"Richard II" is the first episode of the first series of the British television series The Hollow Crown, based on William Shakespeare's play of the same name. "Richard II" was directed by Rupert Goold, who adapted the screenplay with Ben Power. Ben Whishaw stars as the titular Richard II of England. It was first broadcast on 30 June 2012 on BBC Two.
Whishaw's performance earned him the 2013 British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for Leading Actor. The program was also nominated for the Best Single Drama award.
Contents
Cast
Ben Whishaw as Richard II of England
Rory Kinnear as Henry Bolingbroke
Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster
David Suchet as Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
David Morrissey as Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
Tom Hughes as Aumerle
James Purefoy as Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk
Clémence Poésy as the Queen (a combination of Isabella of Valois and Anne of Bohemia)
Lindsay Duncan as the Duchess of York
Ferdinand Kingsley as Bushy
Samuel Roukin as Bagot
Harry Hadden-Paton as Green
Tom Goodman-Hill as Sir Stephen Scroop
Adrian Schiller as Lord Willoughby
Peter de Jersey as Lord Ross
Finbar Lynch as Lord Marshall
Lucian Msamati as the Bishop of Carlisle
Richard Bremmer as the Abbot of Westminster
Rhodri Miles as the Welsh Captain
David Bradley as the Gardener
Simon Trinder as the Gardener's Assistant
Isabella Laughland as the Queen's Lady
Daniel Boyd as the Groom
Production
The BBC scheduled the screening of Shakespeare's history plays as part of 2012's Cultural Olympiad, a celebration of British culture coinciding with the 2012 Summer Olympics. Sam Mendes signed up as executive producer to adapt all four of Shakespeare's tetralogy (Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, Henry IV, Part 2 and Henry V) in September 2010. He is joined as executive producer by Pippa Harris (both representing Neal Street Productions), Gareth Neame (NBCUniversal), and Ben Stephenson (BBC).
"Richard II" was shot entirely on location, including at St David's Cathedral, Pembroke Castle and Packwood House. It completed filming in July 2011. One of the characters in Richard II, the Duchess of Gloucester, is absent from this adaptation. Additionally, the characters of Sir Piers Exton and the Duke of Aumerle are combined; after being pardoned for conspiring against Henry IV, Aumerle takes part in the assassination of Richard and presents his body to the king.