This, with 'Cymbeline' the most difficult Shakespeare play,is rendered with remarkable power and lucidity for the Beeb's TV Shakespeare series. The settings for Timon in his affluence and then his ruin work extremely well, and though the Elizabethan costumes are anachronistic they suit Timon and his flatterers to perfection. Jonathan Pryce adds Timon to his exceptional Hamlet, Macbeth and Petruchio (on stage) and matches Scofield in his transition from innocent goodwill to virulent misanthropy. Norman Rodway is a splendidly cynical Apamantus and a heap of Johns also excel: Welsh as the admirable steward Flavius, Shrapnel as the fiery Alcibiades, Fortune and Bird as the poet and painter, Justin as the craven senator, while James Cossins' Lucullus epitomises the hypocrisy of Timon's sycophants. It's a pity about Diana Dors' dreadful tart Timandra, but all the other parts are spoken with rare clarity and intelligence. Director Miller must be credited with so clear and moving exposition which even survives the upside-down filming of Pryce's head at the close.
Review of Timon of Athens
