David Tennant - Shakespeare Uncovered

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David Tennant - Shakespeare Uncovered David Tennant is one of the hosts for the documentary Shakespeare Uncovered which is part of the BBC Shakespeare Unlocked season. David's episode premiered on UK television on Tuesday 17th July 2012 at 11.20pm on BBC Two with repeats later that week. It's US premiere was on PBS on Friday 8th February 2013 at 9pm. David Tennant's episode is about Hamlet and the description on the Radio Times website is: "The former Doctor Who star, who played Hamlet in a 2008 Royal Shakespeare Company production, explores the different approaches actors have taken to the role of the troubled Danish prince. Alongside Simon Russell Beale and Ben Whishaw, he explores why the play is often regarded as Shakespeare's finest work, and examines how 16th-century audiences might have reacted to it. He also explains why he believes its popularity has endured to the present day, and how its themes continue to resonate in the modern world." The more detailed description from the BBC website is: "n Hamlet, David Tennant, whose own RSC performance was a huge hit, meets other actors who have played the role - from the legendary David Warner in the 1960s to the recent Jude Law. He also tries, alongside Simon Russell Beale and Ben Whishaw, to unravel the meaning of the play and the reason why it is considered by many to be the greatest play Shakespeare ever wrote. David Tennant surprised when he took on the role of Hamlet - most did not know that he had trained in and worked for many years at the Royal Shakespeare Company. But that didn't mean he wasn't scared stiff at the prospect of taking on the legendary role. Now he takes up the challenge of unravelling the story and trying to uncover what it is about it that has made Hamlet the most famous of all of Shakespeare's plays. He revisits his own performance, alongside his director Greg Doran, and he meets up with other actors who have tackled the role. With the historian Justin Champion he tries to enter the mindset of the 16th century audiences who would have watched this story and he discovers how different generations of actors, directors and scholars have interpreted the play. What he discovers is that Hamlet is a play full of questions rather than answers - but they are the questions we all continue to ask ourselves to this day. Questions about who to believe, who to trust, how to live and how to love, how to understand life and how to face death. What all the actors who have played it seem to share is that the process of acting the role is deeply and profoundly personal - and perhaps that is why audiences also feel that the play touches them more than any other play before or since." Shakespeare Uncovered was released on DVD in the UK and Europe on Monday 27th August 2012. For posts related to Shakespeare Uncovered on Blogger.com click here. 2015 The David Tennant episode of Shakespeare Uncovered (about Hamlet) will air on Rai 5 in Italy on Monday (5th). Updated 2/1
2014 David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered is rebroadcast tonight as My Shakespeare on Sky Arts 1. Updated 03/11
2013 Two of David Tennant's projects have been shortlisted for Grierson Awards: David Tennant on Hamlet (Shakespeare Uncovered) has been shortlisted for the Best Arts Documentary Award. Penguins - Spy in the Huddle: The Journey has been shortlisted for the Best Science or Natural History Documentary Award. Updated 30/7 Shakespeare Uncovered DVD (including David Tennant's episode about Hamlet) is released today in Australia. Updated 17/7 David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet premieres on ABC1 in Australia at 10.30pm tonight. Updated 31/3 Shakespeare Uncovered DVD is released today in the US. Updated 26/3 WETA has a preview video of Shakespeare Uncovered which plays worldwide. Updated 8/2 David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered has its first US broadcast on PBS tonight at 9pm. Updated 8/2 There is a photo of David Tennant on the cover of the US version of the Shakespeare Uncovered DVD. This is the link to pre-order it from Amazon. The DVD is released on 26th March and it airs on PBS on Friday (8th). Updated 6/2 David Tennant can currently be seen in adverts on PBS in the US for Shakespeare Uncovered. His episode about Hamlet airs on Friday 8th February. A screenshot is here. Updated 20/1 PBS have posted a trailer for the David Tennant / Hamlet episode of Shakespeare Uncovered which premieres on their station on 9th February. Updated 4/1
December 2012 BroadwayWorld has a detailed article about the PBS broadcast in the US of Shakespeare Uncovered, including David Tennant's episode about Hamlet airing on 8th February. Updated 6/12
November 2012 David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered will have its first US broadcast on PBS on Friday 8th February at 9pm. Updated 17/11
August 2012 The release of the DVD of Shakespeare Uncovered (the DVD is currently called Prefaces To Shakespeare) has been postponed in the UK and Europe according to Amazon from 27th August to 29th October. The release has been delayed in the US until 5th November. Updated 9/8
July 2012 It was announced last night at the Television Critics Press Tour (Summer 2012) that Shakespeare Uncovered would be show on US television by PBS during the next season. The exact broadcast date is not known yet. Updated 22/7 A photo of a fan with David Tennant on the set of True Love last September which was only posted onto Twitter today. Updated 22/7 The Observer newspaper has a review of David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered. (The review bemoans the late broadcast slot of the programme.) Updated 22/7 The overnight figures for David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet were that it only received a disappointing 238K viewers which was 3.3% of the viewing public at that time. However lots of fans have said that they used iPlayer to watch it (as it was broadcast at 11.20pm) so the final figures will be higher. Updated 20/7 David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet has been reviewed by The Stage and The Hamlet Weblog. Updated 19/7 David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered has been uploaded to YouTube.com in four parts. The DVD of the whole series is released in the UK and Europe on 27th August. Updated 18/7 A link to the subtitles for David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet. Updated 18/7 Links for both UK and non-UK people to download David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet. It is repeated tonight on BBC HD at 11.50pm and the DVD (called prefaces To Shakespeare) is released on 27th August in the UK. The US broadcast date for the programme has not been announced yet. Updated 18/7 It is not strictly legal but this is a worldwide link to watch David Tennant in Shakespeare Uncovered and narrating Twenty Twelve tonight. Updated 17/7 Tonight David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet premieres on BBC Two at 11.20pm Updated 17/7 The Guardian lists David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered as one of its television highlights for tomorrow. Updated 16/7 There is now a video of the preview clip from David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered for non-UK people on YouTube.com. Updated 15/7 There are two items (with photos) about David Tennant in this week's Radio Times. One looks at his current and future projects (The Spies Of Warsaw, The Politician's Husband and Broadchurch) and the other is an item about Shakespeare Uncovered. Updated 15/7 The David Tennant episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet (to be broadcast on BBC Two on Tuesday at 11.20pm) is The Times Pick of The Day. Updated 14/7 The BBC have added a video of David Tennant from Shakespeare Uncovered. Updated 14/7 The Radio Times has a short review of David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet. Updated 11/7 The BBC have added details of David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet. It airs on Tuesday 17th July on BBC Two at 11.20pm. Updated 10/7 After changing the day, television station and episode order (!), David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered about Hamlet will be premiered on UK television on Tuesday 17th July 2012 at 11.20pm on BBC Two with repeats expected later that week. Updated 5/7
June 2012 TenAlpsplc has announced that Prefaces to Shakespeare has been renamed Shakespeare Uncovered. The series begins on Tuesday 19th June on BBC Four and David Tennant's episode about Hamlet is likely to broadcast on Tuesday 10th July. Updated 15/6
May 2012 Amazon.co.uk have a link to buy the Prefaces To Shakespeare DVD. It will be released in the UK and Europe on Monday 27th August and is expected to be broadcast in June or July. Updated 22/5
April 2012 Since we spoke to the production company recently the US trailer for Prefaces now spells David Tennant's name correctly! Updated 13/4 First trailer posted online for David Tennant's documentary about Hamlet. It was previously called Prefaces To Shakespeare but now appears to be using the title Shakespeare Prefaces. Updated 4/4
March 2012 A synopsis of David Tennant's appearances on both breakfast radio programmes today. David mentioned filming a documentary about Hamlet which was believed to be Prefaces To Shakespeare but may have been Discovering Shakespeare. Updated 21/3
January 2012 Today David Tennant was spotted filming in The British Library in London. Unfortunately none of the people who tweeted that they had seen him mentioned exactly what he was filming but somebody said that they thought it was something to do with Hamlet so it may have been for his television programme Prefaces To Shakespeare. Somebody else tweeted that part of the filming included him walking up some stairs. Updated 19/1
December 2011 Click here to read about David Tennant filming in Stratford-Upon-Avon this week. Updated 15/12
November 2011 David Tennant is one of the hosts for the documentary Prefaces To Shakespeare which is part of the BBC Shakespeare season. See here for more details. Updated 24/11