The Taming of the Shrew (21 Nov. 2005)

A young harridan MP marries a title in order to advance towards her goal of becoming party leader.

Director:

David Richards

Writers:

William Shakespeare (play), Sally Wainwright (screenplay)

Stars:

Shirley Henderson, David Mitchell, Simon Chandler

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Shirley Henderson	...	Kate Minola
David Mitchell	...	Tim Agnew
Simon Chandler	...	John Naps
Jaime Murray	...	Bianca Minola
Federico Zanni	...	Tranio
Santiago Cabrera	...	Lucentio
Stephen Tompkinson	...	Harry
Twiggy	...	Mrs. Minola (as Twiggy Lawson)
Yves Aubert	...	French Waiter
Rufus Sewell	...	Petruchio
Paul McNeilly	...	Scary Yob
Samuel Oatley	...	Journalist
Bruce Mackinnon	...	Vicar
Kate Russell-Smith	...	Elaine
David Weber	...	Barman

Storyline

Katherine is extremely abrasive in her dealings with everyone, both in Parliament and her personal life. Her sister Bianca couldn't be more different -- a popular model whom everyone loves. Bianca's long time manager wants to marry her; in order to put him off she says she won't marry until her sister is wed (a prospect she knows will keep her safe.) So her manager arranges his friend -- who is a titled Earl -- to meet and marry Kate and the battle is on.

---

Plot Keywords:

parliament | man cooking for woman | italian villa | plain jane | cross dresser | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 November 2005 (UK)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Drama Group, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Horsebridge Productions Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

They prepared 3 tables and 3 carpets for the scene in which Katherine flips the table over. Each had glasses made of sugar glass and wax plates. All the meals had to be salad so that the food wouldn't melt the plates. Luckily they did it in one take and were able to move out the restaurant so that it could open for lunch.

---

Goofs

As Harry and Petruchio are getting out of the elevator Harry says, 'You're mad,' and Petruchio begins to adjust his pants. The camera goes to the next shot and Petruchio's hands are back down at his side, and begins to adjust his pants once again.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Kate: Fathead!
[she slaps him]
Tim Agnew: You hit me!
Kate: You gave me that information. You made me look like a political pygmy, on Newsnight. Your job, in case you weren't concentrating, is to make sure I know what I'm pigging well talking about!
Tim Agnew: You're out of order, Katherine. I'm sorry, but good grief!
Kate: And you're sacked! No wonder this party has been the opposition for the last ten million light years!
Tim Agnew: You can't sack me, and, frankly, I'd appreciate an apology. Otherwise...
Kate: Otherwise?
Tim Agnew: If we're to ...
[...]

---

Connections

Version of Kiss Me Kate (1958)

User Reviews

Let Me Kiss You Kate

This is not a very good Shakespeare in my estimation, though everyone looks for different things, probably valuing others. There is no grand struggle here for control over the universe, and of course none of what happens — struggle or no — happens in the language.

But it is a crackling good movie. It has Shirley Henderson in the main role. I've long admired how she grabs the frame. Instead of her being defeated by a barrage of words, completely submerged as the real Kate is, she wins. She wins because everything around her is controlled by her. When the couple is happy, it is because both her character allows his quirks and also because she lets him into the film she commands as an actress. In time, she may become as tiresome as Judi Dench, but for now she is welcome.

This has a terrific score. Someone paid a lot of attention there.

And it does do something Will would: it shamelessly quotes and bends the genre. This is a date movie, plain and simple, under an intelligent commentary on date movies. With the play, the notion of instant, deep love had to be pulled out of exotic myth. We moderns have date movies to convince us what love is, and that it exists in a sparkley form.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.