0:00:02 > 0:00:07This programme contains some strong language
0:00:07 > 0:00:11'400 years ago, this year, the world famous play-writer William Shakespeare stopped happening.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15'I've been studying Shakespeare ever since I was asked to do this programme and it turns out
0:00:15 > 0:00:17'he's more than just a bald man who could write with feathers.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21'And the story of whether he was best at writing ever is more interesting than you'd imagine.'
0:00:21 > 0:00:24But why do we still talk about Shakespeare?
0:00:24 > 0:00:26We don't talk about Les Dennis any more,
0:00:26 > 0:00:29even though he's still alive and hasn't done anything wrong.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33Did Shakespeare write nothing but boring gibberish with no relevance
0:00:33 > 0:00:36to our modern world of Tinder and Peri-Peri Fries?
0:00:36 > 0:00:39Or does it just look, sound and feel that way?
0:00:39 > 0:00:42That's what I'm going on a journey to find out.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45About.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48'Along the way, I'll probe Shakespeare's life,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50'study his Complete Works
0:00:50 > 0:00:53'and speak to Shakespearian experts and actors.'
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Do you just learn the famous bits,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58like "To be or not to be?"
0:00:58 > 0:01:01Or do you learn all the bits in-between, as well?
0:01:01 > 0:01:03I have to learn all the bits in between.
0:01:03 > 0:01:04Are you fucking joking?
0:01:04 > 0:01:05No, no, no.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09- I mean, it's big and it takes a bit of time, but...- Shut up.
0:01:09 > 0:01:12So join me, Philomena Cunk,
0:01:12 > 0:01:17as I go on a journey all the way into William Bartholomew Shakespeare,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20the man they call The King of the Bards.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36Deep below Stratford And Avon, in a secret location on Henley Street,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40is a treasure trove of Shakespearean proportions.
0:01:43 > 0:01:45- That looks really old.- It is.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49So, this book dates from 1600
0:01:49 > 0:01:52- and it has the records that go back to 1558.- Yeah.
0:01:52 > 0:01:55It's written on the front "Stratford-upon-Avon."
0:01:55 > 0:01:57It's a bit wonky, in't it?
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Like a... Suppose they didn't have rulers, did they?
0:02:01 > 0:02:04It's a very old book that's made from animal skin
0:02:04 > 0:02:08- and then I'll just use the weights to keep...- It's sort of like waxy A4 paper, in't it?
0:02:08 > 0:02:11It is a little bit waxy, yeah. That's the, the, erm...
0:02:11 > 0:02:14- That's the juices of the animal... - Coming out, yeah.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18And this is the page where we have Shakespeare's baptism recorded.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21- And it's written in Latin, the inscription...- What does that say?
0:02:21 > 0:02:24This baptism record is for William, the son of John Shakespeare.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27This is a bit like Who Do You Think You Are?, isn't it?
0:02:27 > 0:02:29It is in a way, yeah.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31If you're tracing your family history,
0:02:31 > 0:02:34these are the records that will give you the information you need.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38But he'd, sort of, call it, Who Dost Thou Thinkest Thou Art?
0:02:38 > 0:02:41- He might, yes. - And he'd go like that.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44- He may well have done, yes. - Flourish.- Yeah.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47'This is the actual house in which Shakespeare was born,
0:02:47 > 0:02:50'here, on our Planet Earth.'
0:02:50 > 0:02:53As a baby, Shakespeare showed few signs of becoming
0:02:53 > 0:02:56the most significant figure in literary history,
0:02:56 > 0:03:00so nobody bothered noting down the details of his life.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03That's why we can't be sure about his date of birth
0:03:03 > 0:03:05and don't know anything about his childhood,
0:03:05 > 0:03:07except that he probably had one,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10otherwise he'd never have become a grown-up.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13'The facts may be hazy, but we can probably guess that Shakespeare
0:03:13 > 0:03:17'as a boy would have looked much like boys today,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21'but bald and with a ruff instead of an Angry Birds T-shirt.'
0:03:21 > 0:03:25This is the actual school he probably went to.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29School in Shakespeare's day and age was vastly different to our own.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31In fact, it was far easier
0:03:31 > 0:03:34because you didn't have to study Shakespeare.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36'At the age of 18,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39'Shakespeare married his teenage sweetheart Anne Hathaway.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42'But when did Shakespeare stop mooning about with his wife
0:03:42 > 0:03:45'and start doing plays?'
0:03:45 > 0:03:46We don't exactly know,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50because what happened next were Shakespeare's lost years.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52'We don't know what happened during the lost years.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55'Shakespeare probably spent a lot of his time staring wistfully
0:03:55 > 0:03:58'out of leaded windows and pretending to think,
0:03:58 > 0:04:02'and then write things down with a feather pen.'
0:04:02 > 0:04:04But we do know he eventually came to London,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08just like his most famous character, Dick Whittington.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12'Almost immediately, he began to make waves in the world of theatre.'
0:04:12 > 0:04:13It's hard to believe today,
0:04:13 > 0:04:17but back then people really did go to the theatre on purpose.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20And they went to see something called "plays".
0:04:20 > 0:04:24'In plays, things happen in front of you, but at actual size.
0:04:24 > 0:04:26'Unlike television, which is smaller,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28'or cinema, which is bigger.'
0:04:28 > 0:04:31You'd think that would make plays the most realistic form
0:04:31 > 0:04:33of entertainment in existence,
0:04:33 > 0:04:36but instead they're nothing like real life, at all.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38And that's because everyone shouts.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you,
0:04:41 > 0:04:42trippingly on the tongue.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Not proper shouting, like when a bus won't let you on,
0:04:45 > 0:04:48or shouting because of an emotion.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51In plays, people shout no matter how they're feeling,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54because they put the seats too far away.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56'There were many plays written in ancient times,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59'but the plays Shakespeare wrote echoed through the ages
0:04:59 > 0:05:01'and not just because they were shouted -
0:05:01 > 0:05:03'but because they were good.'
0:05:03 > 0:05:05'Now is the winter of our discontent
0:05:05 > 0:05:09'made glorious summer by this sun of York.'
0:05:09 > 0:05:11We few,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14we happy few,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16we band of brothers.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20To be, or not to be:
0:05:20 > 0:05:22That is the question...
0:05:22 > 0:05:26Shakespeare actually invented seven different genres of play:
0:05:26 > 0:05:27'tragedy,
0:05:27 > 0:05:28'fantasy,
0:05:28 > 0:05:30'romance,
0:05:30 > 0:05:31'comedy,
0:05:31 > 0:05:32'horror
0:05:32 > 0:05:34'and historical.'
0:05:35 > 0:05:37And Shakespearean.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39Throughout this programme,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42I'm going to be taking a look at each genre in turn,
0:05:42 > 0:05:45in a sort of format point thing they're making me do.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47'We'll start with horror.'
0:05:48 > 0:05:52'Popular entertainment in Shakespeare's day was often unpleasant,
0:05:52 > 0:05:56'involving public humiliation and mindless cruelty to animals,
0:05:56 > 0:05:59'with no Ant and Dec to take the edge off it all.'
0:05:59 > 0:06:01This brutality was reflected
0:06:01 > 0:06:04in some of Shakespeare's most horriblest plays.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07'For instance, his early work Tightarse And Ronicus
0:06:07 > 0:06:09'is so jam-packed with violence and murder,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12'it's basically a posh Friday the 13th.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15'Here we see Titus himself slitting the throats of his enemy's sons,
0:06:15 > 0:06:18'while his daughter collects their blood.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21'All of it occurring in front of a horrified Harry Potter.'
0:06:22 > 0:06:25Graphic scenes like this were considered shocking
0:06:25 > 0:06:27even in Shakespeare's day,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29which is quite an achievement
0:06:29 > 0:06:32considering people used to shit out of their own windows back then.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34'But shitting out the window wasn't all fun.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36'It encouraged rats,
0:06:36 > 0:06:39'who carried a devastating illness called the Bionic Plague.'
0:06:39 > 0:06:42The plague killed about 10,000 people in London
0:06:42 > 0:06:46and when they'd finished coughing, the survivors needed cheering up.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49'And luckily, Shakespeare had just invented a new type of play
0:06:49 > 0:06:51'called a comedy.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55'Some of Shakespeare's most successful plays were comedies.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'Critics say his comedies aren't very funny,
0:06:58 > 0:06:59'but to be fair that's only because
0:06:59 > 0:07:02'jokes hadn't been invented back then.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Of course, if you go to watch a Shakespeare comedy today,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08you'll hear the audience laughing as though there are jokes in it,
0:07:08 > 0:07:10even though there definitely aren't.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12That's how clever Shakespeare is.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14'Even at this early stage of his career,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17'there was no doubt Shakespeare was the best at writing plays.'
0:07:17 > 0:07:19But there was enough doubt
0:07:19 > 0:07:21that he had to start his own theatre company to put them on.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25'He also built the Globe Theatre from old bits of another theatre,
0:07:25 > 0:07:29'inventing upcycling, and he probably made the word up as well.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32'He was a better playwright than he was an architect.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34'That's why he didn't put a roof on it.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38'But, to be fair, Wimbledon didn't get a roof until a few years ago.'
0:07:38 > 0:07:40If you've never seen Shakespeare at The Globe,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44imagine a three-hour YouTube clip happening outdoors,
0:07:44 > 0:07:48a long way from you in a language you barely understand.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50And if I find it confusing, it must
0:07:50 > 0:07:54have blown the minds off some of Shakespeare's first audiences,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58who were only slightly more sophisticated than trees.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59'They might have been thick,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02'but Shakespeare's audiences had loads of fun,
0:08:02 > 0:08:06'heckling the actors and cackling a lot in a sort of mad peasanty way.'
0:08:06 > 0:08:07CACKLES
0:08:07 > 0:08:09'Like that.' RAUCOUS CACKLING
0:08:09 > 0:08:10'And that.'
0:08:10 > 0:08:13'To tell me more about Shakespeare's disgusting audiences,
0:08:13 > 0:08:14'I spoke to this man.'
0:08:14 > 0:08:17Who are you and what's your game?
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I'm Iqbal Khan and I'm a theatre director.
0:08:20 > 0:08:22What was theatre like in Shakespeare's day?
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Were all the audiences really rowdy then, you know?
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Did they wear tunics and have mud on their faces?
0:08:27 > 0:08:32The audiences ranged from the ordinary common working people,
0:08:32 > 0:08:34who'd stand around the theatre here
0:08:34 > 0:08:37and then they'd range to the aristocrats,
0:08:37 > 0:08:39who would sit at the top of the theatre.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Right, so some of them had to stand up. They didn't have chairs.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44No. No, they'd be standing.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47I've never had to stand for a whole Shakespeare.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48I don't think I could do it.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50I'd be livid if I didn't have a chair.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54I think audiences quite enjoy it. Particularly now...
0:08:54 > 0:08:57I don't think they do enjoy standing, do they?
0:08:57 > 0:08:59They actually enjoy the experience of standing.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01Who's told you that?
0:09:01 > 0:09:02Erm...
0:09:02 > 0:09:04'Shakespeare's works are still performed now
0:09:04 > 0:09:07'and not just in theatres.'
0:09:07 > 0:09:10There are countless different ways of interpreting Shakespeare's plays.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14There's properly - with all wooden furniture and beards and swords
0:09:14 > 0:09:18and people dressed up as sort of two-legged pageants.
0:09:18 > 0:09:21Or there's modern - where they speak in Shakespearean gobbledegook
0:09:21 > 0:09:23while dressed in contemporary clothing -
0:09:23 > 0:09:25a bit like Russell Brand.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27You decentious rogues,
0:09:27 > 0:09:29That rubbing the poor itch of your opinion,
0:09:29 > 0:09:31Make yourselves scabs?
0:09:31 > 0:09:33And there's startlingly avant garde productions,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35which look and sound like this.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39How now, spirit! Whither wander you?
0:09:39 > 0:09:41Over hill, over dale, Thorough bush, thorough brier,
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Over park, over pale,
0:09:43 > 0:09:45Thorough flood, thorough fire, I do wander everywhere.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47'Incredibly, even today
0:09:47 > 0:09:49'people actually go to see this sort of thing,'
0:09:49 > 0:09:52despite it being completely fucking unwatchable.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54SHRIEKS AND YELLS
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Speak again, thou run away, thou coward.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59What sort of people come to see Shakespeare today?
0:09:59 > 0:10:01Is it mainly people who wear glasses?
0:10:01 > 0:10:03Um...
0:10:04 > 0:10:05Yeah, I'm sure there are
0:10:05 > 0:10:08a few people that wear glasses that come to see it.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10Yeah, I think all kinds of people come to see it.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12But a lot of short-sighted people.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15- Possibly? Not a lot though... - Yeah, loads!
0:10:15 > 0:10:17Loads, I was looking around.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21- Right, 80% of the audience were wearing glasses.- I doubt that.
0:10:21 > 0:10:22Are you saying I'm a liar?
0:10:22 > 0:10:26No, I just said I doubt that 80% of the audience were wearing glasses.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29I think they were.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30Right.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35Maybe you need like a big bifocal lens in front of the stage.
0:10:35 > 0:10:38"Leave your glasses at home, come to the theatre."
0:10:38 > 0:10:40What about those people that aren't short-sighted?
0:10:40 > 0:10:44Oh, yeah, you'd need different lenses, don't you.
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Shakespeare's just as popular today as he's always been.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51There's even a Royal Shakespeare Company named after him,
0:10:51 > 0:10:55who insist on putting on his shows whether people want them or not.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58What is it about Shakespeare that makes them bother?
0:10:58 > 0:11:01'Perhaps it's because he wrote about universal human needs,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05'like wanting to murder a king, or have a romance.'
0:11:05 > 0:11:08We don't know much about how love and romance worked in olden times,
0:11:08 > 0:11:13because back then people didn't write blogs about their dating misadventures.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17But thanks to Shakespeare, what we do have is Romeo and Juliet,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20easily the finest romance of the pre-Dirty Dancing era.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22'Romeo and Juliet is about
0:11:22 > 0:11:25'these two rich, powerful families who hate each other.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29'These two families are the Montagues - who sound quite posh -
0:11:29 > 0:11:32'and the Capulets, who invented the headache tablet.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35'They're perfectly happy having their feud until the touching moment
0:11:35 > 0:11:39'Romeo, from one side, spots Juliet, from the other.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43'It's love at first sight, but from a distance -'
0:11:43 > 0:11:45just like on Tinder.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
0:11:49 > 0:11:53To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55'Soon Romeo and Juliet are in love,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57'even though they come from two different families,'
0:11:57 > 0:12:01which is how we know it isn't set in Norfolk.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03O Romeo, Romeo!
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Wherefore art thou Romeo?
0:12:05 > 0:12:08'To find out more about Romeo and Juliet,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12'I went to talk to Shakespearean expert Stanley Wells.'
0:12:12 > 0:12:15Why do you think Romeo and Juliet is
0:12:15 > 0:12:19the most successful romcom of all time?
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Well, it's very beautiful, isn't it?
0:12:21 > 0:12:23The love story between Romeo and Juliet.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26It has some very beautiful poetry in it.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28People like a happy ending, don't they?
0:12:28 > 0:12:30Oh, they like a happy ending, yeah,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32but they don't get it, of course, here.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33What do you mean?
0:12:33 > 0:12:35Oh, you know, the ending -
0:12:35 > 0:12:37they die.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40You know, the lovers - Romeo and Juliet, I mean...
0:12:40 > 0:12:42- They die at the end?- Oh, yes.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47Juliet poisons herself, then Romeo comes in and he dies, too.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52So, we should put a spoiler there, should we?
0:12:52 > 0:12:53OK.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58But after that, their families are reconciled, so that's quite nice.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03I don't understand why the Montagons and the Caplets
0:13:03 > 0:13:07just won't let them muck about together.
0:13:07 > 0:13:08Well, they're not really adults, are they?
0:13:08 > 0:13:10I mean, Juliet's not yet 14.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- You know, her nurse says so in the play.- What?
0:13:13 > 0:13:15She's only a young girl.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18- She's 13 years old?! - That's right, yes.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21I'm not surprised the families are trying to split them up then.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23I'd have rang the police.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26'With the success of Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare was on a roll.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29'He had respect and prestige and he was coining it,
0:13:29 > 0:13:32'if they had coins back then. I haven't checked.'
0:13:32 > 0:13:36As his reputation grew, Shakespeare became popular with royalty.
0:13:36 > 0:13:38So, he wrote stuff they'd enjoy
0:13:38 > 0:13:40in the hope of gaining power and influence,
0:13:40 > 0:13:43like Gary Barlow does now.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Shakespeare's first royal fan was Queen Elizabeth One.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48The person, not the boat.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50'Shakespeare wrote loads of plays about royals,
0:13:50 > 0:13:53'known as his History plays.'
0:13:53 > 0:13:55It was his way of pleasing the king and queen
0:13:55 > 0:13:57by doing stuff about their families.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59A bit like when your mum buys the local paper
0:13:59 > 0:14:01because your brother's court appearance is in it.
0:14:01 > 0:14:05'Perhaps Shakespeare's best history play is Richard Three,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08'which is about this sort of Elephant Man king.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11He'd be done in computers now by Andy Serkis covered in balls,
0:14:11 > 0:14:16'but in the original he was just a man with a pillow up his jumper.'
0:14:16 > 0:14:19It's quite modern because it's a lead part for a disabled actor,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23providing they don't mind being depicted as the most evil man ever.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27I am determin'ed to prove a villain.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30Richard Three is actually based on the real King Richard of Third,
0:14:30 > 0:14:32who was in the Wars of the Roses.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36A horse! A Horse! My kingdom for a horse!
0:14:37 > 0:14:40'At the end he loses his horse and ends up wandering around a car park
0:14:40 > 0:14:43looking for it, where he eventually dies.'
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Because in those days you couldn't find your horse
0:14:45 > 0:14:48just by beeping your keys and making its arse light up.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53'It's quite moving and human,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56'because we've all worried we might die in a car park, if we, like,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00lose the ticket and can't get the barrier up and just die in there.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03Shakespeare makes you think about those things,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06and that's hard.
0:15:06 > 0:15:09When Queen Elizabeth died, James One took over.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12He was Scottish and dead into witches,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14which Shakespeare put straight into Macbeth.
0:15:14 > 0:15:16Like an arsekisser.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20'Macbeth is a tale of paranoia and king-murder set in Scotland,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22'probably for tax reasons.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24'It's about a man called Macbeth,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26'who's so famous he's only got one name.'
0:15:26 > 0:15:28Like Brangelina.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32'Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth!'
0:15:32 > 0:15:36'Macbeth also has a female sidekick called Lady Macbeth,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39'who was very much the Ms. Pac-Man to Macbeth's Pac-Man.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42'In a spooky encounter, Macbeth meets some witches,
0:15:42 > 0:15:45'who tell him he's going to become king of Scotchland.'
0:15:45 > 0:15:48Which back then was apparently considered a good thing.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51'The witches aren't in it as much as you'd expect,
0:15:51 > 0:15:53'quite a lot of it's about ordinary murder.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56This is a sorry sight!
0:15:56 > 0:15:58It seems a shame to introduce witches in it
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and then make all the murders normal with just knives and swords.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04Maybe if Shakespeare had thought a bit harder
0:16:04 > 0:16:06he'd have put some magic murders in.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Like a big magic hand coming out a toilet
0:16:08 > 0:16:10and pulling someone's arse inside out.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13'Nevertheless, there's plenty of violence and bloodshed
0:16:13 > 0:16:16'and an iconic scene in which Macbeth is startled at dinner
0:16:16 > 0:16:19'by the unexpected appearance of Banquo's Ghost,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'played here for some reason by the letter H.'
0:16:22 > 0:16:25Which of you have done this?
0:16:26 > 0:16:28What, my good lord?
0:16:30 > 0:16:32Thou canst not say I did it: never shake
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Thy gory locks at me.
0:16:34 > 0:16:38'By now, Shakespeare had built a considerable body of work,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41'which is collected in something called the First Folio.'
0:16:41 > 0:16:46This is the actual book Shakespeare wrote with his bare hands,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49the only remaining copy of any of his plays.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52It's amazing to think that if anything happened to this,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56the entire works of Shakespeare would be lost forever.
0:16:56 > 0:17:00So, before I touch it, I need to put on special white gloves.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05Well, we don't actually need to wear white gloves, Philomena.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07The advice we have and the best practice we follow
0:17:07 > 0:17:11is not wear gloves, because you lose the sensitivity in your fingers
0:17:11 > 0:17:14and you're more likely to damage the book by wearing gloves than not.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18- Well, they're here now.- If you've got clean hands, take the gloves off, we don't need them at all.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- Well, I've brought them, so... - It's very good of you to bring them, but we don't need them
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and we can't let you turn the pages of the book if you've got them on.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- Simon Schama gets to wear gloves. - Well, he doesn't wear them here.
0:17:27 > 0:17:28Why not?
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Because when we're handling books and documents we don't need to wear gloves, at all.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34SHE SIGHS DEEPLY
0:17:35 > 0:17:39So what's the difference between a book and a folio?
0:17:39 > 0:17:42A folio's the name that's given to the paper that's in the book.
0:17:42 > 0:17:44It implies it's been folded once,
0:17:44 > 0:17:46which is where the name folio comes from.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48So, why don't we just call it a book?
0:17:48 > 0:17:51- We can call it a book. That's absolutely fine.- OK.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54You know when you read a word in a book
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- and you sort of hear that word in your head?- Mm-hm.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02How did they get the sounds into the ink to make it play in your head?
0:18:03 > 0:18:08Well, what they're doing is they've got all the words written down
0:18:08 > 0:18:11and spelled out and they put those letters into the printing process
0:18:11 > 0:18:12and then print them on the page.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14And then it's as you're reading it,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16you're making the sounds in your head.
0:18:16 > 0:18:19And you can hear them talking, can't you?
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Yeah, because you know what the words mean and how they sound,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24you can then play it back to yourself, if you like.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Are these plays like computer code
0:18:27 > 0:18:30and the actors like characters in a computer game?
0:18:31 > 0:18:33I suppose that's one way of looking at it.
0:18:33 > 0:18:34The words are the lines
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- so they're telling the actors what they need to say -
0:18:37 > 0:18:40and then you'll find stage directions telling them what to do.
0:18:40 > 0:18:43So, in a way, they're like a set of instructions.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47So, in a way, Shakespeare invented computer games?
0:18:47 > 0:18:51I don't think he'd have seen it like that and that's not quite the case with what it is,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53but you can make a comparison or an analogy between the two.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55So, he invented computer games.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57No, not really, no.
0:18:57 > 0:18:58That's amazing.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00'Most of Shakespeare's plays
0:19:00 > 0:19:03'are about stuff that actually happened, like kings.'
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Or could happen, like a prince talking to a ghost.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10But some of his plays are more magical. They're fantasies.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14'The Tempest is about this shipwreck,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17'which happens at the beginning, not at the end like Titanic,'
0:19:17 > 0:19:19which is a brave move.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22'The survivors get stuck on this island where this wizard lives
0:19:22 > 0:19:25'with his daughter and these monsters.'
0:19:25 > 0:19:27What's interesting about The Tempest
0:19:27 > 0:19:30is that usually Shakespeare's stories sort of make sense,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33even though all the talking's in gibberish.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36But in The Tempest, the story doesn't make sense either.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38THUNDERCLAP
0:19:42 > 0:19:45You are three men of sin, whom Destiny,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47That hath to instrument this lower world
0:19:47 > 0:19:49And what is in't, the never- surfeited sea
0:19:49 > 0:19:51Hath caused to belch up you.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53It's like Shakespeare squared,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56which is probably why hardcore Shakespeare fans like it,
0:19:56 > 0:19:59because it shows they understand it, which they can't.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02'The way Shakespeare's written makes it hard to wrap your head around,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05'which is why it's taught in school when your brain's at its bendiest,
0:20:05 > 0:20:07'by people like this man,
0:20:07 > 0:20:11'the fictional English teacher from TV drama Educating Yorkshire.'
0:20:11 > 0:20:15When you teach a kid Shakespeare, do their heads grow physically bigger?
0:20:18 > 0:20:20No. They don't, no.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23How does iambic pente-meter work?
0:20:23 > 0:20:26I think you're talking about iambic pentameter,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28- which is the way that, kind of... - Iambic penta-meter.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30- Pentameter, yeah. - Penta-meter.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32Well, pentameter, so...
0:20:33 > 0:20:37It would be a line of prose that would have ten syllables
0:20:37 > 0:20:39with five particular stresses on.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41- Not Pente-meter? - No, not pente-meter.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44- No, it's pentameter.- Right.
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Someone told me... I was misinformed, it's fine.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Who told you?
0:20:49 > 0:20:51- See him, over there?- Oh, right.
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Erm... No, it's pentameter, yeah. Iambic pentameter.
0:20:55 > 0:20:56Just to clarify.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00I wonder if all of Shakespeare's plays are suitable for kids.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03Because there's that one about the dairymaid, isn't there,
0:21:03 > 0:21:04with the special pump.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09I'm not aware that that's a Shakespeare play.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12She works on a farm. She's got a special pump.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14No, I don't think that's a Shakespeare play, at all.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18- No, it doesn't sound very much like a Shakespeare play, at all. - It's disgusting.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21'Shakespeare once said, "Every dog will have his day."
0:21:21 > 0:21:24'and with his own theatre and lots of plays,
0:21:24 > 0:21:26'he was certainly having his.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30'But soon that day would turn to night. A long, dark night.
0:21:30 > 0:21:32'Like in Finland.'
0:21:32 > 0:21:37In 1596, Shakespeare's son Hamnet shuffled off this mortal coil,
0:21:37 > 0:21:39then he died.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42And a few years later, his father John kicked the bucket
0:21:42 > 0:21:44and also died.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49As Shakespeare's life went sad, so did his plays.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52If you were asked to pick what Shakespeare did best,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54most people would say tragedy,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57which is one of the few things he has in common with Steps.
0:21:57 > 0:22:01'Shakespeare's tragedy plays are the most performed of all his works.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06'None more so than Hamlet, with its famous speech about bees.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09To be, or not to be:
0:22:09 > 0:22:11that is the question.
0:22:11 > 0:22:16Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them?
0:22:21 > 0:22:27To die: to sleep, no more.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29And by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache
0:22:29 > 0:22:33and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to,
0:22:33 > 0:22:36'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40To die, to sleep.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
0:22:47 > 0:22:49When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Must give us pause.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00What was all that about then?
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Alas, poor Yorick.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09'Most people have heard of Hamlet, even if they haven't seen it
0:23:09 > 0:23:11'because it sounds quite boring.'
0:23:11 > 0:23:12So, what's it about?
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Well, I have seen it and it's about four hours long.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20'The main character, who is Hamlet, is visited by his father,
0:23:20 > 0:23:21'who is a ghost.'
0:23:21 > 0:23:23Remember me.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27'The ghost tells Hamlet to take revenge,'
0:23:27 > 0:23:31but Hamlet doesn't know what to do and that's why the play is so long.
0:23:31 > 0:23:37I do not know why, yet I live to say:
0:23:37 > 0:23:39this thing's to do.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41In something gritty like Taken,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Liam Neeson knows exactly what to do.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48I will look for you, I will find you...
0:23:49 > 0:23:50..and I will kill you.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53'So you're - bang - straight down to action.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56'Which makes the film really exciting and over quite quickly.'
0:23:56 > 0:24:00If Shakespeare had written Taken, it'd be four hours long
0:24:00 > 0:24:04and be mainly Liam Neeson fretting and pacing and talking to bones.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07That's the basic difference between Hamlet and Taken.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Liam Neeson makes up his mind.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12I told you I would find you.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17'Shakespeare never wrote anything even close to this
0:24:17 > 0:24:19'white-knuckle knife fight in a kitchen.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23'Instead, he wrote incredibly long speeches full of words.'
0:24:23 > 0:24:27How important are the words in a Shakespeare play?
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Like, could you do it without the words?
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Um...
0:24:33 > 0:24:36without the words, there isn't much left, to be honest.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40So I think probably that's the bedrock of what we do.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44'And to be fair, Shakespeare was no ordinary word-monger.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47'He didn't just use words, he invented them, too.'
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Shakespeare made up words, didn't he?
0:24:50 > 0:24:53- He did that all the time. - Mm-hm.- He made up so many words.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56He made up about a thousand words that we still use today.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58- Did he?- Mm-hm.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Right, I've got a list of words...
0:25:00 > 0:25:04- OK.- ..that he might or might not have made up.- OK.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- And you tell me if Shakespeare made them up or not.- OK.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09Cuckoo.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11No, I don't think so.
0:25:11 > 0:25:12Ukulele.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14- No. - Truffle-balling.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16- No. - Ceefax.
0:25:16 > 0:25:17- No. - Omnishambles.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19No.
0:25:19 > 0:25:20Nutribullet.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22- No. - Mix-tape.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24- No. - Spork.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26- No. - Roflcopter.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27No.
0:25:27 > 0:25:28Bumbaclart.
0:25:28 > 0:25:29No.
0:25:33 > 0:25:34Zhuzh.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35No.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36Potatoey.
0:25:36 > 0:25:37No.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Bromance.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41- No. - Sushi.
0:25:41 > 0:25:42No.
0:25:42 > 0:25:43Tit-wank.
0:25:43 > 0:25:44- No. - Hobnob.
0:25:44 > 0:25:46Yes!
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Suppose it makes sense that he came up with hobnob, doesn't it?
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Because it's sort of the most old-fashioned of biscuits.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55It's got, like, bits of hay in it and stuff.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57It's like eating a thatched roof.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00'By the end of his life, Shakespeare had reinvented theatre,
0:26:00 > 0:26:03'created memorable characters, built a playhouse,
0:26:03 > 0:26:06'invented a language and secured a legacy.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09'But the Swan of Avon still had one last trick up his sleeve.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12'Throughout this programme, we've seen how Shakespeare's genius spans
0:26:12 > 0:26:14'seven different genres of play.'
0:26:14 > 0:26:17But all of these pale into insignificance against Shakespeare's
0:26:17 > 0:26:20most greatest work:
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Game of Thrones.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Game of Thrones is a proper bloodthirsty, action-packed epic,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28which skilfully combines all the genres
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Shakespeare invented into one coherent work.
0:26:31 > 0:26:32It's got everything.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35It's got history, comedy,
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Shakespearean...
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- Have you ever held a sword before? - I was the best archer in our hamlet.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42..tragedy.
0:26:42 > 0:26:43SHE SCREAMS
0:26:43 > 0:26:44Horror...
0:26:44 > 0:26:46..fantasy.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48DRAGON ROARS
0:26:48 > 0:26:49And romance.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52SHE MOANS
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Game of Thrones also has one of Shakespeare's best kings in it,
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Queen Joffrey.
0:26:58 > 0:26:59Surely there are others out there
0:26:59 > 0:27:01who still dare to challenge my reign?
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Queen Joffrey, like all Shakespeare's queens,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06is played by a young boy in a dress.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09And they stuck with that when they adapted it for television.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Game of Thrones remains the most popular
0:27:12 > 0:27:14of all of Shakespeare's plays
0:27:14 > 0:27:17and the only one to have been made into a television series,
0:27:17 > 0:27:19which proves it's the best.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21It's almost as if at the end of his life,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Shakespeare finally worked out how to write something really good.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28'His final masterpiece accomplished,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31'Shakespeare's work on our planet was complete.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33'He died on his birthday,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35'which must have been depressing for his family,
0:27:35 > 0:27:36'who would have had to
0:27:36 > 0:27:39'finish his cake with tears in their little Shakespearean eyes.'
0:27:39 > 0:27:42We don't know what Shakespeare's last words were -
0:27:42 > 0:27:44probably made-up ones.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46Nobody wrote them down, so they couldn't have been all that.
0:27:46 > 0:27:51'I used to think Shakespeare was stuffy and pointless and not for me,
0:27:51 > 0:27:54'but exploring his world and works for the past half-hour
0:27:54 > 0:27:57'has really brought him to life, so I'm gutted he's just died.
0:27:57 > 0:28:03'He remains the best and only bard this country has ever produced.'
0:28:03 > 0:28:05Goodnight, sweet prince.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09I'm loving angels instead.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13MUSIC: Zadok the Priest by Handel
0:28:14 > 0:28:20# Zadok the priest
0:28:20 > 0:28:28# And Nathan the prophet
0:28:28 > 0:28:41# Anointed Solomon king. #