Line #44 Series/ShakespeareReTold


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4	''Shakespeare Re-Told'' is a 2005 British mini-series produced by Creator/TheBBC.
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6	It consists of four adaptations of Creator/WilliamShakespeare plays. They are [[SettingUpdate updated]] to the [[PresentDay modern day]], with modern sensibilities.
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8	[[foldercontrol]]
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10	[[folder:''Much Ado About Nothing'']]
11	A retelling of ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' adapted by David Nicholls and directed by Brian Percival. It stars Sarah Parish, Creator/DamianLewis, Creator/BilliePiper, Creator/MartinJarvis, Creator/TomEllis and Derek Riddell.
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13	* TheAlcoholic: Don
14	* BadBadActing: Claude is very flat while the crew is trying to pretend that Beatrice loves Benedick
15	* BelligerentSexualTension: As usual.
16	* BrainlessBeauty: Hero starts out this way.
17	* CelebrityParadox: Shakespeare exists in universe, but it is never stated as to whether the play the story is based on was written.
18	* DaddysGirl: Hero
19	* DeadpanSnarker: Beatrice
20	* EasilyForgiven: A major departure from the original. Rather than welcoming Claudio back when she finds out he was tricked, Hero is irate that he believed so easily she could be unfaithful. While he does beg her forgiveness, this adaptation has Hero telling him she may forgive him but it will take time and even if they get back together, it won't be like before.
21	* FieryRedhead: Benedick. Beatrice also has a reddish tint to her hair, and attends the costume party as Elizabeth I, another well-known FieryRedhead.
22	* HumanInterestStory: Beatrice wants to cover one about the closure of a nursing home.
23	* MonsterClown: Invoked by Don's creepy party costume.
24	* NiceGuy: Peter the director.
25	* ThoseTwoGuys: The security guards.
26	* TheVoiceless: Vincent, the younger security guard
27	* WhamLine: "Wrong side."
28	* WhamShot: After the above line, Claudio and Benedick swap places with the latter taking the position of [[spoiler:the groom]], followed by a shot of [[spoiler:Beatrice being the bride]].
29	[[/folder]]
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31	[[folder:''Macbeth'']]
32	A retelling of ''Theatre/{{Macbeth}}'' adapted by Peter Moffat and directed by Mark Brozel. It stars Vincent Regan, Creator/JamesMcAvoy, Creator/KeeleyHawes, Joseph Millson, Creator/TobyKebbell and Creator/RichardArmitage.
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34	* AssholeVictim: Duncan
35	* BarefootLoon: Lady Macbeth, after her VillainousBreakdown, as is often the case.
36	* CueTheFlyingPigs: Used as an update of the ProphecyTwist: instead of "until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane", the prophecy is "when pigs fly". Cue a SWAT team in a helicopter coming to get Macbeth in the final act. “Pigs” is a slur for police officers in England, generally used by criminals, similar to “the Filth.”
37	* EvilChef: Joe Macbeth racks up a high body count.
38	* AFatherToHisMen: Initially Macbeth, as in the original play, but rather than lead them into battle against the Thane of Cawdor like in the original, here he shows his staff how to bloodlessly dissect a pig’s head, a task that one would expect to be gruesome but which can be done cleanly.
39	* KnowledgeBroker: They're binmen, they know everything.
40	* RuleOfSymbolism: Macduff stabs Macbeth with a carving knife and then swings him onto a kitchen worktop before stabbing him again, gutting him like one of his pigs, but with less respect.
41	* SanitySlippage: Both of the Macbeths, and as in the original Lady Macbeth gets hit with it the hardest.
42	* ShirtlessScene: Macbeth is a walking one of these.
43	* ShoutOut: The various shots of flies over garbage and references to pigs, combined with the story’s original themes of fighting for power can be seen as references to Literature/LordOfTheFlies.
44	* VillainousBreakdown: Both Macbeth and his wife, as is tradition are hit hard with this as a result of going increasingly mad with guilt. Lady Macbeth starts prattling about her dead baby to everyone who’ll listen, loses the ability to put on her makeup and ultimately jumps to her death in a skip. Macbeth by the time he has a knife fight with Macduff is yelling “PIGS ARE LANDING ON MY HEAD!” and screaming at Macduff to stab him in the throat.
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47	[[folder:''The Taming of the Shrew'']]
48	A retelling of ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' adapted by Sally Wainwright and directed by David Richards. It stars Creator/ShirleyHenderson, Creator/RufusSewell, Creator/JaimeMurray, Creator/StephenTompkinson, Twiggy and Creator/{{David Mitchell\|Actor}}.
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50	* ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: Petruchio throws Kate onto a bed, she's furious and threatens to scream. Just as Petruchio is about to do the deed, he then says he can't. Kate is disappointed and audibly whimpers, "Can't you?"
51	* BelligerentSexualTension: And ''how''.
52	* BeleagueredAssistant: Tim. And Harry to extent.
53	* BoisterousBruiser: The first thing Petruchio does is to break open a door to see his only friend, Harry.
54	* {{Crossdresser}}: Petruchio gets these urges sometimes, usually at the most inappropriate moments.
55	* DrowningMySorrows: Harry does this after Bianca dumps him.
56	* GenderFlip: Baptista Minola is now a woman, who becomes a CompositeCharacter with Hortensio's bride.
57	* GoldDigger: Petruchio wants to get to married to pay off his debts.
58	* HairTriggerTemper: Kate seems permanently furious. She's like a female Don from ''Film/SexyBeast''.
59	* HotBlooded: Petruchio gets over hangovers by fighting them.
60	* ImpoverishedPatrician: Petruchio has a title and an estate but no liquid assets.
61	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: According to Harry, underneath all the bluster Petruchio is just a big kid who wants someone to think the world of him.
62	* {{Jerkass}}: Kate at first, but she mellows. Bianca seems to be something of a BitchInSheepsClothing.
63	* LoveAtFirstSight: Petruchio to Kate (surprisingly).
64	* MissingMom: Petruchio's mother left when he was six.
65	* TheNapoleon: Kate gets this treatment especially coupled with her political aspirations.
66	* NoNameGiven: Petruchio is never named as such in the entirety of the film.
67	* PrenupBlowup: Bianca, a supermodel in this version of the story, asks her gorgeous-but-penniless fiance to sign one. He is insulted, and refuses. Katherine, Bianca's older sister, tells her that if she doesn't trust him enough to marry him without the prenup then she shouldn't be marrying him at all.
68	* RomancingTheWidow: Harry
69	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Kate and Bianca respectively.
70	* {{Workaholic}}: Kate's diary has a full work day but in the evening she's emptying the bin.
71	[[/folder]]
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73	[[folder:''A Midsummer Night's Dream'']]
74	A retelling of ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' adapted by Peter Bowker and directed by Ed Fraiman. It stars Creator/BillPaterson, Creator/ImeldaStaunton, Zoe Tapper, William Ash, Creator/RupertEvans, Creator/SharonSmall, Creator/LennieJames and Dean Lennox Kelly.
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76	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Puck does this constantly.
77	* CompositeCharacter: Egeus (Hermia's father) and Theseus (the Duke of Athens) are combined into a single character named Theo.
78	** Theseus's fiancée Hippolyta becomes Polly, Theo's wife of many years and mother of Hermia, so this may also count. (Hermia's mother never appears in the original play, but it's a fair bet that she existed at some point.)
79	* InterspeciesRomance: Titania and Oberon.
80	[[/folder]]

Context Series / ShakespeareReTold