The Thames Shakespeare Collection

Collection of four televised productions of Shakespeare plays. 'Macbeth' (1979) tells the story of the eponymous Scottish nobleman (McKellen), who is encouraged by his ambitious wife Lady Macbeth (Judi Dench) to murder King Duncan (Griffith Jones) in order to take his throne. 'Romeo and Juliet' (1976) follows the ill-fated love story between children from the warring Montague and Capulet families, Romeo (Christopher Neame) and Juliet (Ann Hasson), who fall victim to the ancient rivalry between the two houses. In 'Twelfth Night' (1988) a shipwreck separates Viola (Frances Barber) from her twin brother. Disguising herself as a young man called Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino (Christopher Ravenscroft) and falls in love with him, but he loves Olivia (Caroline Langrishe), who soon falls in love with Cesario. Finally, 'King Lear' (1974) follows the fate of Lear (Patrick Magee), who decides to split his kingdom between his three daughters and is deceived by flattery into putting his faith in the wrong ones, with tragic consequences.