Richard II
1978: David Giles
The BBC Shakespeare Plays version of Richard II is one of the crowning achievements of the series. Derek Jacobi is one of the finest living Shakespearean actors, and he brings a perfectly-attuned sensitivity to this very difficult role — second perhaps only to Hamlet in its complexity and in the number of contradictions the character has to support. (I’d argue that Jacobi has also created the finest Hamlet on film, in the same series.) In the beginning, he must embody Richard’s arrogance and caprice; by the end, he must show us a Richard who has grown in dignity, even as his powers are stripped away from him. To integrate the two parts is a constant juggling act on a manic-depressive axis, but Jacobi does a completely convincing job throughout.
The remainder of the cast is likewise excellent. An aging but still healthy John Gielgud portrays John of Gaunt, and so has the delivery of Shakespeare’s most lyrical encomium to England; Jon Finch (who plays Henry IV throughout the series and Macbeth in the Roman Polanski version) makes the rebel Bolingbroke (Henry IV) likeable and appealing without ever letting us forget that he is, nevertheless, a usurper with his own range of problems, which explode in his hands after he takes the crown for himself. His growing uncertainties about what he is doing mesh seamlessly with Richard’s ultimate recovery of the knowledge of his own identity.
If you can possibly find and view this performance, do so.
Abbot of Westminster: Bruno Barnabe
Bagot: Damien Thomas
Bishop of Carlisle: Clifford Rose
Bushy: Robin Sachs
Duchess of Gloucester: Mary Morris
Duchess of York: Wendy Hiller
Duke of Aumerle: Charles Keating
Duke of Northumberland: David Swift
Duke of Surrey: Jeffrey Holland
Duke of York: Charles Gray
Earl Berkeley: Carl Oatley
Earl of Salisbury: John Barcroft
Gardener’s Man: Alan Collins
Gardener: Jonathan Adams
Green: Alan Dalton
Groom: Joe Ritchie
Henry Bolingbroke: Jon Finch
Henry Percy: Jeremy Bulloch
Herald: Mike Lewin
Herald: Tim Brown
John of Gaunt: John Gielgud
Keeper: Paddy Ward
Lord Fitzwater: John Curless
Lord Ross: David Dodimead
Lord Willoughby: John Flint
Murderer: Terry Wright
Queen’s Lady: Phillida Sewell
Queen’s Lady: Sandra Frieze
Queen: Janet Maw
Richard II: Derek Jacobi
Servant: Ronald Fernee
Sir Pierce of Exton: Desmond Adams
Sir Stephen Scroop: William Whymper
Thomas Mowbray: Richard Owens
Welsh Captain: David Garfield
Buy the complete BBC Shakespeare Plays at Amazon. Note that this will require a Region 2 player or a region-free player: it will not play on most normal American DVD players. Nevertheless, the price is so reasonable that even with a region-free player thrown into the deal, you’ll come out ahead.
Buy the BBC Shakespeare Plays Histories Giftbox at Amazon. Unlike the complete series, this is in a North American video format, and it includes five plays: Richard II, Henry IV, Part I, Henry IV, Part 2, Henry V, and Richard III.
Buy the complete set of the BBC Shakespeare Plays or individual plays (including this one) in Region 1 format direct from Ambrose Video.