Objective: Between 1978 and 1985 the BBC undertook to film television adaptations of all 37 of Shakespeare's plays employing the best classical actors of the day to star in them; an astonishing roster of talent including Derek Jacobi, Anthony Hopkins, Alan Howard, Helen Mirren, Jonathan Pryce, Ian Charleson, Patrick Stewart, Michael Hordern, Nicol Williamson, Anthony Quayle, Wendy Hiller, Robert Lindsay, Nigel Hawthorne, Robert Stephens, Margaret Tyzack, Anton Lesser, Joss Ackland, John Thaw, Brenda Blethyn, Michael Pennington, Ben Kingsley, Juliet Stevenson, David Warner, Charles Gray, Jon Finch, Claire Bloom, John Gielgud, Bernard Hill, Zoe Wanamaker and Alan Rickman. The final results were often patchy, constrained as they were by studio settings, limited budgets and time to shoot, and have dated as television from that era is bound to do, but as a complete document of the canon and the chance to see some superb Shakespearean performances caught on film they are, and doubtless will remain, unrivalled. Review them all.

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