Helen Hackett
Professor of English Literature at University College London
3 episodes
Covers topics in categories such as:
CultureBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish Renaissance playsPlays adapted into operasEnglish AnglicansBritish plays adapted into filmsFiction about suicidePeople of the Elizabethan eraEnglish women poetsLove storiesPlays adapted into television showsPlays set in ancient GreeceShakespearean tragediesPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchEnglish people of Welsh descentPlays adapted into radio programsPlays set in AthensShakespearean comediesPrisoners in the Tower of LondonFounders of English schools and colleges1590s playsLiterary duosPlays set in ItalyFiction about poisoningsPlays about fairiesMetafictional plays16th-century queens regnant16th-century English translatorsHouse of Tudor
Romeo and Juliet
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the poetry and power of Shakespeare's tragedy of two young lovers in Verona, their families divided by a bitter feud
17 February 2022
Also featuring: Paul Prescott, Emma Smith
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas behind Shakespeare's comedy with its intertwining plots of royal marriage, crossed lovers, quarreling fairies and rude mechanicals
18 April 2019
Also featuring: Tom Healy, Alison Findlay
The Death of Elizabeth I
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth I and its immediate impact, as a foreign monarch became King in the face of plots and plague.
15 October 2009
Also featuring: John Guy, Clare Jackson
CultureBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish AnglicansPeople of the Elizabethan eraEnglish women poetsPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchEnglish people of Welsh descentPrisoners in the Tower of LondonFounders of English schools and colleges16th-century queens regnant16th-century English translatorsHouse of Tudor