Much 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

Writers:

David Nicholls, William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Sarah Parish, Damian Lewis, Andrew Barclay

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Sarah Parish	...	Beatrice
Damian Lewis	...	Benedick
Andrew Barclay	...	Taxi Driver
George Couyas	...	Waiter
Martin Jarvis	...	Leonard
Olivia Colman	...	Ursula
Tom Ellis	...	Claudio
Derek Riddell	...	Don
Patrick Ryecart	...	Keith
Billie Piper	...	Hero
Nina Sosanya	...	Margaret
Anthony O'Donnell	...	Mr Berry
Rasmus Hardiker	...	Vince
Michael Smiley	...	Peter
Henrietta Clemett	...	Girl in Club

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.

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Plot Keywords:

love | tv news | one liner | love triangle | use of phrase bad hair day | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

BBC [uk]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 November 2005 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

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.

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Quotes

[at the hospital]
Benedick: Here, I got you this.
Beatrice: What is it?
Benedick: Coffee... Maybe soup.
Beatrice: Thanks but... I think I'll pass.

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Connections

Version of Much Ado About Nothing (1987)

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Soundtracks

"True"
Spandau Ballet

User Reviews

Loves' Labors' Won

After seeing some bad adaptations of my revered "Alice's Adventures Underground," I decided to try this. Though the comedies aren't generally the stuff around which to build lives, a few from the middle period do matter.

During this period, Shakespeare seems to have found one of his three balances among the structure of poetical phrases, the structure of poetic introspection and the long form shape of the story. Of the three, adapters must toss the language, so the measure of success is how well the small concepts weave into the larger. Supposedly, if this is done well enough some of the subtle magic of why the original is so hypnotic will be conveyed. In other words, we should get joy from the sheer difficulty of the conceptual gymnastics as well as the pleasure from a good experience from the play itself.

This wins in my book.

The key trick is that the domain has been shifted to folks in the business of TeeVee broadcasting. So there is a built in fold in the very lives of everyone involved. We naturally accept the two conspiratorial theaters that are woven, one to create a wedding and another to foil one.

The production is good, earnest, unconstrained.

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