BBC Television Shakespeare
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Score:
9.8
Superb
2 votes
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The Winter's TaleEpisode Number: 16 Season Num: 1 First Aired: Sunday February 8, 1981 Prod Code: n/a |
King Leontes of Bohemia suspects his wife, Queen Hermione, of cheating on him with his good friend Polixenes. So Leontes drives Polixenes out of the kingdom, but this leads to unforeseen results - the arrival of a dangerous bear, a baby abandoned in the snow, love, death, and a statue which comes to life.
| Director: | Jane Howell |
| Recurring Role: | Peter Benson (Clown's Servant), Paul Jesson (Clown) |
| Guest Star: | Debbie Farrington (Perdita), Harold Goldblatt (Time), Rikki Fulton (Autolycus), Colin McCormack (Dion), John Curless (Cleomenes), Margaret Tyzack (Paulina), Susan Brodrick (Lady-in-Waiting to Hermione), William Relton (Attendant Lord to Leontes), Leonard Kavanagh (Attendant Lord to Leontes), John Baily (Attendant Lord to Leontes), Cyril Luckham (Antigonus), Jeremy Dimmick (Mamillius), Merelina Kendall (Emilia), John Welsh (Archidamus), David Burke (I) (Camillo), Robert Stephens (Polixenes), Anna Calder-Marshall (Queen Hermione), Robin Kermode (Florizel), Janette Legge (Dorcas), Alan Vicars (Peasant), Johnny Shack (Peasant), Sean Bartley (Peasant), Mary Milington (Peasant), George Howe (Paulina's Steward), Cornelius Garrett (Servant to Leontes), Arthur Hewlett (Shepherd), Emrys Leyshon (Court Official), Maggie Wells (Mopsa), John Benfield (Gaoler), Pat Gorman (Bear), Jeremy Kemp (King Leontes) |
See all The Winter's Tale Cast & Crew »
The Winter's Tale is a tragi-comedy and one of Shakespeare's later works, believed to date from 1610 or 1611.
(edit)
Paulina:
What's gone and what's past help
Should be past grief.
(edit) Florizel:
When you do dance, I wish you
A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that.
(edit)
What's gone and what's past help
Should be past grief.
(edit) Florizel:
When you do dance, I wish you
A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
Nothing but that.
(edit)
Antigonus says "...our ship hath touch'd upon the desarts of Bohemia". Ben Jonson poked fun at Shakespeare for the sailors' arrival by ship, as the kingdom of Bohemia had neither a coast nor a desert. However, Shakespeare may have meant the nonsense as part of the play's fantasy.
(edit)
There is a gap of sixteen years between two of the Acts of the play, during which Leontes has mourned the loss of his wife and children. In an unusual device, Father Time himself comes on stage to explain that the sixteen years have gone by.
At one point, Antigonus is chased off the stage, as set out in Shakespeare's most famous stage direction - Exit, pursued by a bear.
No one knows whether Shakespeare used a real bear when producing the play himself. It's more likely that his bear was an actor wearing a bear-skin, but a real bear has sometimes been used in modern times. The BBC Shakespeare production uses a man in a costume.
No one knows whether Shakespeare used a real bear when producing the play himself. It's more likely that his bear was an actor wearing a bear-skin, but a real bear has sometimes been used in modern times. The BBC Shakespeare production uses a man in a costume.
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Episode Vital Stats
Episode: The Winter's Tale
Season Number: 1
Episode Reviews: 0
Season Number: 1
Episode Reviews: 0
Episode
Score: 9.8 Superb 2 votes
Score: 9.8 Superb 2 votes
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