Geoffrey Sax - Tipping the Velvet (2002)

Description from the BBC site:
As charismatic heroine Nan Astley (Rachael Stirling) grows into womanhood, she realises that she's attracted to women, not men. It leads her into a series of lesbian adventures.

The glamorous world of 19th century music hall provides the backdrop for Nan's first love affair with Kitty (Keeley Hawes), a popular male impersonator music hall star. They become a double act both on and off stage, but their manager Walter (John Bowe) wins Kitty's hand as she ultimately chooses the safety of a traditional life rather than risking the public disapproval of her true feelings for Nan.

Devastated by Kitty's betrayal, Nan takes to the streets to survive, in her guise as a male impersonator, and finds a niche in the Victorian sexual underworld. She's drawn to Florence (Jodhi May), but is unable to tell her the truth about her secret street life.

Instead, she's spotted by the wealthy widow, Diana Lethaby (Anna Chancellor), a woman in her thirties who is amoral, capricious and predatory. She introduces Nan into a world of luxury and debauchery, and makes Nan her sexual slave.

When Nan is thrown back onto the streets, she searches for Florence, who is initially deeply mistrustful, but a strong bond develops between them that blossoms into real and lasting love.

The novel Tipping the Velvet was written by Sarah Waters, with acclaimed dramatist Andrew Davies adapting it for the screen.











PART 1
http://rapidshare.com/files/120004427/Tipping.the.Velvet.2002.cd1.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120044840/Tipping.the.Velvet.2002.cd1.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120051092/Tipping.the.Velvet.2002.cd1.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120065210/Tipping.the.Velvet.2002.cd1.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120069387/Tipping.the.Velvet.2002.cd1.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120072847/Tipping.the.Velvet.2002.cd1.part6.rar
PART 2
http://rapidshare.com/files/120098965/Tipping.t.V._2002.cd2.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120108871/Tipping.t.V._2002.cd2.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120126388/Tipping.t.V._2002.cd2.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120056326/Tipping.t.V._2002.cd2.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120059813/Tipping.t.V._2002.cd2.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120203732/Tipping.t.V._2002.cd2.part6.rar
part 3
http://rapidshare.com/files/120206449/Tipping.the.Vel.cd3.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120217051/Tipping.the.Vel.cd3.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120221429/Tipping.the.Vel.cd3.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120224804/Tipping.the.Vel.cd3.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/120231284/Tipping.the.Vel.cd3.part5.rar

Rar Password: tsou_li

Episode 01:
http://rapidshare.com/files/71464891/Slimbo.TtV.01-02.z01
http://rapidshare.com/files/71509015/Slimbo.TtV.01-02.z02
http://rapidshare.com/files/71607916/Slimbo.TtV.01-02.z03
http://rapidshare.com/files/71443299/Slimbo.TtV.01-02.zip
Episode 02:
http://rapidshare.com/files/71641697/Slimbo.TtV.02-02.z01
http://rapidshare.com/files/71642320/Slimbo.TtV.02-02.z02
http://rapidshare.com/files/71653680/Slimbo.TtV.02-02.z03
http://rapidshare.com/files/71650522/Slimbo.TtV.02-02.zip
Episode 03:
http://rapidshare.com/files/71664497/Slimbo.TtV.03-02.z01
http://rapidshare.com/files/71672684/Slimbo.TtV.03-02.z02
http://rapidshare.com/files/71653698/Slimbo.TtV.03-02.zip

Password: Slimbo

Beeban Kidron - Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1990)

Quote:
Charlotte Coleman stars as Jess, the adopted daughter of a strict evangelist played by Geraldine McEwan. With an upbringing spent learning the bible and praying for 'heathens in hot countries' she unnerves both classmates and teachers when she begins school. Later in life she meets Melanie and friendship soon turns to passion. When her mother and the local pastor learn the truth about their relationship they take extreme measures to save her from these 'unnatural lusts'.

This highly acclaimed production was adapted by Jeanette Winterson from her own best-selling novel and won three BAFTAs including Best Serial and Best Actress.

PLOT:Jessica's extraordinarily strong will and heart enables her to rebel against her fanatical, cult-like upbringing. From seven to seventeen Jess is brainwashed to be one of the 'saved', to devote her life to Jesus, to follow the discriminatory teachings of Pastor Finch and his understanding of Revelations. As her warm personality dictates she succeeds in fitting into this regime and spreads the word of Jesus in a fairly content manner. But when her friendship with Melanie develops into something a little more 'unnatural' she easily realizes the error of the Pastors teachings. The girls are subjected to terrible treatment to convince them to repent.







http://rapidshare.com/files/113506362/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/113506363/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/113506365/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/113530499/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/113530571/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/113530579/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/113552854/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part7.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/113552965/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part8.rar

no pass

http://rapidshare.com/files/136702138/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/136708000/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/136714599/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/136721169/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/136728108/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/136735419/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/136740394/Oranges_are_not_the_only_Fruit.part7.rar

pass:scaly

Aisling Walsh - Fingersmith (2005)

Description: Susan Trinder (Sally Hawkins) has been brought up in a house of thieves in London. She gets sucked into a plot by a family friend. She becomes Maud Lilly's (Elain Cassidy) maid so as to get her to marry Mr Richard Rivers. They plan to put Maud in a mental asylum once she marries so they can claim access to her £40,000. The plan becomes a nuisance when Susan mistakenly falls in love with Maud.

http://rapidshare.com/files/127899178/fingersmith1.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/127908754/fingersmith1.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/127921037/fingersmith1.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/127931121/fingersmith1.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/127942974/fingersmith1.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/127952703/fingersmith1.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128095573/fingersmith1.part7.rar
ENGLISH SUBTITLES:
http://rapidshare.com/files/128095579/fingersmith1_sub.rar

CD2
http://rapidshare.com/files/128104090/fingersmith2.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/128114930/fingersmith2.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/129241225/fingersmith2.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/129208792/fingersmith2.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/129217195/fingersmith2.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/129225820/fingersmith2.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/129233423/fingersmith2.part7.rar
ENGLISH SUBTITLES:
http://rapidshare.com/files/129241231/fingersmith2_sub.rar

Rar Password: scaly

BBC - Yes Minister - Season 3 (1980-1984)

Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC television and radio between 1980 and 1984.
Set in the private office in Whitehall of a British government cabinet minister (and, in the second series, in 10 Downing Street), the series follows the ministerial career of James Hacker MP, played by Paul Eddington, and his various struggles to bring in legislation or departmental changes, opposed by the will of the British Civil Service, in particular his Permanent Secretary (senior civil servant), Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne and his more helpful Principal Private Secretary played by Derek Fowlds. Almost every programme ends with the eponymous line, "Yes, Minister", uttered (usually) by Sir Humphrey as he quietly relishes his victory over his "political master" (or, occasionally, acknowledges defeat).
A huge critical and popular success, the series was the recipient of a number of awards, including several BAFTAs and in 2004 came sixth in Britain's Best Sitcom. It also gained notability as being the favourite television programme of the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

http://rapidshare.com/files/264954296/YM301.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264970833/YM301.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264969421/YM301.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264954235/YM301.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264966000/YM302.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952645/YM302.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264959296/YM302.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952124/YM302.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264965852/YM303.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264958680/YM303.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264956571/YM303.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264968184/YM303.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264953401/YM304.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264960458/YM304.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264955664/YM304.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264955284/YM304.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264963897/YM305.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264953435/YM305.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264962183/YM305.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264954244/YM305.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264963577/YM306.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952527/YM306.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264953924/YM306.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952797/YM306.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264967777/YM307.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264968462/YM307.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264960247/YM307.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264964284/YM307.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264955030/YM308.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264958945/YM308.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264967136/YM308.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264953604/YM308.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264957437/YM308.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264962088/YM308.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264969150/YM308.part7.rar

no pass

BBC - Yes Minister - Season 2 (1980-1984)

Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC television and radio between 1980 and 1984.
Set in the private office in Whitehall of a British government cabinet minister (and, in the second series, in 10 Downing Street), the series follows the ministerial career of James Hacker MP, played by Paul Eddington, and his various struggles to bring in legislation or departmental changes, opposed by the will of the British Civil Service, in particular his Permanent Secretary (senior civil servant), Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne and his more helpful Principal Private Secretary played by Derek Fowlds. Almost every programme ends with the eponymous line, "Yes, Minister", uttered (usually) by Sir Humphrey as he quietly relishes his victory over his "political master" (or, occasionally, acknowledges defeat).
A huge critical and popular success, the series was the recipient of a number of awards, including several BAFTAs and in 2004 came sixth in Britain's Best Sitcom. It also gained notability as being the favourite television programme of the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

http://rapidshare.com/files/264962239/YM201.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264972150/YM201.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264957783/YM201.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264964542/YM201.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264969023/YM202.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264959672/YM202.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952516/YM202.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952547/YM202.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264956183/YM203.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264957454/YM203.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264955298/YM203.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264953783/YM203.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264960291/YM204.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264966579/YM204.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264961322/YM204.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264954259/YM204.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264970303/YM205.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264956923/YM205.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264954165/YM205.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264964196/YM205.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264970307/YM206.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264956128/YM206.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952768/YM206.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264962385/YM206.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264957223/YM207.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264968445/YM207.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264956360/YM207.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264960352/YM207.part4.rar

no pass

BBC - Yes Minister - Season 1 (1980-1984)

Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC television and radio between 1980 and 1984.
Set in the private office in Whitehall of a British government cabinet minister (and, in the second series, in 10 Downing Street), the series follows the ministerial career of James Hacker MP, played by Paul Eddington, and his various struggles to bring in legislation or departmental changes, opposed by the will of the British Civil Service, in particular his Permanent Secretary (senior civil servant), Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne and his more helpful Principal Private Secretary played by Derek Fowlds. Almost every programme ends with the eponymous line, "Yes, Minister", uttered (usually) by Sir Humphrey as he quietly relishes his victory over his "political master" (or, occasionally, acknowledges defeat).
A huge critical and popular success, the series was the recipient of a number of awards, including several BAFTAs and in 2004 came sixth in Britain's Best Sitcom. It also gained notability as being the favourite television programme of the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

http://rapidshare.com/files/264953651/YM101.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952682/YM101.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264963869/YM101.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264962428/YM101.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264954295/YM102.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264955225/YM102.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264954195/YM102.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264955048/YM102.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264962473/YM103.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264967661/YM103.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264958939/YM103.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952917/YM103.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264965177/YM104.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264958122/YM104.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264966611/YM104.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952646/YM104.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264954586/YM105.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264960799/YM105.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264964545/YM105.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264963885/YM106.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264970787/YM106.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264971139/YM106.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264953760/YM106.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264955054/YM107.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264971839/YM107.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264963008/YM107.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/264952867/YM107.part4.rar

no pass

Simon Langton - Thérèse Raquin (1980)

Comment (from IMDB)

Fiery!, 10 February 2005
8/10
Author: chconnol from New York, N.Y.

Sometimes actors and directors work with a white hot passion that the screen almost melts in response. That's what "Thérèse Raquin", an extraordinary mini series aired in the US around 1980 or 81, has. The two leads sexual appetites are so openly displayed and animal like that everything that follows seems absolutely correct and plausible. There's such a carnality in their sex that it's breathless. When the plot thickens and murder enters the scene, it's with a sickened heart that you know all are doomed.

This is not for the faint hearted or easily offended. Yep, it's a "Masterpiece Theater" presentation but DO NOT expect the normally stuffy, stiff upper lipped Brit presented. This is more akin to "Body Heat" or "The Postman Always Rings Twice".

See it. You will not forget it.








Episode 1:
http://rapidshare.com/files/281376766/TerezaRaken1.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/281376903/TerezaRaken1.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/281391116/TerezaRaken1.part3.rar
Episode 2:
http://rapidshare.com/files/281404192/TerezaRaken2.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/281419984/TerezaRaken2.part2.rar
Episode 3:
http://rapidshare.com/files/281434225/TerezaRaken3.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/281446852/TerezaRaken3.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/281446226/TerezaRaken3.part3.rar

Audio 1: Spanish dub. Audio 2: original English.
no pass

Leslie Woodhead - A Cry from the Grave (1999)

Quote:
Award-winning film, a year in the making, tells the story of the Srebrenica massacre of 1995, in which the Bosnian Serb army killed an estimated 7,000 Bosnian Muslims.

It follows hour by hour the story of the killings. Through the testimony of survivors and relatives of those who died it explores the pain felt when no one is brought to justice.There are interviews with investigators from the UN-sponsored court at The Hague and from the UN special prosecutor.

But the underlying message of the film is bleak indeed - no matter what is done, it will never be enough. A Cry from the Grave has won numerous prizes. It has been shown at the UN, and it was used during a war crimes trial at The Hague.

Official Site @ BBC
Info @ PBS




A personal account from a survivor, a 17 year old translator for the UN at the time of the siege of Srebrenica, Emir Suljagić: Postcards from the Grave

http://rapidshare.com/files/160113883/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160118244/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160122528/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160127156/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160131304/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160135282/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160139275/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160143043/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/160146010/A_Cry_From_the_Grave.part09.rar

no pass

Alvin Rakoff - Romeo & Juliet (1978)

In 1978, the BBC set itself the task of filming all of William Shakespeare's plays for television. The resulting productions, renowed for their loyalty to the text, utilised the best theatrical and television directors and brought great performances from leading contemporary actors.

Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona where we lay our scene, from ancient grudge break to new mutiny where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes a pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life whose misadventur'd piteous overthrows doth with their death bury their parents' strife.

Quote:

This stage-like presentation was the first version of Romeo and Juliet that worked for me. I'm happy to say that I've seen many more live and cinematic versions over the years and found a good many that have the right elements, but in 1978, this was a revelation.

Certainly, it is far from a perfect adaptation. Shot as a stage play, almost no use is made of the advantages of film. The sets are claustrophobic, the camera work simplistic, and the music repetitive. The fight scenes, which would be barely acceptable in a live performance, are embarrassing. It is also a very standard adaptation. Everything has been done many times before. There are no new insights into why the characters do what they do, and most of Shakespeare's bawdier lines are recited as if they are normal conversation (a common flaw—making Shakespeare socially proper).

Additionally, Ryecart is an unexciting Romeo, demonstrating none of the passion the part requires. He is also too old.

But with all that, it still works, due to a few fine casting choices. John Gielgud is always welcome, even in so small a roll as the Chorus, and Michael Hordern, who specialized in confused characters who somehow retain their dignity, gives depth to Capulet. Alan Rickman (who has impressed me over and over in such films as Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Dogma, and Galaxy Quest) is an intense and wonderfully oily Tybalt. I can't think of any other performance that made me so gleeful at Tybalt's death. Then there is Anthony Andrews as Mercutio. Mercutio is a difficult role that almost no one gets right. He should be slightly manic, the quirky high school/college clown with something to prove, but too often he just comes off as a nut. Andrews walks the line and succeeds in making him likable if still exasperating.

But successful secondary performances, no matter how superb, can't make Romeo and Juliet sing. It is Rebecca Saire who does that. Age appropriate, she imbues Juliet with innocence, intelligence, a desire to please, and passion. She makes Juliet what she needs to be, a near-fourteen year old girl. The party scene is the best I've seen (well, her part of it anyway) as Juliet cautiously flirts with Romeo. She swept me into the tragedy.

A good cast can overcome all flaws in a production of Romeo and Juliet (and any Shakespearian play). With a better Romeo, this would be the definitive version.





http://rapidshare.com/files/112547872/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112548651/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112549450/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112550191/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112550913/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112551625/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112552324/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112553038/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112553846/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112554727/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112555639/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112556631/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/112556766/ROMEO_AND_JULIET_BBC_.part13.rar

no pass

David Giles - Richard II (1978)

Making its debut with Romeo and Juliet on 3 December 1978, and concluding nearly seven years later with Titus Andronicus on 27 April 1985, the BBC Television Shakespeare project was the single most ambitious attempt at bringing the Bard of Avon to the small screen, both at the time and to date.

Producer Cedric Messina was already an experienced producer of one-off television Shakespeare presentations, and was thus ideally qualified to present the BBC with a daunting but nonetheless enticingly simple proposition: a series of adaptations, staged specifically for television, of all 36 First Folio plays, plus Pericles (The Two Noble Kinsmen was considered primarily John Fletcher's work, and the legitimacy of Edward III was still being debated).

The scale of Messina's proposal, far greater than that of previous multi-part Shakespeare series such as An Age of Kings (BBC, 1960) and Spread of the Eagle (BBC, 1963), required an American partner in order to guarantee access to the US market, deemed essential for the series to recoup its costs. Time-Life Television agreed to participate, but under certain controversial conditions - that the productions be traditional interpretations of the plays in appropriately Shakespearean period costumes and sets, designed to fit a two-and-a-half-hour time slot.

The running-time requirement was swiftly jettisoned when it became clear that the major tragedies in particular would have suffered severely, but other artistic restrictions remained largely in place throughout. Although later productions under Messina's successors Jonathan Miller and Shaun Sutton would be more experimental, Miller was unable to persuade first-choice directors such as Peter Brook and Ingmar Bergman to take part, and Michael Bogdanov resigned from Timon of Athens (eventually tx, 4/16/1981, with Miller himself directing) after his modern-dress interpretation was considered too radical a departure.

This gave the BBC Television Shakespeare cycle the reputation of being overly staid and conventional, which was not always deserved. Though Messina's own productions (1978-80) were largely conservative, Jonathan Miller (1980-82) revamped things both visually (thanks to a design policy of sourcing sets and costumes from great paintings of the era in which the play was set) and in terms of direction and casting, in some cases using popular actors with little or no Shakespeare experience (John Cleese as Petruchio, Bob Hoskins as Iago) to attract new and younger audiences.

Under Miller, directors such as Jack Gold, Jane Howell and Elijah Moshinsky were encouraged to be more adventurous, with Howell in particular adopting such a stylised approach for The Winter's Tale (tx. 8/2/1981) and the Henry VI/Richard III cycle (tx. 2-23/1/1983) that they pushed the definition of "traditional" to the limit, but also garnered the series some of its best reviews. Miller's aesthetic policies continued under Shaun Sutton (1982-85), who brought the project to a belated close.

Whatever its artistic reputation, there was no doubt that the BBC Television Shakespeare was a commercial triumph, breaking even financially by 1982 (ahead of expectations) and fully justifying Messina's gamble. Its success was helped by the rapid growth of video recorders in schools, creating a secondary market that was much bigger than initially predicted - though the initial decision to sell the plays only as a complete set provoked complaints from people who baulked at paying the substantial asking price because they were after a smaller selection or individual titles. The BBC eventually released some of the more popular titles separately, but it was not until late in 2005 that the entire series was available individually on DVD at a competitive price.

Although the BBC Television Shakespeare project as a whole met with a mixed reception, it had several positive virtues. Chief among them was the fact that its completist remit meant that several of the more obscure plays received their first television adaptation, and in most cases the BBC version remains the only one. Happily, such productions as Henry VIII (tx. 25/2/1979), Cymbeline (tx. 10/7/1983), Pericles (tx. 11/6/1984) and Titus Andronicus were considered amongst the cycle's most impressive achievements, with Henry VIII subsequently voted the best production of all by the Shakespeare Association of America.

A complete list of BBC Television Shakespeare productions is as follows:

Series One (producer: Cedric Messina): Romeo and Juliet (tx. 3/12/1978), Richard II (tx. 10/12/1978), As You Like It (tx. 17/12/1978), Julius Caesar (tx. 11/2/1979), Measure For Measure (tx. 18/2/1979), Henry VIII (tx. 25/2/1979)

Series Two (p. Cedric Messina): Henry IV Part One (tx. 9/12/1979), Henry IV Part Two (tx. 16/12/1979), Henry V (tx.23/12/1979), Twelfth Night (tx. 6/1/1980), The Tempest (tx. 27/2/1980), Hamlet (tx. 25/5/1980).

Series Three (p. Jonathan Miller): The Taming of the Shrew (tx. 23/10/1980), The Merchant of Venice (tx. 17/12/1980), All's Well That Ends Well (tx. 4/1/1981), The Winter's Tale (tx. 8/2/1981), Timon of Athens (tx. 16/4/1981), Antony and Cleopatra (tx. 8/5/1981)

Series Four (p. Jonathan Miller): Othello (tx. 4/10/1981), Troilus and Cressida (tx. 7/10/1981), A Midsummer Night's Dream (tx. 13/12/1981)

Series Five (p. Jonathan Miller, Shaun Sutton): King Lear (tx. 19/9/1982), The Merry Wives of Windsor (tx. 28/12/1982), Henry VI Part One (tx. 2/1/1983), Henry VI Part Two (tx. 9/1/1983), Henry VI Part Three (tx. 16/1/1983), Richard III (tx. 23/1/1983), Cymbeline (tx. 10/7/1983)

Series Six (p. Shaun Sutton): Macbeth (tx. 17/10/1983), The Comedy of Errors (tx. 24/12/1983), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (tx. 27/12/1983), Coriolanus (tx. 21/4/1984), Pericles (tx. 11/6/1984)

Series Seven (p. Shaun Sutton): King John (tx. 24/11/1984), Much Ado About Nothing (tx. 30/11/1984), Love's Labour's Lost (tx. 5/1/1985), Titus Andronicus (tx. 27/4/1985)

The BBC also produced Shakespeare in Perspective, an accompanying series of 25-minute personal introductions to individual plays by an eclectic range of presenters from the literary (Anthony Burgess, Dennis Potter, Jilly Cooper) to the scholarly (Germaine Greer, Frank Kermode, Michael Wood) to the celebrity (Roy Hudd, George Melly, Barry Took). These usually took the form of straight-to-camera addresses from assorted locations with some connection to the play, which were intercut with extracts from the accompanying BBC Shakespeare production, usually screened later that evening.

Michael Brooke

For the BBC Television Shakespeare, tx. 10/12/1978, colour, 157 mins

Director David Giles
Production Companies BBC Television, Time-Life Television
Producer Cedric Messina
Script Editor Alan Shallcross
Designer Tony Abbott
Music Adviser David Lloyd-Jones
Cast: Derek Jacobi (King Richard), John Gielgud (John of Gaunt), Jon Finch (Henry Bolingbroke), Wendy Hiller (Duchess of York), Charles Gray (Duke of York), Mary Morris (Duchess of Gloucester)

The story of King Richard II, and how he was deposed, replaced and finally murdered, brought down by his failings both as a king and as a man.



The second entry in the BBC Television Shakespeare cycle, Richard II (BBC, tx. 10/2/1978) boasted one of the most distinguished casts of the entire project, with Derek Jacobi in the title role, John Gielgud (whose involvement with the play dated back to 1929) as John of Gaunt, Charles Gray and Wendy Hiller adding depth and shading to the normally thankless parts of the Duke and Duchess of York, and Jon Finch, formerly Polanski's Macbeth, as Richard's suitably saturnine nemesis Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV.

Fittingly, in a play that consists entirely of verse (at least a quarter of it rhyming), director David Giles and designer Tony Abbott decided against shot-on-location realism, a dominant feature of the BBC cycle's first season. Instead, they staged the play in studio sets that emphasised the formal and ritualised aspects without resorting to the kind of symbolic stylisation that Jane Howell's productions of the Henry VI/Richard III cycle would adopt later on.



This unfussy visual approach emphasises the original text and its delivery, Giles' preference for medium shots and close-ups (the only significant exception being the scene where Richard confronts his would-be usurpers from his castle ramparts, where extreme long shots emphasise his shrunken political stature) further underlining that this is as much a psychological as a political drama, at its most effective when focusing on individuals.

Richard II is one of Shakespeare's most difficult roles. Although childish, petulant, arrogant, blinded by the belief in his divine right to rule, and fatally unable to empathise with his too-casually-banished subjects, he nonetheless attains something close to authentically tragic stature as he muses in his prison cell on the path his life has taken and what it has taught him (Giles imaginatively stages this not as a single speech but as a series of dissolves, suggesting gradually increasing self-awareness over time). Rightly, Jacobi makes little attempt at playing for sympathy, his finely nuanced delivery of some of Shakespeare's most beautiful verse counterbalancing the character's many failings.



Almost exactly a year after its first broadcast, Richard II was repeated as a lead-in to the two Henry IV plays and Henry V, effectively screened as a weekly four-part serial in the run-up to Christmas 1979. David Giles directed all four productions, with many actors (notably Jon Finch) playing the same roles to ensure consistency. Derek Jacobi's second and final performance for the BBC Television Shakespeare would be as Hamlet (tx. 25/5/1980).

Michael Brooke

http://rapidshare.com/files/116893431/RICHARD_II_BBC.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116894028/RICHARD_II_BBC.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116894638/RICHARD_II_BBC.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116895175/RICHARD_II_BBC.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116895630/RICHARD_II_BBC.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116896189/RICHARD_II_BBC.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116896765/RICHARD_II_BBC.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116897396/RICHARD_II_BBC.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116898075/RICHARD_II_BBC.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116898639/RICHARD_II_BBC.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116899229/RICHARD_II_BBC.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116899795/RICHARD_II_BBC.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/116899905/RICHARD_II_BBC.part13.rar

no pass

Basil Coleman - As You Like It (1978)

Making its debut with Romeo and Juliet on 3 December 1978, and concluding nearly seven years later with Titus Andronicus on 27 April 1985, the BBC Television Shakespeare project was the single most ambitious attempt at bringing the Bard of Avon to the small screen, both at the time and to date.

Producer Cedric Messina was already an experienced producer of one-off television Shakespeare presentations, and was thus ideally qualified to present the BBC with a daunting but nonetheless enticingly simple proposition: a series of adaptations, staged specifically for television, of all 36 First Folio plays, plus Pericles (The Two Noble Kinsmen was considered primarily John Fletcher's work, and the legitimacy of Edward III was still being debated).

The scale of Messina's proposal, far greater than that of previous multi-part Shakespeare series such as An Age of Kings (BBC, 1960) and Spread of the Eagle (BBC, 1963), required an American partner in order to guarantee access to the US market, deemed essential for the series to recoup its costs. Time-Life Television agreed to participate, but under certain controversial conditions - that the productions be traditional interpretations of the plays in appropriately Shakespearean period costumes and sets, designed to fit a two-and-a-half-hour time slot.

The running-time requirement was swiftly jettisoned when it became clear that the major tragedies in particular would have suffered severely, but other artistic restrictions remained largely in place throughout. Although later productions under Messina's successors Jonathan Miller and Shaun Sutton would be more experimental, Miller was unable to persuade first-choice directors such as Peter Brook and Ingmar Bergman to take part, and Michael Bogdanov resigned from Timon of Athens (eventually tx, 4/16/1981, with Miller himself directing) after his modern-dress interpretation was considered too radical a departure.

This gave the BBC Television Shakespeare cycle the reputation of being overly staid and conventional, which was not always deserved. Though Messina's own productions (1978-80) were largely conservative, Jonathan Miller (1980-82) revamped things both visually (thanks to a design policy of sourcing sets and costumes from great paintings of the era in which the play was set) and in terms of direction and casting, in some cases using popular actors with little or no Shakespeare experience (John Cleese as Petruchio, Bob Hoskins as Iago) to attract new and younger audiences.

Under Miller, directors such as Jack Gold, Jane Howell and Elijah Moshinsky were encouraged to be more adventurous, with Howell in particular adopting such a stylised approach for The Winter's Tale (tx. 8/2/1981) and the Henry VI/Richard III cycle (tx. 2-23/1/1983) that they pushed the definition of "traditional" to the limit, but also garnered the series some of its best reviews. Miller's aesthetic policies continued under Shaun Sutton (1982-85), who brought the project to a belated close.

Whatever its artistic reputation, there was no doubt that the BBC Television Shakespeare was a commercial triumph, breaking even financially by 1982 (ahead of expectations) and fully justifying Messina's gamble. Its success was helped by the rapid growth of video recorders in schools, creating a secondary market that was much bigger than initially predicted - though the initial decision to sell the plays only as a complete set provoked complaints from people who baulked at paying the substantial asking price because they were after a smaller selection or individual titles. The BBC eventually released some of the more popular titles separately, but it was not until late in 2005 that the entire series was available individually on DVD at a competitive price.

Although the BBC Television Shakespeare project as a whole met with a mixed reception, it had several positive virtues. Chief among them was the fact that its completist remit meant that several of the more obscure plays received their first television adaptation, and in most cases the BBC version remains the only one. Happily, such productions as Henry VIII (tx. 25/2/1979), Cymbeline (tx. 10/7/1983), Pericles (tx. 11/6/1984) and Titus Andronicus were considered amongst the cycle's most impressive achievements, with Henry VIII subsequently voted the best production of all by the Shakespeare Association of America.

A complete list of BBC Television Shakespeare productions is as follows:

Series One (producer: Cedric Messina): Romeo and Juliet (tx. 3/12/1978), Richard II (tx. 10/12/1978), As You Like It (tx. 17/12/1978), Julius Caesar (tx. 11/2/1979), Measure For Measure (tx. 18/2/1979), Henry VIII (tx. 25/2/1979)

Series Two (p. Cedric Messina): Henry IV Part One (tx. 9/12/1979), Henry IV Part Two (tx. 16/12/1979), Henry V (tx.23/12/1979), Twelfth Night (tx. 6/1/1980), The Tempest (tx. 27/2/1980), Hamlet (tx. 25/5/1980).

Series Three (p. Jonathan Miller): The Taming of the Shrew (tx. 23/10/1980), The Merchant of Venice (tx. 17/12/1980), All's Well That Ends Well (tx. 4/1/1981), The Winter's Tale (tx. 8/2/1981), Timon of Athens (tx. 16/4/1981), Antony and Cleopatra (tx. 8/5/1981)

Series Four (p. Jonathan Miller): Othello (tx. 4/10/1981), Troilus and Cressida (tx. 7/10/1981), A Midsummer Night's Dream (tx. 13/12/1981)

Series Five (p. Jonathan Miller, Shaun Sutton): King Lear (tx. 19/9/1982), The Merry Wives of Windsor (tx. 28/12/1982), Henry VI Part One (tx. 2/1/1983), Henry VI Part Two (tx. 9/1/1983), Henry VI Part Three (tx. 16/1/1983), Richard III (tx. 23/1/1983), Cymbeline (tx. 10/7/1983)

Series Six (p. Shaun Sutton): Macbeth (tx. 17/10/1983), The Comedy of Errors (tx. 24/12/1983), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (tx. 27/12/1983), Coriolanus (tx. 21/4/1984), Pericles (tx. 11/6/1984)

Series Seven (p. Shaun Sutton): King John (tx. 24/11/1984), Much Ado About Nothing (tx. 30/11/1984), Love's Labour's Lost (tx. 5/1/1985), Titus Andronicus (tx. 27/4/1985)

The BBC also produced Shakespeare in Perspective, an accompanying series of 25-minute personal introductions to individual plays by an eclectic range of presenters from the literary (Anthony Burgess, Dennis Potter, Jilly Cooper) to the scholarly (Germaine Greer, Frank Kermode, Michael Wood) to the celebrity (Roy Hudd, George Melly, Barry Took). These usually took the form of straight-to-camera addresses from assorted locations with some connection to the play, which were intercut with extracts from the accompanying BBC Shakespeare production, usually screened later that evening.

Michael Brooke






http://rapidshare.com/files/114224046/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part01.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114226435/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part02.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114227181/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part03.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114227804/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part04.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114228405/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part05.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114229005/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part06.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114229586/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part07.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114230165/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part08.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114230703/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part09.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114231417/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part10.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114232022/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part11.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114232624/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part12.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/114232737/AS_YOU_LIKE_IT_BBC.part13.rar

no pass