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 poetsPlays adapted into television showsLove storiesPlays set in ancient GreeceShakespearean tragediesPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchEnglish people of Welsh descentPlays adapted into radio programsShakespearean comediesPlays set in AthensFounders of English schools and collegesHouse of TudorPrisoners in the Tower of LondonLiterary duosFiction about poisoningsPlays set in Italy1590s playsCultural depictions of TheseusPlays about fairiesMetafictional plays16th-century queens regnant16th-century English women16th-century English translators
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
CultureFounders of English schools and collegesPeople excommunicated by the Catholic ChurchEnglish people of Welsh descentHouse of TudorPrisoners in the Tower of LondonBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish AnglicansPeople of the Elizabethan eraEnglish women poets16th-century queens regnant16th-century English women16th-century English translators