The BBC Television Shakespeare Episode Rating Graph

Marcus Brutus is Caesar's close friend and a Roman praetor. Brutus allows himself to be cajoled into joining a group of conspiring senators because of a growing suspicion — implanted by Caius Cassius — that Caesar intends to turn republican Rome into a monarchy under his own rule.

When the Duke of Vienna takes a mysterious leave of absence and leaves the strict Angelo in charge, things couldn't be worse for Claudio, who is sentenced to death for fornication. His sister, Isabella (a nun-in-training), however, is a very persuasive pleader. She approaches Angelo, but instead of offering clemency, Angelo offers to save Claudio's life if Isabella sleeps with him. The only sympathetic friend Isabella has is a priest who, in reality, is the Duke in disguise - and he has a plan.

Henry is a proud monarch who flies in the face of the church in seeking to divorce Queen Katherine and marry Anne Bullen. As Cardinal Wolsey, the powerful Lord Chancellor of England, attempts to bend Rome to the King's wishes, the court reverberates with political intrigue and accusations of treachery.

Henry Bolingbroke has now been crowned King of England, but faces a rebellion headed by the embittered Earl of Northumberland and his son (nicknamed 'Hotspur'). Henry's son Hal, the Prince of Wales, has thrown over life at court in favour of heavy drinking and petty theft in the company of a debauched elderly knight, Sir John Falstaff. Hal must extricate himself from some legal problems, redeem himself in his father's eyes and help suppress the uprising.

King Henry's health is failing as a second rebellion against his reign threatens to surface. Intent on securing his legacy, he is uncertain that his son Hal is a worthy heir, believing him more concerned with earthly pleasures than the responsibility of rule. Sir John Falstaff is sent to the countryside to recruit fresh troops. Amongst the unwitting locals, opportunities for embezzlement and profiteering prove impossible to resist. As the king's health continues to worsen, Hal must choose between duty and loyalty to an old friend.

Insulted by the Dauphin, the newly-crowned Henry V gathers his troops for war. But Henry must convince his men that he has left his wild days behind, and prove himself as a leader. Henry V tells a tale of intrigue and betrayal, courtly romance, and a heroic battle against outrageous odds. The lead, played here by David Gwillim, is one of the most coveted of roles with inspiring lines including the St Crispin's Day speech.

Viola and Sebastian are lookalike twins, separated by a shipwreck. Viola lands in Illyria, where she disguises herself like her brother and goes into the service of the Duke Orsino. Orsino sends her to help him woo the Lady Olivia, who doesn't want the duke, but finds that she likes the duke's new messenger. Then Viola's brother shows up, whom she thought was dead, and chaos ensues. Meanwhile, Olivia's uncle and his cohorts are trying to find some way to get back at Olivia's officious majordomo, Malvolio.

Prospero, the true Duke of Milan, is now living on an enchanted island with his daughter Miranda, the savage Caliban and Ariel, a spirit of the air. Raising a storm to bring his brother - the usurper of his dukedom - along with his royal entourage, to the island, Prospero contrives his revenge.

Hamlet returns home from university to find his uncle married to his mother, and his father's ghost haunting the battlements and scaring the watch. Then his father's ghost directs him to avenge his murder. Hamlet complies, but his madness and indecision take their toll on everyone.

Baptista has two daughters: Katherine and Bianca. Everyone wants to wed the fair Bianca, but nobody's much interested in problem child, Katherine. Baptista declares that he won't give Bianca away until he's found a husband for Katherine, so all the suitors begin busily hunting out a madman who's willing to marry her, and they find Petruchio: a man who's come to wive it wealthily in Padua. And Petruchio intends to marry Katherine with a plan to tame her, while everybody else begins scheming to win Bianca's hand.

Antonio's best friend, Bassiano, is in love with Portia, a wise and wealthy heiress, and needs three thousand ducats to press his suit. With Antonio's money tied up in ships at sea, he approaches Shylock, a Jewish usurer, who agrees to lend the money under the provision that Antonio shall forfeit a pound of his flesh if the debt is unpaid. When Antonio's ships are wrecked, Shylock calls for the contract to be filled.

Helena loves Bertram, but he's of noble birth, while she's just a doctor's daughter. But Bertram is at the court of the King of France, who is ill, and Helena has a remedy that cures him and wins her the right to marry Bertram. But he doesn't want to marry her, but is forced by the king. However, Bertram refuses to sleep with Helena and leaves for the Italian wars. He says that he will only accept Helena if she obtains a ring from his finger and becomes pregnant with his child!

King Leontes of Bohemia suspects his wife, Queen Hermione, of deceiving him with his good friend Polixenes. Leontes drives Polixenes out of his kingdom, but this leads to unforeseen consequences: the arrival of a dangerous bear, an infant abandoned in the snow, love, death, and a statue which comes to life.

Ancient Athenian Timon is well-known for his generosity - his many friends come to all his parties and like to get presents from him. But then Timon suffers losses and finds himself in debt, and his friends melt away. He loses faith in humanity and becomes a hermit.

Octavius Caesar (later known as Augustus), Mark Antony, and Lepidus form a triumvirate to rule the Roman Empire. Antony will rule in the east and goes to Egypt, where he becomes the lover of Queen Cleopatra. In Egypt, Antony raises an army and a navy to fight Caesar. What is destined for the lovers and political allies?

Set in 16th-century Venice and Cyprus, Othello the Moor, a noble black warrior in the Venetian army, has secretly married a beautiful white woman called Desdemona, the daughter of a prominent senator, Brabantio. When he finds out, he is outraged, and promptly disowns her. Othello’s ensign, Iago, harbours a secret jealousy and resentment towards the Moor, partly because another soldier, Lieutenant Cassio, has been promoted ahead of him, and also because he suspects that Othello has had an affair with his wife. Intent on revenge, Iago hatches a devious plan to plant suspicions in Othello’s mind that Desdemona has been unfaithful to him with Cassio.

The bitter Trojan War drags on - the Greeks blame Achilles' apathy for low morale, while Troy's hero Hector challenges one of the enemy to a personal duel. And after her father exchanges Cressida for a Trojan prisoner, the war becomes personal for her distraught lover Troilus.

Hermia is in love with Lysander, but her father wants her to marry Demetrius. To escape the arranged marriage, she and Lysander elope into the woods. Demetrius follows them, and he is pursued by Helena, who nurses an unrequited passion for him. Puck the fairy makes both of the boys fall in love with the same girl. Meanwhile, a group of rough craftsmen rehearse a badly-written play in the woods for the wedding of the Duke of Athens. Soon all find their lives changed by the actions of Oberon and Titania, the warring king and queen of the fairies. Magic, action, love and humour are the ingredients for this unforgettable spell.

When England's ageing King Lear renounces his throne to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, treachery, madness and murder soon follow. After banishing Cordelia, his most loyal daughter, Lear is betrayed and cast out by her elder sisters Regan and Goneril. Meanwhile, evil brews at the Gloucester castle as Edgar falls victim to his brother's deception. As battle lines are drawn and backs are stabbed, Lear rages against a fearsome storm. Can a man undo his wrongs? Will Cordelia be saved? Or will the wheels of fate crush all in its way?

When Sir John Falstaff decides that he wants to have a little fun he writes two letters to a pair of Window wives: Mistress Ford and Mistress Page. When they put their heads together and compare missives, they plan a practical joke or two to teach the knight a lesson. But Mistress Ford's husband is a very jealous man and is pumping Falstaff for information of the affair. Meanwhile the Pages' daughter Anne is besieged by suitors.

Dissension is rife in the English court. Suffolk's influence intensifies. The fractious English nobles unite in their common aim to get rid of the Duke of Gloucester. His wife Eleanor, the Duchess of Gloucester, aspires to the crown and is lured by a priest, John Hume, who is in the pay of Suffolk, to consult a witch about her ambitions. Somerset returns from France with the news of the loss of all English territories. York and others seize this opportunity to implicate Gloucester in the loss of France and to accuse him of treason.

Cymbeline, the King of Britain, is angry that his daughter Imogen has chosen a poor (but worthy) man for her husband. So he banishes Posthumus, who goes to fight for Rome. Imogen (dressed as a boy) goes in search of her husband, who meanwhile has boasted to his pal Iachimo that Imogen would never betray him. And Iachimo's determined to prove him wrong.

Shakespeare's dark tragedy tells of ambition and guilt amidst a background of regicide, violence and the supernatural. When a trio of witches tells the returning hero warrior Macbeth that he is fated to become King of Scotland, he attempts to forge his own destiny. Aided and encouraged by his wife, he embarks on a guilt-ridden reign of terror.

Aegeon of Syracuse has come to Ephesus to seek his son, who went in search of his missing twin and mother months ago. Too bad that Ephesus has just declared war on Syracuse, and will instantly put to death any Syracusean found within their borders unless a ransome's paid. Meanwhile, the son, Antipholus, and his servant, Dromio (also an identical twin), keep running into strangers who seem to know them.

Two great friends leave Verona for Milan, Valentine with great enthusiasm and Proteus unwillingly, as he will have to leave his recently-betrothed Julia. Valentine soon falls in love with Silvia, daughter of the Duke of Milan, but then Proteus meets the captivating Silvia - and he too becomes besotted.

A banished hero of Rome allies with a sworn enemy to take his revenge on the city.

When Prince Pericles, visiting Antioch, discovers the dreaded answer to King Antiochus's riddle, he flees for his life straight into famine, shipwreck, love, fatherhood, and another shipwreck. He loses his wife and daughter, and doesn't find them again until the story moves us through resurrection, attempted murder, pirates, prostitution, and divine revelation.

Benedick and Beatrice fight their merry war of words. But when Beatrice's friend, Hero, is humiliatingly jilted by Benedick's best friend, Claudio, Benedick has to choose which side he's on. But unknown to all, Claudio's been tricked by the bastard Don John, and (unfortunately) it's up to Dogberry and Verges to solve the case.

A scholarly king and his three companions swear off the society of women for three years, only to have a diplomatic visit from a French princess and her three ladies-in-waiting thwart their intentions.

Having subdued the Goths, warrior Titus Andronicus returns to Rome to bury his sons, with Gothic Queen Tamora and her retinue as captives. The newly-dead Roman Emperor's two sons, Saturninus and Bassianus, are competing for their father's title. According to Roman custom, Titus sacrifices Tamora's eldest son to the Gods; having the deciding vote, he also chooses Saturninus as Emperor.