David Tennant seems to have cast a spell over the producers at the BBC, as he comes to the end of his stint as the title character in Doctor Who (in which he is totally brilliant), he has hosted Never Mind the Buzzcocks, appeared on QI and Desert Island Discs and is hosting a special Radio 2 programme featuring him and Russell T Davies (who is also finishing with Dr Who).
However, for me the best thing about the BBC's current love of all things Tennant is the fact that they broadcast a special television production of the RSC's production of Hamlet which he starred in last year. This production, directed by Gregory Doran, is a modern dress, modern day interpretation, with the idea of spying seen through CCTV cameras.
It is certainly a fresh look at the tale, considering I've spent the months since September reading the text and watching the rather dull Mel Gibson lead 1990 film version for A-Level coursework reasons.
In case you don't the story, Hamlet (David Tennant) is the Prince of Denmark, the son of the recently deceased King and Gertrude (Penny Downie). Gertrude has recently, rather hastily, remarried. Specifically, she has married Hamlet's uncle, Claudius (Patrick Stewart), and this action, mixed with the death of his father sets Hamlet up at the beginning to be a deeply saddened man, even contemplating suicide. He is then bought the news from his good friend Horatio (Peter de Jersey) that the watch have seen his father's ghost (also Patrick Stewart) walking the battlements. Behind all this, the Machavellian Polonius (Oliver Ford Davies) sends his son Laertes (Edward Bennett) off to France to restart his studying, whilst using his daughter Ophelia (Mariah Gale)-who Hamlet is apparently in love with-to strengthen his realtionship with the new King.
Whilst this version can definitly not be said to 'dumb down' the language or structure at all (indeed, I'm sure there is added dialogue) it could have been disconcerting to the TV viewer who may not have encountered Hamlet before (I was giving basic translations to my parents of some sections of dialogue)
The cast are mostly first class. Tennant's roots lie in Shakespeare, and his ease at delivering the soloiques is clear, it is quite the departure from playing The Doctor and he is captivating until the end (and I had tears in my eyes in the final scene). Stewart was good, but did not seem quite menacing enough for Claudius. Ford Davies was a fine Polonius and de Jersey (currently in the Debbie Allen revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ) made Horotio a 3D and very interesting character. Edward Bennett was a fine Laertes, and it would have been interesting to see his Hamlet, especially considering he had the unenviable task of covering for Tennant when he was injured during the Novello run of this production. Mariah Gale did not seem settled into Ophelia, she seemed too modern to be as passive as the text suggests, yet she was good in the 'mad' scene.
Thumbs up must also go to Sam Alexander and Tom Davey as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, characters that appear somewhat dull in the play are given full personalities here. Ryan Gage also gives an entertaining appearance as Osric and David Ajala has great comic timing as Reynaldo.
Apparently, a Patrick Stewart led production of Macbeth is also on its way to the BBC and it would be interesting to see whether this influx of Shakespeare will lead to more plays making their way onto the main channels, rather than being relegated to BBC4 and Sky Arts.
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