Marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of William Shakespeare's First Folio, gripping three-part docuseries Shakespeare: Rise of A Genius tells the incredible story of how a glover’s son from rural Stratford became the greatest writer who ever lived.
Taking a deep dive into Shakespeare’s life story, the place and time he inhabited and the work he produced, the series reveals a dangerous and exciting world filled with bitter rivalries, rebellion, murder and deadly plague, that ignited and nourished his creative genius.
Cinematic drama vignettes depict Shakespeare’s life alongside a host of stars and experts, including Dame Judi Dench, Brian Cox, Adrian Lester, Lolita Chakrabarti, Helen Mirren, Martin Freeman and Jessie Buckley, alongside academics and writers James Shapiro, Ewan Fernie, Jeanette Winterson, Brenda Hale, The Baroness Hale of Richmond, Gordon Brown, Jeremy O'Harris and Professor Farah Karim-Cooper, bringing fresh insights into the story of our greatest writer. The series is narrated by Juliet Stevenson.
Tracing Shakespeare’s life story, each episode follows the triumphs and setbacks of his writing life, revealing how the people he met and the world he witnessed found their way into his work. Bringing his plays to life, and intercut through the series, is archive of some of the world’s best screen adaptations of the featured plays.
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