A Writers View

I know what you’re thinking – “What is The Hollow Crown?”

Well, The Hollow Crown is a BBC production of 8 Shakespeare plays condensed into 7 mini movies, Richard II, Henry IV part 1 & 2, Henry V, Henry VI part 1 & 2 & 3 (condensed into 2 eps) and Richard III. It stars British thespian superstars such as Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch to name just a few. You can find it on Amazon if you’re interested.

First let me just say I LOVED IT!!!

But there was definitely a best and a worst episode.

The best was HANDS DOWN Richard III starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

Benedict Cumberbatch is harrowing, hilarious, and horse-less as Richard III. I’d only ever seen Monty Python’s reference of Richard III previously so trust me – those were some big shoes to fill.

At a very close 2nd we have Henry V starring Tom Hiddleston.

Tom Hiddleston is heroic, handsome, and “Harry” as Henry V. If you didn’t have a crush on Tom Hiddleston before then this one will definitely do you in.

Third is Richard II starring Ben Whishaw.

Ben Whishaw genuinely blew me away with his performance of Richard II. I couldn’t look away whenever he was on the screen. Three H’s for his performance would be honest, helpless and hallowed.

4th it’s the 2 parts of Henry IV starring Jeremy Irons.

The reason these two are ranked lower for me is because there was a lot of time spent on pub characters that honestly just didn’t tickle my fancy. It still had Hiddleston though as Prince Hal and he had a good fight scene at the end of the 2nd part, along with good dialogue scenes with Jeremy Irons. Jeremy Irons as Henry IV was hobbled, and two other H words but not happy.

5th and last is the 2 parts of Henry VI.

This was the one that took the most liberties with the text and you could really tell. They made Joan of Arc out to be an actual witch and had it that the queen was having an affair with one of the lords (I forget his name). It did have Francis from Poldark, Kyle Soller (whom I just found out is American and not British!) who was very good and Cumberbatch made his appearance as Richard III in this one. The last 20 minutes – oooo chilling! The three H’s for this one would be How, wHo, and wHat?

All in all though I give the series 5 stars! Definitely worth a watch, especially if you’re a fan of Shakespeare or battles or kings or theatre or Tom Hiddleston or Benedict Cumberbatch.

Have you seen it? Will you watch it after this? What’s your favorite Shakespeare quote? Let me know! 😀