# PBS Great Performances: The Hollow Crown **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941 "2013-09-16T01:10:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/1 "2013-09-16T01:10:21Z")
Anyone planning on checking this out? Starts next Friday, Sept 20. > **[The Hollow Crown: Shakespeare's History Plays ~ About the Series | Great...](https://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/the-hollow-crown-shakespeares-history-plays-about-the-series/1747/)** > > The Hollow Crownis a lavish new series of filmed adaptations of four of Shakespeare’s most gripping history plays; Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, This might help me achieve my life goal of eventually getting a bunch of the kings and queens of England straight in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/2 "2013-09-16T16:09:06Z")
I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/3 "2013-09-16T16:13:34Z")
I’m definitely going to check that out - sounds like a bunch of great actors and I haven’t had a chance to see most of those plays (except Kenneth Branagh’s version of _Henry V_). ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/4 "2013-09-16T16:16:11Z")
Already pre-ordered the DVDs! I’m looking forward to it. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/5 "2013-09-16T20:53:49Z")
Wow, thanks ThelmaLou! I will definitely watch this series. More than fifty years ago, there was a BBC series called “An Age of Kings,” which introduced me to Shakespeare’s English history plays. I developed a love of Shakespeare and a fascination with 15th Century English history which persists to this day. “An Age of Kings” is available on DVD. It’s in black-and-white, 4x3 format, but it is still riveting. The first time I ever saw Sean Connery was in “An Age of Kings” (he played Hotspur). ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/6 "2013-09-16T21:27:20Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > Wow, thanks ThelmaLou! I will definitely watch this series. > > More than fifty years ago, there was a BBC series called “An Age of Kings,” which introduced me to Shakespeare’s English history plays. I developed a love of Shakespeare and a fascination with 15th Century English history which persists to this day. “An Age of Kings” is available on DVD. It’s in black-and-white, 4x3 format, but it is still riveting. The first time I ever saw Sean Connery was in “An Age of Kings” (he played Hotspur). Honey, you made my day… on two counts. Thx. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/7 "2013-09-16T23:00:46Z")
Loved Ben Whishaw’s clever and subtle portrayal of Dickie II but it was shown in the summer and I didn’t stay with the whole thing. As mentioned, amazing cast. Sam Mendes produced it. > **[The Hollow Crown (TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hollow_Crown_%28TV_series%29)** > > The Hollow Crown is a series of British television film adaptations of William Shakespeare's history plays. > The first series is an adaptation of Shakespeare's second historical tetralogy, the Henriad: Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V, starring Ben Whishaw, Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston. Olivier Award winners Rupert Goold, Richard Eyre and Thea Sharrock directed the telefilms, which were produced by Rupert Ryle-Hodges for BBC Two and executive produced by Sam Mendes ... ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/8 "2013-09-17T16:25:45Z")
I’m planning on watching; the cast sounds tremendous. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pbs-great-performances-the-hollow-crown/668941/9 "2013-09-20T18:14:29Z")
A. I like Richard II. I think it was one of my first introductions to the histories and it has some lovely, lovely speeches B. I love Henry V. C. I would watch a show called “Tom Hiddleston Reads the Phone Book and Watches Paint Dry.” Tom Hiddleston as Hal is must see viewing for me. Really looking forward to it.