The Hollow Crown (TV series)

The Hollow Crown
Genre	Historical drama Shakespeare
Based on	Selected works of William Shakespeare's history plays
Directed by	Rupert Goold Richard Eyre Thea Sharrock Dominic Cooke
Starring	Cycle I Ben Whishaw Jeremy Irons Tom Hiddleston Cycle II Benedict Cumberbatch Judi Dench Sophie Okonedo Michael Gambon
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Sam Mendes
Producer	Rupert Ryle-Hodges
Running time	Cycle I Richard II (148 minutes) Henry IV Part I (120 minutes) Henry IV Part II (121 minutes) Henry V (139 minutes) Cycle II Henry VI, Part I (111 minutes) Henry VI, Part II and Henry VI, Part III (123 minutes) Richard III (130 minutes)
Production companies	Neal Street Productions NBCUniversal WNET
Original release
Network	BBC Two PBS
Release	30 June 2012 (2012-06-30)

The Hollow Crown is a series of British television films featuring William Shakespeare's history plays.

The first cycle is an adaptation of Shakespeare's second historical tetralogy, the Henriad: Richard II, Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II and Henry V, starring Ben Whishaw, Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston. Olivier Award winners Rupert Goold, Richard Eyre and Thea Sharrock directed the telefilms, which were produced by Rupert Ryle-Hodges for BBC Two and executive produced by Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris under Neal Street Productions in association with NBCUniversal. The first series, which aired in the United Kingdom in 2012, received positive reviews from critics. Ben Whishaw and Simon Russell Beale won British Academy Television Awards for Leading actor and Supporting actor for their performances, and Jeremy Irons was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Actor for his role as Henry IV. The first episode, Richard II, was nominated for the Best Single Drama at the BAFTAs.

The BBC aired the concluding cycle in 2016 as The Hollow Crown — The Wars of the Roses, a reference to the historical event of the same name. The plays were produced in 2015 by the same team that made the first series of films and were directed by the former artistic director of Royal Court Theatre and Olivier Award winner, Dominic Cooke. They are based on Shakespeare's first tetralogy: Henry VI, Part I, Henry VI, Part II, Henry VI, Part III and Richard III. The adaptation presents Henry VI in two parts, incorporating all three Henry VI plays. In April 2014, BBC Two announced that Benedict Cumberbatch would play King Richard III.

Cast and crew

The Hollow Crown (2012)

From left to right: Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V

Film	Cast	Director
Richard II	Ben Whishaw as King Richard II Rory Kinnear as Henry Bolingbroke Clémence Poésy as the Queen Isabelle de Valois David Suchet as the Duke of York Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster David Morrissey as Earl of Northumberland Tom Hughes as the Duke of Aumerle James Purefoy as Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk Lindsay Duncan as the Duchess of York	Rupert Goold
Henry IV, Part I	Jeremy Irons as King Henry IV Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal Simon Russell Beale as Sir John Falstaff Julie Walters as Mistress Quickly Joe Armstrong as Henry 'Hotspur' Percy Alun Armstrong as Earl of Northumberland David Hayman as Earl of Worcester Michelle Dockery as Kate, Lady Percy	Richard Eyre
Henry IV, Part II	Jeremy Irons as King Henry IV Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal Simon Russell Beale as Sir John Falstaff Julie Walters as Mistress Quickly Alun Armstrong as Earl of Northumberland David Bamber as Justice Robert Shallow Geoffrey Palmer as the Lord Chief Justice Henry Faber as Prince John	Richard Eyre
Henry V	Tom Hiddleston as King Henry V Patterson Joseph as the Duke of York Anton Lesser as the Duke of Exeter Owen Teale as Captain Fluellen Jérémie Covillault as Montjoy Lambert Wilson as King Charles VI of France Mélanie Thierry as Catherine of Valois Stanley Weber as Duke of Orléans Geraldine Chaplin as Alice Edward Akrout as Louis, the Dauphin John Hurt as the Chorus	Thea Sharrock

The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses (2016)

Film	Cast	Director
Henry VI, Part I	Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret Hugh Bonneville as Gloucester Sally Hawkins as Duchess of Gloucester Tom Sturridge as Henry VI Adrian Dunbar as Richard of York Stuart McQuarrie as Vernon Lucy Robinson as Young Cecily Samuel West as Bishop of Winchester Stanley Townsend as Warwick Michael Gambon as Mortimer Anton Lesser as Exeter Ben Miles as Somerset Jason Watkins as Suffolk Philip Glenister as Talbot David Troughton as Duke of Anjou Laura Frances-Morgan as Joan of Arc	Dominic Cooke
Henry VI, Part II	Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret Keeley Hawes as Queen Elizabeth Tom Sturridge as Henry VI Adrian Dunbar as Plantagenet Geoffrey Streatfeild as Edward IV Sam Troughton as Clarence Stuart McQuarrie as Vernon Kyle Soller as Clifford Richard Lynch as Westmorland Lucy Robinson as Young Cecily Stanley Townsend as Warwick Anton Lesser as Exeter Ben Daniels as Buckingham Ben Miles as Somerset Jason Watkins as Suffolk Phoebe Fox as Lady Anne James Fleet as Hastings Andrew Scott as King Louis	Dominic Cooke
Richard III	Judi Dench as Cecily, Duchess of York Benedict Cumberbatch as Richard III Sophie Okonedo as Queen Margaret Keeley Hawes as Queen Elizabeth Geoffrey Streatfeild as Edward IV Sam Troughton as Clarence Ben Daniels as Buckingham James Fleet as Hastings Phoebe Fox as Queen Anne Luke Treadaway as Henry VII	Dominic Cooke

Production

The BBC scheduled the screening of Shakespeare's history plays as part of the 2012 Cultural Olympiad, a celebration of British culture coinciding with the 2012 Summer Olympics. Sam Mendes signed up as executive producer to adapt all four plays in September 2010. He is joined as executive producer by Pippa Harris (both representing Neal Street Productions), Rupert Ryle-Hodges as producer, Gareth Neame (NBCUniversal), and Ben Stephenson (BBC).

Parts of the series were filmed in Kent at Squerryes Court and Penshurst Place.

The concluding cycle of plays were produced in 2015 by the same team that made the first series and were directed by Dominic Cooke. Richard III was played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Executive producer Pippa Harris stated, "The critical and audience reaction to The Hollow Crown series set the bar high for Shakespeare on screen, and Neal Street (Productions) is delighted to be making the concluding part of this great history cycle. By filming the ‘Henry VI’ plays as well as ‘Richard III,’ we will allow viewers to fully appreciate how such a monstrous tyrant could find his way to power, bringing even more weight and depth to this iconic character."

Once again, the production returned to Kent for The Wars of The Roses, filming at Dover Castle, Leeds Castle and Penshurst Place.

Broadcast

The first four plays aired on consecutive Saturday evenings on BBC Two between 30 June and 21 July 2012. The start time of Henry IV, Part I on 7 July was delayed by an hour because of coverage of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, and the play was shown a second time the following evening on BBC Four. The plays were shown in the United States from 20 September to 11 October 2013 as part of the PBS Great Performances series.

All four plays were shown again on consecutive evenings on BBC Four in April 2016 as part of the BBC Shakespeare Festival commemorating the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.

The second cycle of plays aired on consecutive Saturday evenings on BBC Two commencing Saturday 7 May 2016.

Home media

The overseas and DVD rights for The Hollow Crown series are owned by NBC Universal. A Region 2 DVD set of the four films was released on 1 October 2012. A Region 1 DVD set was released on 17 September 2013. A 2-disc DVD set of The Wars of the Roses will be released on 20th June 2016.

Awards

Cycle I

Award	Result	Category	Recipient
Music & Sound Awards 2013	Nominated	Sound Design (TV Programme)	The Hollow Crown
South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2013	Nominated	Best TV Drama
	Won	Times Breakthrough	Tom Hiddleston
Broadcasting Press Guild 2013	Won	Best Single Drama	The Hollow Crown
	Nominated	Best Actor	Ben Whishaw
BAFTA Television Awards 2013	Won	Leading Actor (Richard II)
	Won	Supporting Actor	Simon Russell Beale (Henry IV Part II)
	Nominated	Single Drama	Richard II
RTS Programme Awards 2013	Won	Single Drama
BAFTA Craft Awards 2013	Won	Original Television Music	Stephen Warbeck (Henry IV)
	Won	Sound (Fiction)	Tim Fraser, Adrian Rhodes, Keith Marriner (Richard II)
	Nominated	Costume Design	Odile Dicks-Mireaux (Richard II)
British Society of Cinematographers	Nominated	Best Cinematography in a Television Drama	Ben Smithard
4th Critics' Choice Television Awards	Nominated	Best Miniseries	The Hollow Crown

External links

• The Hollow Crown – Extras
• The Hollow Crown at IMDb