Shakespeare at the BBC: Comedies

Separated from her twin brother Sebastian after a shipwreck, Viola disguises herself as a boy to serve the Duke of Illyria. Wooing a countess on his behalf, she is stunned to find herself the object of his beloved's affections. With the arrival of Viola's brother, and a trick played upon the countess's steward. Confusion reigns in this romantic comedy of mistaken identity.

Petruchio is determined to mold the shrewish Katherine into a suitable wife; both for her dowry and for the challenge of overcoming her fearsome reputation. As he meets her own caustic words with a feigned, capricious cruelty, Katherine quickly comes to understand the absurdity of her shrewish behavior, in one of the greatest of all comic battles of the sexes.

King Leontes of Bohemia suspects his wife, Hermione carrying a child fathered by his friend Polixenes. Imprisoned and put on trial, Queen Hermione collapses when King Leontes refuses to accept the divine confirmation of her innocence. The child is abandoned to die on the coast of Bohemia. But when she is found and raised by a shepherd, it seems redemption may be possible.

Helen Mirren and Robert Lindsay feature in Elijah Moshinsky's production of what is arguably Shakespeare's most popular comedy. Lovers Hermia and Lysander have run away together to the forest on the outskirts of Athens. Hermia is pursued by the smitten Demetrius, who is in turn followed by Helena. All four find themselves in an enchanted forest where fairies and sprites soon take interest in human affairs, dispensing magical love potions and casting mischievous spells.

A vivacious woman and a high-spirited man both claim that they are determined never to marry. But when their friends trick them into believing that each harbors secret feelings for the other, they begin to question whether their witty banter and sharp-tonged repartee conceals something deeper. Schemes abound, misunderstandings proliferate and matches are eventually made in this irresistible comedy.