ShakespeaRe-Told: Season 1, Episode 1Much Ado About Nothing (7 Nov. 2005)Tensions mount in the TV studio when a take-charge anchor is reunited with a man she has a "history" with. Director:Brian Percival |
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Title: Much Ado About Nothing (07 Nov 2005)
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Cast
| Episode cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Sarah Parish | ... |
Beatrice
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| Damian Lewis | ... | ||
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Andrew Barclay | ... |
Taxi Driver
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| George Couyas | ... |
Waiter
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| Martin Jarvis | ... |
Leonard
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| Olivia Colman | ... |
Ursula
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| Tom Ellis | ... | ||
| Derek Riddell | ... |
Don
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Patrick Ryecart | ... |
Keith
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| Billie Piper | ... | ||
| Nina Sosanya | ... |
Margaret
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Anthony O'Donnell | ... |
Mr Berry
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Rasmus Hardiker | ... |
Vince
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| Michael Smiley | ... |
Peter
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Henrietta Clemett | ... |
Girl in Club
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
When her incompetent TV news co-host is fired, Beatrice winds up working again with Benedict, towards whom she has nothing but disgust. Meanwhile weather girl Hero falls in love with a young man new to the station (much to the dismay of her not-so-secret admirer.) As Bea and Ben trade one-liners, their co-workers tell each that the other is really in love with her/him, which leads them to re-think their own feelings. Written by Ron Kerrigan <mvg@whidbey.com>
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Details
Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
7 November 2005 (UK) See more »Company Credits
Production Co:
BBC Drama Group, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Horsebridge Productions Limited See more »
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Did You Know?
Goofs
At the fancy dress party for the new crew, Margaret Ursula and Hero are seen in the room upstairs talking. As Don is seen going upstairs towards the room you can see Ursula dancing at the foot of the stairs. When he reaches the room he hears them talking and the door opens. He runs away. Ursula comes out of the room with Margaret and Hero, but only seconds ago Ursula was downstairs and she had not come up whilst Don was there. See more »Quotes
Benedick: [talking to himself] Love's just one of those things a man grows into, like jazz and olives. I'm not going to let a few sarcastic remarks change the way I feel. After all, the world must be peopled. When I said I'd die a bachelor I just didn't realize I'd live this long!See more »
The new 2005 BBC series of updated modern-language Shakespeare TV movies is currently being shown Wednesday nights on Danish television. I missed one or two, but I caught Macbeth, which didn't impress me terribly, and last night they showed Much Abo About Nothing. This was a lot better than the Macbeth installment. It managed to maintain most of the structure of the original play, while changing some things (including significant parts of the ending) to keep it simpler and fresh. It was nowhere near the quality of a genuine Shakespeare play, although the acting certainly wasn't bad. Billie Piper's Hero impressed particularly, whereas I was not too taken with the actress portraying Beatrice. Benedick and Claude were played by types who reminded a lot - almost too much - of the Branagh movie's equivalents, but as I am a huge fan of Branagh's movie, this is not something that annoys me.
This version did have some shortcomings, such as a much too small role for Peter (Don Pedro), and, of course, the lack of the original Bard text, and I also felt it was more interested in being entertaining than in being any kind of complex literary comedy. But while the Macbeth episode of this series seemed contrived and simplified to the point of massive dilution, the Much Ado episode worked far better,despite being a very straight (and, again, simplified) version of the original. It seemed to me like it had been immensely easy to write; nothing much more than rephrasing parts of the Shakespeare dialog into modern language and changing the setting. Still, it was done with remarkable flair. Certainly Shakespeare Lite at the end of the day, but not bad at all.
7 out of 10.
Next Wednesday it's A Midsummer Night's Dream.