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"Henry IV Part 1 is on Saturday, 7 July at 9pm on Ö÷²¥´óÐã Two. "

That was not true.

I too switched to Ö÷²¥´óÐã2 to watch Henry IV Part 1 only to find that the tennis was still being shown. The presenter, John Inverdale I believe, made the statement (twice) that they were continuing with the tennis, Ladies Doubles final, and Henry IV would not be shown, furthermore, the news would be delayed until the tennis was finished.
Not wanting to see the tennis we switched channels, returning later to Ö÷²¥´óÐã2 only to find that Henry IV Part 1 was in progress.

Pretty poor Ö÷²¥´óÐã, the world does not revolve around tennis. I accept that cover of the ongoing Men's Doubles final should have continued but continuing with another match and giving out incorrect statements is far from acceptable - there has been enough no notice disruption to the schedules over the last few weeks. Will the programme be rerun so that those of us who were mislead can enjoy it?

Until I read comment 2 I had not realised that Henry IV part one had been broad cast. I had switched sides after the doubles.

The commentator had said that the drama was not going to be shown. As I had not set it up to be recorded, I have missed it. I am furious. I was so keen to watch it. Are you going to re-broad cast it so that all the others in my situation can see it?

Twitter from the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Press: Apologies for delayed start of The Hollow Crown last night due to late running of tennis. Henry IV Pt1 will be shown again tonight Ö÷²¥´óÐã4 9pm

I watched Henry IV Part 1 last night [quite happily after the tennis!] and I thought the dramatisation was absolutely excellent. I thought it was imaginative, beautifully shot and the acting was of the highest quality. I studied the text in great depth for an English Literature O Level years ago and I would have just loved to have seen this as an adaptation then. However, full marks to the whole production and acting team for this interpretation of the play - truly the Ö÷²¥´óÐã at it's very best; better even than a theatre staging.

I see the King of France in Henry V was wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, not founded until 8 years after Henry himself died...not that it matters what bling they wear

Fantastic drama series. Shakespeare never feels dated. Great production - congratulations to all involved.

I enjoyed Henry V very much. However, in the pre-battle speech Henry V mentioned a number of dukes some of which were different from the play I have read. In this [ my play ] he mentions Bedford and Exeter, Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester. I don't recall that Bedford and Talbot were mentioned in last night's play [ or did I miss them? ] and yet he mentioned York who isn't mentioned in my play. Why the changes? PS: Will all the plays eventually be available as DVDs?

Why was the excellent series Hollow Crown spoilt by inaccuracies?
The Bishop of Carlisle and Edward Duke of York were portrayed as being of African origin. This could not possible be so.
Why was it done?

No doubt the umpteenth person to point out that Henry's shield as worn on his arming jacket in the early scenes has the royal arms reversed with the fleur-de-lys of France in on his upper left and the lions of England upper right. They should be the other way around

Compulsive viewing, especially Richard ll and Henry V. Tom Hiddleston is sensational. The scene between him and the French princess was a sizzler. The war scenes really made sense: for once, "Once more unto the breach" was real, i.e. there was a real "breach" apparent in the wall, which could conceivably be filled up with "English dead". Harry Hotspur and Richard ll also delivered stunning performances. I once saw "Richard ll" at Stratford with Ian Richardson and Richard Pascoe, which was excellent, but this one was way, way better. The weakest links in my opinion were some of the Falstaff/Doll Tearsheet episodes, which I just didn't find convincing or moving enough. Falstaff has to have something about him, not just be a Father Christmas caricature, otherwise why would Prince Hal and all the rest bother with him? He has to have some trace of his former charisma in order for the character to work. I think he should be played by an actor like Hugh Bonneville, who conceivably could charm and seduce and persuade people. Sir John Falstaff must have been something like James Hewitt when he was a young blood. Also, Doll Tearsheet should have more Christine Keeler about her and less of Edna the Inebriate Woman!! Mistress Quickly was too much of a caricature and not enough of a real woman. Why would a diamond geezer like Ancient Pistol fancy her unless she still had some pulling power? I adored the costumes, especially in "Richard ll" - really authentic, but I didn't like Henry V's black leather codpiece in the tennis balls scene - it looked like a tennis ball itself, it undermined his dignity and was embarrassing to the viewer. Annie Symons should have designed a more voluminous "cote-hardie" or whatever you call it, to give him greater elegance and majesty. Other than these niggles, "The Hollow Crown" is a masterpiece and sets a new standard in TV Shakespeare.

p.s. How come Alun Armstrong was about 30 years old in 1983, when he was in "Krull" and he's still about 30 years old 29 years later in 2012, when he played Harry Hotspur???

Harriet,
Hotspur was being played by Alun Armstrong's son, Joe. Alun was playing Hotspur's father, Northumberland. Agreed, the family resemblance is very marked.

Noibla wrote:
"Why was the excellent series Hollow Crown spoilt by inaccuracies?
The Bishop of Carlisle and Edward Duke of York were portrayed as being of African origin. This could not possible be so.
Why was it done?"
It is not an inaccuracy, in the sense we are not supposed to infer from the casting that the characters are of African origin. It is in the tradition of "colour blind" casting, which assumes that unless racial identity or origin is a specific dramatic issue, we are mature enough to judge a performance on the quality of acting, and suspend our disbelief when it comes to the ethnicity of the actor. The approach may initially seem strange and intrusive to some people, but it isn't that difficult to get used to. And the fact is that if this approach isn't adopted as the standard one, then with the exception of the occasional African setting production of plays like the recent RSC Julius Caesar, an awful lot of very talented actors will be de facto excluded from 'mainstream' productions of the classic repertoire. And given how brilliant that production was, it would be a great pity (from the audience pov) if actors that talented hardly ever get a chance to spread their classical wings.

juju suggests we should all be "colour blind" and, in this "condition", be blind to historical inaccuracies.
Can we therefore look forward to seeing Cetshwayo, King of Zululand, in a remake of the film Zulu, being played by a white actor who has the "talent" to do so, and half of the Zulu warriors being represented by "talented" whites? I suggest, however desirable some politically correct people may think this "colour blindness" may be, the portrayal would look rather "strange"

Nobila wrote:
"Why was the excellent series Hollow Crown spoilt by inaccuracies?"

It's almost like it was an interpretation of history via the medium of fiction, eh? I was wondering how they sent the film crew hundreds of years back in time to get this footage.

Entelechy wrote: It's almost like it was an interpretation of history via the medium of fiction, eh? I was wondering how they sent the film crew hundreds of years back in time to get this footage.

If they went back they would find no blacks in Norman-Anglo Saxon England - especially a black Edward Duke of York or Bishop of Carlisle.
I suspect the portrayal we saw was because the Ö÷²¥´óÐã was following the Greg Dyke trail and looked upon that period as being "hideously white". To "correct" it and make it less "offensive" black faces had to be introduced. The bending of reality to make it more "acceptable" now seems to be the fashion.

The Bishop of Carlisle and Edward Duke of York were portrayed as being of African origin.

This is not about giving black actors a chance to act in the "Classics" this is about the Ö÷²¥´óÐã being politically motivated. The same reason why they used Black and Asian actors in the children's television series "Robin Hood". The Bishop of Carlisle and Duke of York were not African and should not be portrayed as such no more than Kenneth Branagh should play Malcolm X; and what breast beating and hand wringing would there be from the white luvies if it was ever proposed in the Ö÷²¥´óÐã casting department.