ranged from
the ordinary common working people,

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who'd stand around the theatre here

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and then they'd range to
the aristocrats,

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who would sit at the top of
the theatre.

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Right, so some of them had to
stand up. They didn't have chairs.

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No. No, they'd be standing.

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I've never had to stand for
a whole Shakespeare.

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I don't think I could do it.

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I'd be livid if
I didn't have a chair.

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I think audiences quite enjoy it.
Particularly now...

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I don't think they do enjoy
standing, do they?

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They actually enjoy
the experience of standing.

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Who's told you that?

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Erm...

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'Shakespeare's works
are still performed now

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'and not just in theatres.'

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There are countless different ways
of interpreting Shakespeare's plays.

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There's properly - with all wooden
furniture and beards and swords

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and people dressed up as sort of
two-legged pageants.

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Or there's modern - where they speak
in Shakespearean gobbledegook

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while dressed in
contemporary clothing -

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a bit like Russell Brand.

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You decentious rogues,

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That rubbing the poor itch
of your opinion,

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Make yourselves scabs?

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And there's startlingly
avant garde productions,

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which look and sound like this.

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How now, spirit! Whither wander you?

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Over hill, over dale,
Thorough bush, thorough brier,

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Over park, over pale,

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Thorough flood, thorough fire,
I do wander everywhere.

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'Incredibly, even today

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'people actually go to see
this sort of thing,'

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despite it being completely
fucking unwatchable.

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SHRIEKS AND YELLS

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Speak again, thou run away,
thou coward.

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What sort of people come to see
Shakespeare today?

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Is it mainly people
who wear glasses?

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Um...

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Yeah, I'm sure there are

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a few people that wear glasses
that come to see it.

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Yeah, I think all kinds of people
come to see it.

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But a lot of short-sighted people.

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Possibly? Not a lot though...
Yeah, loads!

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Loads, I was looking around.

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Right, 80% of the audience were
wearing glasses.  I doubt that.

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Are you saying I'm a liar?

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No, I just said I doubt that 80% of
the audience were wearing glasses.

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I think they were.

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Right.

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Maybe you need like a big bifocal
lens in front of the stage.

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"Leave your glasses at home,
come to the theatre."

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What about those people
that aren't short-sighted?

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Oh, yeah, you'd need different
lenses, don't you.

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Shakespeare's just as popular today
as he's always been.

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There's even a Royal Shakespeare
Company named after him,

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who insist on putting on his shows
whether people want them or not.

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What is it about Shakespeare
that makes them bother?

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'Perhaps it's because he wrote
about universal human needs,

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00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:05,800
'like wanting to murder a king,
or have a romance.'

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We don't know much about how love
and romance worked in olden times,

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because back then people
didn't write blogs about
their dating misadventures.

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00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,280
But thanks to Shakespeare,
what we do have is Romeo and Juliet,

240
00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:20,960
easily the finest romance of the
pre-Dirty Dancing era.

241
00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:22,560
'Romeo and Juliet is about

242
00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:25,880
'these two rich, powerful families
who hate each other.

243
00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,760
'These two families are the
Montagues - who sound quite posh -

244
00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,840
'and the Capulets, who invented
the headache tablet.

245
00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:35,920
'They're perfectly happy having
their feud until the touching moment

246
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,680
'Romeo, from one side, spots Juliet,
from the other.

247
00:11:39,680 --> 00:11:43,080
'It's love at first sight,
but from a distance -'

248
00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:45,800
just like on Tinder.

249
00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,760
My lips, two blushing pilgrims,
ready stand

250
00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,120
To smooth that rough touch
with a tender kiss.

251
00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,000
'Soon Romeo and Juliet are in love,

252
00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,920
'even though they come from
two different families,'

253
00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:01,040
which is how we know it isn't
set in Norfolk.

254
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:03,800
O Romeo, Romeo!

255
00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:05,840
Wherefore art thou Romeo?

256
00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:08,160
'To find out more about
Romeo and Juliet,

257
00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:12,000
'I went to talk to Shakespearean
expert Stanley Wells.'

258
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,400
Why do you think Romeo and Juliet is

259
00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:19,360
the most successful romcom
of all time?

260
00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:21,320
Well, it's very beautiful, isn't it?

261
00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,760
The love story between
Romeo and Juliet.

262
00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:26,280
It has some very beautiful
poetry in it.

263
00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,120
People like a happy ending,
don't they?

264
00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:30,040
Oh, they like a happy ending, yeah,

265
00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:32,360
but they don't get it,
of course, here.

266
00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:33,600
What do you mean?

267
00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:35,800
Oh, you know, the ending -

268
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:37,160
they die.

269
00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,400
You know, the lovers -
Romeo and Juliet, I mean...

270
00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,200
They die at the end?  Oh, yes.

271
00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:47,000
Juliet poisons herself, then Romeo
comes in and he dies, too.

272
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:52,200
So, we should put a spoiler there,
should we?

273
00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:53,680
OK.

274
00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:58,160
But after that, their families are
reconciled, so that's quite nice.

275
00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:03,760
I don't understand why
the Montagons and the Caplets

276
00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:07,080
just won't let them muck about
together.

277
00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:08,960
Well, they're not really adults,
are they?

278
00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:10,960
I mean, Juliet's not yet 14.

279
00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,880
You know, her nurse says so
in the play.  What?

280
00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:15,800
She's only a young girl.

281
00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:18,760
She's 13 years old?!
That's right, yes.

282
00:13:18,760 --> 00:13:21,480
I'm not surprised the families
are trying to split them up then.

283
00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,040
I'd have rang the police.

284
00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:26,800
'With the success of Romeo and
Juliet, Shakespeare was on a roll.

285
00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,800
'He had respect and prestige
and he was coining it,

286
00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,760
'if they had coins back then.
I haven't checked.'

287
00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:36,800
As his reputation grew, Shakespeare
became popular with royalty.

288
00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:38,560
So, he wrote stuff they'd enjoy

289
00:13:38,560 --> 00:13:40,840
in the hope of gaining power
and influence,

290
00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:43,080
like Gary Barlow does now.

291
00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,680
Shakespeare's first royal fan
was Queen Elizabeth One.

292
00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:48,240
The person, not the boat.

293
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,680
'Shakespeare wrote loads of plays
about royals,

294
00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:53,200
'known as his History plays.'

295
00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:55,240
It was his way of pleasing
the king and queen

296
00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:57,240
by doing stuff about their families.

297
00:13:57,240 --> 00:13:59,320
A bit like when your mum buys
the local paper

298
00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:01,680
because your brother's
court appearance is in it.

299
00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:05,480
'Perhaps Shakespeare's best history
play is Richard Three,

300
00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:08,280
'which is about this sort of
Elephant Man king.

301
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,960
He'd be done in computers now
by Andy Serkis covered in balls,

302
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,000
'but in the original he was just
a man with a pillow up his jumper.'

303
00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:19,840
It's quite modern because it's
a lead part for a disabled actor,

304
00:14:19,840 --> 00:14:23,560
providing they don't mind being
depicted as the most evil man ever.

305
00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,000
I am determin'ed to prove a villain.

306
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:30,840
Richard Three is actually based
on the real King Richard of Third,

307
00:14:30,840 --> 00:14:32,920
who was in the Wars of the Roses.

308
00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,080
A horse! A Horse!
My kingdom for a horse!

309
00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:40,960
'At the end he loses his horse and
ends up wandering around a car park

310
00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:43,360
looking for it,
where he eventually dies.'

311
00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:45,720
Because in those days
you couldn't find your horse

312
00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:48,800
just by beeping your keys
and making its arse light up.

313
00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:53,400
'It's quite moving and human,

314
00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:56,760
'because we've all worried we might
die in a car park, if we, like,

315
00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,840
lose the ticket and can't get the
barrier up and just die in there.

316
00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,800
Shakespeare makes you think
about those things,

317
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:06,160
and that's hard.

318
00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,440
When Queen Elizabeth died,
James One took over.

319
00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:12,120
He was Scottish
and dead into witches,

320
00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,680
which Shakespeare put straight
into Macbeth.

321
00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:16,080
Like an arsekisser.

322
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,960
'Macbeth is a tale of paranoia
and king-murder set in Scotland,

323
00:15:20,960 --> 00:15:22,680
'probably for tax reasons.

324
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:24,400
'It's about a man called Macbeth,

325
00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,640
'who's so famous
he's only got one name.'

326
00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,120
Like Brangelina.

327
00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:32,280
'Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!'

328
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,120
'Macbeth also has a female sidekick
called Lady Macbeth,

329
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,600
'who was very much the Ms. Pac-Man
to Macbeth's Pac-Man.

330
00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:42,680
'In a spooky encounter,
Macbeth meets some witches,

331
00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,800
'who tell him he's going to become
king of Scotchland.'

332
00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,760
Which back then was apparently
considered a good thing.

333
00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:51,240
'The witches aren't in it
as much as you'd expect,

334
00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:53,920
'quite a lot of it's about
ordinary murder.

335
00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,080
This is a sorry sight!

336
00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:58,280
It seems a shame to introduce
witches in it

337
00:15:58,280 --> 00:16:01,560
and then make all the murders normal
with just knives and swords.

338
00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,160
Maybe if Shakespeare
had thought a bit harder

339
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,440
he'd have put
some magic murders in.

340
00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:08,640
Like a big magic hand
coming out a toilet

341
00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:10,520
and pulling someone's arse
inside out.

342
00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,680
'Nevertheless, there's plenty of
violence and bloodshed

343
00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,600
'and an iconic scene in which
Macbeth is startled at dinner

344
00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:19,600
'by the unexpected appearance
of Banquo's Ghost,

345
00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:22,680
'played here for some reason
by the letter H.'

346
00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:25,320
Which of you have done this?

347
00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:28,920
What, my good lord?

348
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:32,440
Thou canst not say I did it:
never shake

349
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:34,680
Thy gory locks at me.

350
00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,120
'By now, Shakespeare had built
a considerable body of work,

351
00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,720
'which is collected in something
called the First Folio.'

352
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:46,000
This is the actual book Shakespeare
wrote with his bare hands,

353
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,280
the only remaining copy
of any of his plays.

354
00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,320
It's amazing to think that
if anything happened to this,

355
00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:56,200
the entire works of Shakespeare
would be lost forever.

356
00:16:56,200 --> 00:17:00,040
So, before I touch it, I need to
put on special white gloves.

357
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,360
Well, we don't actually need
to wear white gloves, Philomena.

358
00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:07,760
The advice we have and the best
practice we follow

359
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,120
is not wear gloves, because you lose
the sensitivity in your fingers

360
00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:14,040
and you're more likely to damage the
book by wearing gloves than not.

361
00:17:14,040 --> 00:17:18,120
Well, they're here now.  If you've
got clean hands, take the gloves
off, we don't need them at all.

362
00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:21,960
Well, I've brought them, so...
It's very good of you to bring them,
but we don't need them

363
00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:24,800
and we can't let you turn the pages
of the book if you've got them on.

364
00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:27,800
Simon Schama gets to wear gloves.
Well, he doesn't wear them here.

365
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:28,920
Why not?

366
00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:32,680
Because when we're handling books
and documents we don't need to wear
gloves, at all.

367
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,040
SHE SIGHS DEEPLY

368
00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,080
So what's the difference between
a book and a folio?

369
00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,200
A folio's the name that's given to
the paper that's in the book.

370
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:44,040
It implies it's been folded once,

371
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,280
which is where the name folio
comes from.

372
00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,400
So, why don't we just call it
a book?

373
00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,240
We can call it a book.
That's absolutely fine.  OK.

374
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,400
You know when you read
a word in a book

375
00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,560
and you sort of hear that word
in your head?  Mm-hm.

376
00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,400
How did they get the sounds into the
ink to make it play in your head?

377
00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:08,080
Well, what they're doing is they've
got all the words written down

378
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,200
and spelled out and they put those
letters into the printing process

379
00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:12,840
and then print them on the page.

380
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:14,520
And then it's as you're reading it,

381
00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:16,600
you're making the sounds
in your head.

382
00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,080
And you can hear them talking,
can't you?

383
00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:21,760
Yeah, because you know what
the words mean and how they sound,

384
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,520
you can then play it back
to yourself, if you like.

385
00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,400
Are these plays like computer code

386
00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:30,520
and the actors like characters
in a computer game?

387
00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,720
I suppose that's one way
of looking at it.

388
00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:34,920
The words are the lines

389
00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:37,760
- so they're telling the actors
what they need to say -

390
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:40,680
and then you'll find stage
directions telling them what to do.

391
00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:43,600
So, in a way, they're like
a set of instructions.

392
00:18:43,600 --> 00:18:47,720
So, in a way, Shakespeare invented
computer games?

393
00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,280
I don't think he'd have seen it like
that and that's not quite the case
with what it is,

394
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:53,920
but you can make a comparison
or an analogy between the two.

395
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:55,720
So, he invented computer games.

396
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:57,240
No, not really, no.

397
00:18:57,240 --> 00:18:58,760
That's amazing.

398
00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:00,280
'Most of Shakespeare's plays

399
00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,040
'are about stuff that actually
happened, like kings.'

400
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:06,600
Or could happen, like a prince
talking to a ghost.

401
00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:10,480
But some of his plays are more
magical. They're fantasies.

402
00:19:11,800 --> 00:19:14,240
'The Tempest is about
this shipwreck,

403
00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:17,480
'which happens at the beginning,
not at the end like Titanic,'

404
00:19:17,480 --> 00:19:19,440
which is a brave move.

405
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,800
'The survivors get stuck on this
island where this wizard lives

406
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:25,040
'with his daughter
and these monsters.'

407
00:19:25,040 --> 00:19:27,160
What's interesting about The Tempest

408
00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,800
is that usually Shakespeare's
stories sort of make sense,

409
00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,520
even though all the talking's
in gibberish.

410
00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,800
But in The Tempest,
the story doesn't make sense either.

411
00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:38,560
THUNDERCLAP

412
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,200
You are three men of sin,
whom Destiny,

413
00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:47,200
That hath to instrument
this lower world

414
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,280
And what is in't, the never-
surfeited sea

415
00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:51,440
Hath caused to belch up you.

416
00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:53,200
It's like Shakespeare squared,

417
00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,360
which is probably why hardcore
Shakespeare fans like it,

418
00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:59,400
because it shows they understand it,
which they can't.

419
00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,480
'The way Shakespeare's written makes
it hard to wrap your head around,

420
00:20:02,480 --> 00:20:05,840
'which is why it's taught in school
when your brain's at its bendiest,

421
00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:07,480
'by people like this man,

422
00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,120
'the fictional English teacher
from TV drama Educating Yorkshire.'

423
00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:15,920
When you teach a kid Shakespeare, do
their heads grow physically bigger?

424
00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:20,920
No. They don't, no.

425
00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:23,560
How does iambic pente-meter work?

426
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,000
I think you're talking about
iambic pentameter,

427
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,760
which is the way that, kind of...
Iambic penta-meter.

428
00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:30,840
Pentameter, yeah.
Penta-meter.

429
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:32,680
Well, pentameter, so...

430
00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,720
It would be a line of prose
that would have ten syllables

431
00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:39,440
with five particular stresses on.

432
00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:41,520
Not Pente-meter?
No, not pente-meter.

433
00:20:41,520 --> 00:20:44,960
No, it's pentameter.  Right.

434
00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:47,400
Someone told me...
I was misinformed, it's fine.

435
00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,760
Who told you?

436
00:20:49,760 --> 00:20:51,640
See him, over there?  Oh, right.

437
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,480
Erm... No, it's pentameter, yeah.
Iambic pentameter.

438
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:56,880
Just to clarify.

439
00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,800
I wonder if all of Shakespeare's
plays are suitable for kids.

440
00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,400
Because there's that one about
the dairymaid, isn't there,

441
00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:04,880
with the special pump.

442
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,160
I'm not aware that that's
a Shakespeare play.

443
00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:12,520
She works on a farm.
She's got a special pump.

444
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:14,760
No, I don't think that's
a Shakespeare play, at all.

445
00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,360
No, it doesn't sound very much like
a Shakespeare play, at all.
It's disgusting.

446
00:21:18,360 --> 00:21:21,640
'Shakespeare once said,
"Every dog will have his day."

447
00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,280
'and with his own theatre
and lots of plays,

448
00:21:24,280 --> 00:21:26,080
'he was certainly having his.

449
00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:30,320
'But soon that day would turn
to night. A long, dark night.

450
00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:32,080
'Like in Finland.'

451
00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:37,760
In 1596, Shakespeare's son Hamnet
shuffled off this mortal coil,

452
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:39,200
then he died.

453
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,920
And a few years later,
his father John kicked the bucket

454
00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:44,680
and also died.

455
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,320
As Shakespeare's life went sad,
so did his plays.

456
00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:52,280
If you were asked to pick
what Shakespeare did best,

457
00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:54,600
most people would say tragedy,

458
00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:57,880
which is one of the few things
he has in common with Steps.

459
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,800
'Shakespeare's tragedy plays are the
most performed of all his works.

460
00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,400
'None more so than Hamlet,
with its famous speech about bees.

461
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,000
To be, or not to be:

462
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:11,320
that is the question.

463
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:16,400
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind
to suffer the slings and arrows
of outrageous fortune,

464
00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:20,160
Or to take arms against a sea of
troubles, And by opposing end them?

465
00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:27,360
To die: to sleep, no more.

466
00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:29,600
And by a sleep to say
we end the heart-ache

467
00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,240
and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to,

468
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,360
'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.

469
00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:40,080
To die, to sleep.

470
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:44,200
To sleep: perchance to dream:
ay, there's the rub.

471
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,000
For in that sleep of death
what dreams may come

472
00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:49,920
When we have shuffled off
this mortal coil,

473
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:52,000
Must give us pause.

474
00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:00,880
What was all that about then?

475
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:06,600
Alas, poor Yorick.

476
00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:09,480
'Most people have heard of Hamlet,
even if they haven't seen it

477
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,040
'because it sounds quite boring.'

478
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:12,560
So, what's it about?

479
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,240
Well, I have seen it
and it's about four hours long.

480
00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:20,080
'The main character, who is Hamlet,
is visited by his father,

481
00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:21,480
'who is a ghost.'

482
00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,280
Remember me.

483
00:23:24,920 --> 00:23:27,400
'The ghost tells Hamlet
to take revenge,'

484
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:31,840
but Hamlet doesn't know what to do
and that's why the play is so long.

485
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:37,200
I do not know why,
yet I live to say:

486
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:39,480
this thing's to do.

487
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:41,760
In something gritty like Taken,

488
00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,880
Liam Neeson knows
exactly what to do.

489
00:23:44,880 --> 00:23:48,040
I will look for you,
I will find you...

490
00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:50,880
..and I will kill you.

491
00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,160
'So you're - bang -
straight down to action.

492
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:56,480
'Which makes the film really
exciting and over quite quickly.'

493
00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,040
If Shakespeare had written Taken,
it'd be four hours long

494
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:04,400
and be mainly Liam Neeson fretting
and pacing and talking to bones.

495
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,760
That's the basic difference between
Hamlet and Taken.

496
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,120
Liam Neeson makes up his mind.

497
00:24:10,120 --> 00:24:12,320
I told you I would find you.

498
00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:17,400
'Shakespeare never wrote anything
even close to this

499
00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,760
'white-knuckle knife fight
in a kitchen.

500
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:23,960
'Instead, he wrote incredibly
long speeches full of words.'

501
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,280
How important are the words
in a Shakespeare play?

502
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,160
Like, could you do it
without the words?

503
00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,400
Um...

504
00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:36,480
without the words, there isn't
much left, to be honest.

505
00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:40,720
So I think probably that's
the bedrock of what we do.

506
00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:44,320
'And to be fair, Shakespeare was
no ordinary word-monger.

507
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,760
'He didn't just use words,
he invented them, too.'

508
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,280
Shakespeare made up words,
didn't he?

509
00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,960
He did that all the time.
Mm-hm.  He made up so many words.

510
00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:56,800
He made up about a thousand words
that we still use today.

511
00:24:56,800 --> 00:24:58,240
Did he?  Mm-hm.

512
00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:00,200
Right, I've got a list of words...

513
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,480
OK.  ..that he might or might not
have made up.  OK.

514
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:07,800
And you tell me if Shakespeare
made them up or not.  OK.

515
00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,760
Cuckoo.

516
00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:11,280
No, I don't think so.

517
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:12,480
Ukulele.

518
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,200
No.
Truffle-balling.

519
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:16,080
No.
Ceefax.

520
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:17,920
No.
Omnishambles.

521
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:19,120
No.

522
00:25:19,120 --> 00:25:20,240
Nutribullet.

523
00:25:20,240 --> 00:25:22,000
No.
Mix-tape.

524
00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,000
No.
Spork.

525
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,000
No.
Roflcopter.

526
00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:27,120
No.

527
00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:28,160
Bumbaclart.

528
00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:29,880
No.

529
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:34,520
Zhuzh.

530
00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:35,560
No.

531
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:36,760
Potatoey.

532
00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:37,840
No.

533
00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:39,120
Bromance.

534
00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:41,080
No.
Sushi.

535
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:42,240
No.

536
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:43,320
Tit-wank.

537
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:44,680
No.
Hobnob.

538
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:46,080
Yes!

539
00:25:46,080 --> 00:25:49,640
Suppose it makes sense that he came
up with hobnob, doesn't it?

540
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:53,000
Because it's sort of the most
old-fashioned of biscuits.

541
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,560
It's got, like, bits of hay in it
and stuff.

542
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,360
It's like eating a thatched roof.

543
00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,800
'By the end of his life,
Shakespeare had reinvented theatre,

544
00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:03,600
'created memorable characters,
built a playhouse,

545
00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,240
'invented a language
and secured a legacy.

546
00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,600
'But the Swan of Avon still had
one last trick up his sleeve.

547
00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,840
'Throughout this programme, we've
seen how Shakespeare's genius spans

548
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:14,880
'seven different genres of play.'

549
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:17,960
But all of these pale into
insignificance against Shakespeare's

550
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,040
most greatest work:

551
00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:22,120
Game of Thrones.

552
00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:25,800
Game of Thrones is a proper
bloodthirsty, action-packed epic,

553
00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:28,160
which skilfully combines
all the genres

554
00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,560
Shakespeare invented
into one coherent work.

555
00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:32,960
It's got everything.

556
00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,880
It's got history, comedy,

557
00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:37,440
Shakespearean...

558
00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,680
Have you ever held a sword before?
I was the best archer in our hamlet.

559
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:42,000
..tragedy.

560
00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:43,480
SHE SCREAMS

561
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:44,920
Horror...

562
00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:46,360
..fantasy.

563
00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,080
DRAGON ROARS

564
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:49,440
And romance.

565
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,000
SHE MOANS

566
00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:55,960
Game of Thrones also has one of
Shakespeare's best kings in it,

567
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,000
Queen Joffrey.

568
00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,640
Surely there are others out there

569
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:01,520
who still dare to challenge
my reign?

570
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:04,400
Queen Joffrey,
like all Shakespeare's queens,

571
00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,600
is played by a young boy in a dress.

572
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,840
And they stuck with that when they
adapted it for television.

573
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:12,000
Game of Thrones
remains the most popular

574
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:14,080
of all of Shakespeare's plays

575
00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:17,240
and the only one to have been made
into a television series,

576
00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:19,240
which proves it's the best.

577
00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:21,520
It's almost as if
at the end of his life,

578
00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:25,880
Shakespeare finally worked out how
to write something really good.

579
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,040
'His final masterpiece accomplished,

580
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,280
'Shakespeare's work on our planet
was complete.

581
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,280
'He died on his birthday,

582
00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:35,520
'which must have been depressing
for his family,

583
00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:36,720
'who would have had to

584
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,720
'finish his cake with tears
in their little Shakespearean eyes.'

585
00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:42,440
We don't know what Shakespeare's
last words were -

586
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:44,200
probably made-up ones.

587
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:46,920
Nobody wrote them down, so they
couldn't have been all that.

588
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:51,080
'I used to think Shakespeare was
stuffy and pointless and not for me,

589
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:54,000
'but exploring his world and works
for the past half-hour

590
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:57,800
'has really brought him to life,
so I'm gutted he's just died.

591
00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:03,560
'He remains the best and only bard
this country has ever produced.'

592
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,320
Goodnight, sweet prince.

593
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,600
I'm loving angels instead.

594
00:28:09,600 --> 00:28:13,120
Zadok the Priest by Handel