Shakespeare Lives

David Tennant stars as the doomed Richard II in Greg Doran’s critically-acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production, available for the first time online across the world.

Simon Russell Beale and Adrian Lester discuss this most celebrated and challenging role.

Love and vengeance on a South London estate. A film for today in Shakespeare's language.

Acting legend Ian McKellen discusses his impressive range of Shakespearean performances.

World-premiere commemorative concert in the church where Shakespeare was buried.

From the stage of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, hosts David Tennant and Catherine Tate are joined by Benedict Cumberbatch, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Dame Helen Mirren, Meera Syal, David Suchet, Rufus Wainwright, Tim Minchin, Gregory Porter, Joseph Fiennes, English National Opera, The Royal Ballet and Akala for a very special evening. Together they mark the life and work of William Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death. This unique event takes place in the presence of their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and celebrates Shakespeare's extraordinary legacy and his enduring influence on all performance art forms - from opera to jazz, dance to musicals.

Presenter Suzy Klein and guests with exclusive access to Shakespeare's New Place.

Explore the BFI's Silent Shakespeare collection.

After a tour to almost every country, Shakespeare's Globe's Hamlet production comes home.

Great music and performance from the world of ballet and opera, presented by Ore Oduba.

All 37 Shakespeare plays each represented by new films created by Shakespeare's Globe.

The BBC Concert Orchestra celebrates the music of Shakespeare on film.

Katie Derham explores Shakespeare's Late Plays from the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse

Shakespeare was a great songwriter – with songs appearing in many of his greatest plays. To mark the 400th anniversary of his death, the BBC and the European Broadcasting Union have commissioned a New Shakespeare Songbook inviting composers and musicians throughout Europe to write new songs based on the Bard’s texts. Presenter Andy Akinwolere takes us on a musical journey through Europe as contemporary songwriters respond to the poetry of Shakespeare’s sonnets and plays.

Comedy from Charlie Brooker starring Philomena Cunk, the witless commentator from Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe. Philomena knows absolutely nothing about Shakespeare, but that won't stop her attempting to present a groundbreaking documentary about him. Fresh from her triumphs on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe investigating time ('It'll always be an unknowable mystery, like how phones work') Winston Churchill ('Imagine how good his tweets would have been'), and Donald Trump ('There's this amazing stuff on his head; it's not hair, it's like a sort of furry gas'), Philomena Cunk has finally been given her own show - about William Shakespeare. Cunk will leave no stone unturned as she gets to the bottom of the Bard, visiting his birthplace, exploring the Globe, studying priceless artefacts and interviewing literally six different experts, including renowned actor Simon Russell Beale, Educating Yorkshire teacher Matthew Burton and top Shakespearean scholar Professor Stanley Wells. Shorter than Hamlet, funnier than King Lear and easier to spell than Cymbeline, Cunk On Shakespeare is absolutely the last word in Shakespeare documentaries.

A new dance work created by British dance company Rambert inspired by Macbeth. Choreographer Lucy Guerin evokes the dark psychological world of Shakespeare’s famous villain.

David Harewood stars as Othello, the Venetian army general who attracts the wroth of his new father-in-law appalled that his daughter Desdemona has married a Moor. Othello, renowned for his military prowess, is too valuable to Venice to be reprimanded and takes Desdemona on his mission to defend Cyprus from the Turks. However, Othello remains an outsider in the city – an object of racism, envy and mistrust. Iago, a junior officer, exploits Othello’s ambiguous position and unsuspecting nature and drives him into an uncontrollable jealousy with claims that Desdemona has committed adultery. This short film, interspersed with previous Othello productions at Shakespeare's Globe, was first seen as part of The Complete Walk over one magical weekend alongside London's Thames in April 2016 in this anniversary year. Some 37 specially-made 10 minute films were screened along the iconic 2.5 mile stretch between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge. Each film explores one of The Bard's plays and includes scenes shot in the locations Shakespeare imagined when he wrote them. Picture Cleopatra in front of the Pyramids, Shylock in Venice’s former Jewish Ghetto, Hamlet on the rocks of Elsinore. Featuring a host of the world’s greatest actors, The Complete Walk celebrates Shakespeare’s life, work and legacy, exactly 400 years on from his death.

Gemma Arterton's Rosaline sets a challenge to Berowne, played by David Dawson in this short film filmed in Navarre, Spain, for Shakespeare's Globe's The Complete Walk. The court of Navarre: the King and his three Lords vow to stay away from wine, women and luxury; but when the Princess of France arrives with her Ladies, they begin to change their minds. As each gives in to his affections and breaks his oath, they all try – unsuccessfully – to keep their love secret from each other. First seen as part of Shakespeare's Globe's The Complete Walk over one magical weekend alongside London's Thames in April 2016 in this anniversary year, 400 years since the death of The Bard. Some 37 specially-made 10 minute films were screened along the iconic 2.5 mile stretch between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge. Each film explores one of The Bard's plays and includes scenes shot in the locations Shakespeare imagined when he wrote them. Picture Cleopatra in front of the Pyramids, Shylock in Venice’s former Jewish Ghetto, Hamlet on the rocks of Elsinore. Featuring a host of the world’s greatest actors, The Complete Walk celebrates Shakespeare’s life, work and legacy, exactly 400 years on from his death.

ikki Amuka-Bird stars as Hippolyta and David Caves as Theseus in this short film extract from Shakespeare's most popular play, filmed for Shakespeare's Globe's The Complete Walk and shot at Wilton House in Wiltshire. Hermia loves Lysander and Helena loves Demetrius – but Demetrius is supposed to be marrying Hermia. When the Duke of Athens tries to enforce the marriage, the lovers take refuge in the woods and walk into the midst of a dispute between the King and Queen of the fairies. When a mischievous fairy, Puck, places a love potion of the sleeping mortals’ eyelids, they will awake and fall in love with the first person they see. First seen as part of Shakespeare's Globe's The Complete Walk over one magical weekend alongside London's Thames in April 2016 in this anniversary year. Some 37 specially-made 10 minute films were screened along the iconic 2.5 mile stretch between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge.

Filmed at Ostia Antica, Rome, Dominic West stars in this short film from Shakespeare's Globe's The Complete Walk. Caius Marcius, a brilliant Roman general, takes victory against the Volscian city of Corioli, and is honoured with the name ‘Coriolanus.’ However, his contempt for the common people of Rome mean his fortunes are short lived, as the tribune orders him to be banished. Exiled from Rome, Coriolanus makes an allegiance with his old enemy Aufidius and swears vengeance against the city he once loved. Desperate for mercy, Coriolanus’ mother Volumnia visits him and dissuades her son from destroying Rome. Coriolanus brokers peace between the Volscians and the Romans, only to be killed by Aufidius. First seen as part of Shakespeare's Globe's The Complete Walk over one magical weekend alongside London's Thames in April 2016 in this anniversary year. Some 37 specially-made 10 minute films were screened along the iconic 2.5 mile stretch between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge.