BBC Seeks Stars for Major Shakespeare Season???

Following the success of BBC Two’s Hamlet starring David Tennant last Christmas and the forthcoming Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart on BBC Four, the Beeb have today (21 September 2010) announced plans for a major new Shakespeare season that will see four new interpretations of the Bard’s works broadcast across BBC Television and online in 2012. Revealing the plans, Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision said that the programmes would be directed by and star some of the UK’s leading dramatic talent. The season will mix drama and factual programmes to examine Shakespeare’s life and work, with particular attention paid to the politics of Shakespeare and the context in which he was writing. The season will coincide with the 2012 Cultural Olympiad and other plans to celebrate the Bard’s work during the Olympic year including the World Shakespeare Festival, led by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Head of BBC knowledge commissioning, Emma Swain said: “Our ambition is to make the season thought-provoking, stimulating and rewarding for a broad audience on channels and online.” There were no details released about who will star in the upcoming season but the BBC has certainly shown it can draw in big names when it presents Shakespeare’s work on the small screen.