The Tempest (1980)

Exiled Prospero lives on a desolate island with his daughter, Miranda. When Prospero's usurping brother sails by the island, Prospero conjures a storm that wrecks the ship and changes all of their lives.

Director:

John Gorrie

Writer:

William Shakespeare (play)

Stars:

Michael Hordern, Derek Godfrey, David Waller

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Hordern	...	Prospero
Derek Godfrey	...	Antonio
David Waller	...	Alonso
Warren Clarke	...	Caliban
Nigel Hawthorne	...	Stephano
David Dixon	...	Ariel
Andrew Sachs	...	Trinculo
John Nettleton	...	Gonzalo
Alan Rowe	...	Sebastian
Pippa Guard	...	Miranda
Christopher Guard	...	Ferdinand
Kenneth Gilbert	...	Boatswain
Edwin Brown	...	Master
Paul Greenhalgh	...	Francisco
Christopher Bramwell	...	Adrian

Storyline

Exiled Prospero lives on a desolate island with his daughter, Miranda. When Prospero's usurping brother sails by the island, Prospero conjures a storm that wrecks the ship and changes all of their lives.

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Plot Keywords:

shakespeare's the tempest | based on play | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 February 1980 (UK)

Also Known As:

The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare: The Tempest

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Time-Life Television Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir John Gielgud was cast as Prospero, but backed out after disagreements over the production concept.

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Connections

Version of The Tempest (1911)

User Reviews

good but...

The Tempest is often considered to be Shakespeare's last major play. Therefore it is easy to see why many think Prospero, the leading character, is a sort of picture of Shakespeare on the eve of his retirement; Prospero retires to Milan as Shakespeare did to Stratford and put away his magic staff as Shakespeare did his pen.

Michael Hordern was usually good as Prospero (some unfortunate line readings do not detract too much from the over-all effect.), the wizard of the island which was possibly Shakespeare's representation of the New World, then being explored. (Miranda even famously exclaims, with Aldous Huxley, "O brave new world, that has such people in't".)

David Dixon was the spirit Ariel and, he "almost has on" a sort of thong like the other spirits (dancers) that bring and then deliberately remove a magical meal before anyone has a chance to consume it. Alas, Mr. Dixon isn't that convincing as an actor here; too often he merely throws his lines out in a thoughtless manner. Both he and these other spirits seem more campy than sincere, more softcore gay porn than Shakespeare.

I'm not suggesting that other productions may not have similar displays of near-nudity which W.S. himself might well have appreciated once he got over his initial shock, but a bit more dignity might also have been in order. The "masque" towards the end was both more extended (though slightly abridged in this version.) and better done in my opinion and the music by Joseph Horovitz in this section was quite good.

Pippa and Christopher Guard were good as the young lovers Miranda and Ferdinand but they are cousins in real life and not siblings as someone else stated. The other characters were also well done including Nigel Hawthorne as the drunk Stephano and Warren Clarke as Caliban.

The opening ship scene was almost totally inaudible with the actors' lines overpowered by the sounds of the storm. But I thought that the scenery was perfectly adequate for the purpose of this TV production.