“I do begin to perceive that I am made an ass…” The 1983 BBC version of “Merry Wives of Windsor”.

Sometimes we should be grateful when directors don’t get what they want., David Jones wanted to do a location filmed version of this play but he wasn’t allowed to. Given the unsatisfying quality of the more filmic adaptations in this series, such as Henry VIII and As You Like It, I feel rather grateful that this production was kept in the studio.  The studios sets are, meanwhile very beautiful – and of course, you register conscious admiration for a detailed and realistic studio set that you never do for a mere “location”.

The effect of an atmospheric studio setting and some subtly innovative costuming, is to make the final woodland scene with its child fairies actually scary.

Alan Bennett is Justice Shallow. You can be a huge fan of Alan Bennett and watch this production and not know this. Bennett is all but unrecognisable as the bearded old judge and his famous voice is hard to identify also.  Since the Bennett we think we know by sight and sound feels perfect for the nostalgic Shallow, the invisibility of Bennett in this production can’t help but feel but something of a waste.

Tenniel Evans is also lacking something as Sir Hugh Evans. This veteran of stage and screen, despite having the right surname and despite having played a comedy Welshman in The Navy Lark, offers an accent that seems not only unconvincing but (worse) timid.  It is as though Evans’ Evans has not only never been to Wales, but has never been to Comedy Wales either, which is particularly disappointing from someone who has worked so closely with Jon Pertwee.   One suspects that he must have been asked to “tone it down” at some point.  Indeed, in the battle of the silly accents between Evans and Caius, Caius (played by NT stalwart Michael Bryant) emerges as the clear winner.  Bryant’s Pythonesque Gallic vowels are a treat for the ear.  Caius’s remarkable delivery of the name “John Rugby” is a repeated delight.  (Bryant was certainly not asked to tone anything down.)

Ben Kingsley (one of four Oscar-winning actors to appear in the series) offers the most manic and frantic performance here, as the hysterical and paranoid Ford.   It’s a performance that might perhaps have worked slightly better on a wide stage than a small screen, but nobody can doubt the level of commitment on offer.  Perhaps Ford is such a ludicrous character that he really can’t be over-played.

Shakespeare wrote a number of plays that demonstrate that men are dimmer than women.  Twelfth Night, Loves Labours Lost and Merchant of Venice all reiterate this essential and necessary point, and so does Merry Wives.  Prunella Scales and Judy Davis play the eponymous wives.  Scales’ Mistress Page is an arch but affectionate creation with who excels particularly in the maternal scenes.  Davis’ Mistress Ford meanwhile is an astonishingly charismatic presence who betrays a remarkable excitement in the context of her most compromising scenes with Falstaff.  Above all, these are women who just want to have fun.   There is a marital subplot involving younger lovers of course, but this is of limited interest.  At the heart of this production, quite rightly, is the sense of rare and memorable fun that’s generated by the love of two old friends – the only love that really concerns anyone watching the play.

And so, finally to Falstaff. In the Henry IV plays, Falstaff is played by Anthony Quayle, who was very familiar with the role but was, sadly, too old to play Sir Jack in these television versions. If Falstaff is too frail-looking then all the comedy of cowardice is lost. For sure Falstaff should evidence a grotesquely unhealthy lifestyle, but it is equally important that he should move pretty fast when he has to. Griffiths is the perfect size, shape and age to play Falstaff in 1983.  It is oh so famously rumoured that Queen Elizabeth herself commissioned this play by instructing Will Shakespeare to write a play showing Falstaff in love.  The play, of course, does not show Falstaff in love and Falstaff is enthralled to Plutus, not Eros throughout.  It does, however, show Falstaff in amorous situations and wielding bizarre amorous rhetoric.  What Griffiths brings to the party is rapid but plausible oscillation between rage and desire and, by the play’s conclusion, a rather moving declaration of resignation.

This production treats the play as the story of a townie’s attempt to manipulate rustics, only to discover that rustics have a wit and sophistication of all their own.  Accordingly, the people of Windsor are all given an accent reminiscent of a county rather further west than Berkshire.  In a small part you will find Ralph Brown – most famous for playing Danny the drug dealer in Withnail and I, another “version of the pastoral” that William Empson never lived to see.  I would be very interested to know if Bruce Robinson ever saw this production of Merry Wives, and if he did so, was inspired to cast the lascivious yet melancholy Richard Griffiths accordingly.

Meanwhile, I am forever haunted by the tragic wasteful reality that Oliver Reed never played Falstaff. We were owed it.

I have some thoughts about some other BBC productions in this 1978-1985 series.

Such as

Pericles:

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… the 1984 BBC Pericles

Twelfth Night:

Poor Monster. The 1980 BBC Twelfth Night.

Othello:

“Haply, for I am Welsh”: the 1981 BBC Othello.

Measure for Measure:

“What are YOU laughing at?” The 1978 BBC Measure for Measure

Henry VIII

It’s not really about Henry. The 1979 BBC Henry VIII.

Love’s Labours Lost:

“HOLOFERNES: …Goodman Dull – Thou hast spoken no word all this while. DULL Nor understood none neither, sir.” The 1985 BBC “Love’s Labour’s Lost

Romeo and Juliet:

“Well, Susan is with God…”: The 1978 BBC Romeo and Juliet.

The Scottish One:

The 1983 BBC Scottish Play. Much that’s wrong. Much that’s interesting.

Much Ado About Nothing:

Hello Darkness my old friend… The 1984 BBC “Much Ado About Nothing”. Also, the origins of “Dad’s Army”.

King Lear:

Bring your daughter to the slaughter… the 1982 BBC King Lear.

Here is Midsummer Night’s Dream:

The Drugs DO Work. The 1981 BBC “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”

Here’s Julius Caesar:

Unkind cuts. Richard Pasco. The 1979 BBC Shakespeare version of Julius Caesar.

King John:

“Come Hither Hubert…”: The 1984 BBC Production of King John.

Here’s Richard II:

Telling Sad Stories of the Death of Kings. The 1978 BBC Richard II.

The BBC Richard III could not be more unlike the BBC Richard II…

All this and no horses either… the 1980s BBC Richard III.

Here is Henry VI Part III

It just gets worse. Or Better. The 1980s BBC Henry VI Part III.

Henry VI. Part Two:

Getting Better all the Time (and incidentally much worse). The 1980s BBC Henry VI Part II.

Henry VI, Part One:

Verfremdungseffekt at the Beeb! The BBC Henry VI Part One.

Here’s my review of the BBC Henry V:

On the Anniversary of Agincourt… Cry God for Harry, England and St George. But not too loudly. The 1979 BBC Henry V.

BBC Henry IV, Part TWO:

“And is Old Double Dead?” The 1979 BBC Henry IV Part II.

But here’s my review of the BBC Henry IV Part ONE:

The 1979 BBC version of Henry IV, Part I.

And the BBC Antony and Cleopatra:

Stagy Shakespeare on Videotape. Lots and lots of lying down acting in this 1981 BBC Antony and Cleopatra.

Cymbeline:

Romans in Britain. The BBC Cymbeline. Nope. Doesn’t sort out how I feel about Cymbeline.

Not to mention a sombre but intensely homoerotic Coriolanus:

“I – Banish – You!” The 1980s BBC Coriolanus.

Here’s Comedy of Errors:

The BBC Comedy of Errors with Roger Daltrey. You WILL get fooled again.

And… All’s Well That End’s Well:

The 1980 BBC adaptation of Alls Well that Ends Well.

Helen Mirren in the BBC As You Like It:

How could I have forgotten that David Prowse (Darth Vader; Green Cross Man) played Charles the Wrestler in the 1978 BBC adaptation of “As You Like It”?