I've just finished watching it on iPlayer.

It's the RSC production with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant.

Bloomin' good production too.

It's been years since I've seen Hamlet, I think the last time I saw/read it was in school studying it for GCSEs.

Did anyone else see this production? It's still on iPlayer if you want to catch it but it's 3 hours long!

I unfortunately missed it because of work. Three hours is definitely long. Is it in parts or just one long thing - don't think I could sit and watch anything for three hours. Only ever used iplayer for top gear. Can you pause it and come back to it the next day or anything?

Yes. Also if you close your browser whilst playing it then when you come back to watch it says "Click to Resume" instead of "Click to Watch" so you can carry on where you left off.

I actually watched it in three parts but the whole thing is one long program.

Hamlet, is that the one where the guy lays his cloak down over a puddle for the Queen and the falls straight through?

I think it was Walter Raleigh who laid down his cloak for Queen Elizabeth. The falling through a puddle thing was a comedy sketch back in the 80s I think.

Hamlet is the one where the King is murdered by his brother so he can take the throne and Hamlet, the son, wants to shag his Mum

It was for Hamlet cigars back when tobacco adverts were still allowed.

I never got on with Shakespeare at school. Studying arcane dialog in English lessons was not fun, I have to say.

However, catching the plays put on with proper actors and stuff makes a big difference.

I made a point of recording this production of Hamlet, partly because it had won plaudits earlier and I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

I enjoyed it immensely. I found some of the dialogue impenetrable, particularly when spoken quickly. What I tended to do was catch an unusual word then process and assimilate it, only to find the play had moved on! The production worked well with the modernised setting, though I'm still unsure of the meaning behind the CCTV segments. The players all brought out the increasing madness of their situations very well.

Recommended if you can catch it on a rerun at some point.

It's still on iPlayer IIRC.

RE the CCTV, I did think some of that was odd. I think it was purely decorative as an addition and some of the direction allowed it to be brought into the script (i.e. when Hamlet is soliloquising and says something like "Now that I am alone..." and starts to form a plan.

He does this just after pulling down the camera. In the play this happens after everyone leaves the room but the CCTV camera is a decorative addition and makes the line stand out more.

I still passed English Lit., but that kinda summed up why it took me ages to take it all in

Aaahhh. The mild cigar, from Benson and Hedges. My preferred brand.

You sir, have an excellent memory for the important facts in life

Talking of arcane language did you do the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer? I found that really hard going.

All I remember is a bum hanging out the window... or should I say 'offers her bottom out of the window'

Regarding Hamlet I still know the beginning of to be or not to be off by heart

Unfortunately not. My O level curriculum seemed to centre around John Betjeman and Ted Hughes, and the works of Thomas Hardy.

I am left with an abiding hatred of Hughes and Hardy, with particular ire reserved for the latter, whose tedious country bumpkin novels seem to be the staple diet of BBC drama producers. His work is so depressing and predictable, I really can't see what people find so good about them. It's flooding back to me now: "Tess of the d'Urbervilles" was the course book. God how I hated it, and still do thirty years later.

We also covered Shakespeare, doing "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Macbeth". As I said earlier, reading parts aloud in class is not the way to discover Shakespeare.

The only bit I know is ...

"To be or not to be? That is the question. Whether tis nobler in the mind... something about bearing the arrows..."



Would be good to learn the whole thing though I might give that a try