Start of The BBC Television Shakespeare

Image: Patrick Ryecart and Rebecca Saire in Romeo and Juliet.

On 3 December 1978 the BBC began its ambitious plan to broadcast a television version of each of Shakespeare's 37 plays, starting with Romeo and Juliet. The project was devised by Cedric Messina and took seven years to complete.

The Bard's most obscure and rarely performed works got equal treatment to his best known plays, and the BBC built a comprehensive resource that was widely used in schools, boosted by the new popularity of video recorders.

Romeo and Juliet was a popular play and a safe choice with which to begin the series. It boasted an impressive cast, typical of the series, alongside leads Patrick Ryecart and Rebecca Saire. Established stars Celia Johnson, Michael Hordern and John Gielgud appeared with newcomers Anthony Andrews and Alan Rickman – making his television debut.

The BBC Television Shakespeare plays were sometimes criticised for being traditional productions in period costume - a condition imposed by co-producer Time-Life - but they often exploited the television medium by filming on location.

The final play - Titus Andronicus - aired in 1985. By that time Jonathan Miller and then Sean Sutton had served as producer. Some of the plays remain the only television adaptation. In 2016 the BBC will mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death by releasing the whole of the BBC's Shakespeare archive for educational use. The BBC Television Shakespeare will form the backbone of this new endeavour.