English Literature

Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Watch Romeo and Juliet (1996). Baz Luhrmann's explosive update of the Shakespeare tragedy starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. A pair of 'star-...

Macbeth (2010)

This film of Macbeth is based on Chichester Festival's 2007 production of the play starring Patrick Stewart in the title role. It was filmed at Welbeck Abbey ...

A Midsummer Night's Dream (2016)

Russell T Davies' adaptation of Shakespeare's comedy, from 2016. In the tyrannical court of Athens, dictator Theseus plans his wedding to Hi...

Romeo & Juliet (2013)

Adaptation of Shakespeare's play about two young, tragic lovers torn apart by the feuding rivalry between their respective families in Medieval Verona.

Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare | Macbeth

Shakespeare’s darkest psychological thriller. Returning home from battle, the victorious Macbeth meets three witches on the heat...

Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare | Romeo and Juliet

What if your first true love was someone you’d been told to hate? Ripped apart by the bitter divisions of their parents...

The Tempest (2010)

Adaptation of Shakespeare's play: Prospera is banished from Milan by her brother and finds herself stranded on an island with her daughter, where she wait...

Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare | The Tempest

With a spirit of the supernatural, The Tempest is a story of forgiveness, generosity and enlightenments set on a remote and ...

Hamlet (2017)

Hamlet captures the Almeida Theatre's 2017 acclaimed production of William Shakespeare's great play, recorded as-live in its West End transfer on the stage of ...

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Yaël Farber directs James McArdle as Macbeth and Saoirse Ronan as Lady Macbeth in the Almeida's Olivier Award-nominated production about a couple's sp...

Hamlet (2009)

Drama with David Tennant in the title role of the RSC's production of Shakespeare's tragedy. Claudius has killed Prince Hamlet's father and usurped the throne,...

The Merchant of Venice (2004)

An adaptation of Shakespeare's play about a Jewish moneylender who seeks to forfeit a literal pound of flesh from his Christian nemesis. Starri...

ShakespeaRe-told | Macbeth

Retelling of Shakespeare plays: when three binmen tell Joe Macbeth he's to become the owner of the restaurant where they work, the head chef, spur...

Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare | Othello

Othello is the greatest general of his age but he is also an outsider whose victories have created enemies of his own. As they p...

The BBC Television Shakespeare | Macbeth

A 1983 BBC television presentation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. This was broadcast as part of the 37-play BBC Television Shakespeare pr...

Gnomeo and Juliet (2011)

Animated film about two garden gnomes (voiced by James McAvoy and Emily Blunt) from rivalling families, who fall in love but must keep their romance...

Much Ado About Nothing (2022)

A new Royal Shakespeare Company production for 2022 of one of Shakespeare's best-loved romantic comedies, filmed in Stratford-upon-Avon. In a c...

The Hollow Crown | The Wars of the Roses: Richard III

In his quest for the throne, Richard will stop at nothing - not even murder.

Julius Caesar (2012)

Gregory Doran directs a filmed version of the Royal Shakespeare Company's current production of William Shakespeare's tragedy, which relocates the story...

Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare | Hamlet

Sent by the ghost of his father to avenge his brutal death, Hamlet’s mission to expose the truth is a perilous journey of madness...

A Christmas Carol (2009)

Animation based on Charles Dickens's classic novel. Cold-hearted, penny-pinching Ebeneezer Scrooge is taken on an eye-opening journey by three ghost...

Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Writer Ian Rankin investigates The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, tracing Robert Louis Stevenson's story back to event...

Oliver Twist (2007)

Timothy Spall and Tom Hardy star in a 2007 adaptation of Charles Dickens's much-loved tale of a young orphan boy.

A Christmas Carol (2019)

Misanthropic businessman Ebenezer Scrooge refuses to let his workers celebrate Christmas.

Performance | A Doll's House

Henrik Ibsen's classic play directed by David Thacker, starring Juliet Stephenson and Trevor Eve.

Great Expectations (2011)

Sarah Phelps' lavish three part adaptation of the classic Dickens tale of a life changed in a heartbeat. Starring Gillian Anderson, Douglas Booth, ...

Frankenstein (2012)

Heart-breaking modern myth of obsession, pride and the need for love. Two part dramatisation starring Jamie Parker as Frankenstein.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Adapted from the story by Robert Louis Stevenson, and starring Lisa Harrow and Ian Bannen.

Great Expectations (2012)

With the help of a generous stranger, the poor orphan Pip tries everything to win the heart of the rich, cold-blooded Estella.

Great Expectations (2023)

Steven Knight's chilling take on the Dickens classic, starring Olivia Colman as Miss Havisham.

Great Expectations (2011) | Episode 2

Pip starts his new life as a gentleman in London, quickly acquiring expensive tastes and mounting debts.

Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde | Introduction to Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Ian Rankin introduces Robert Louis Stevenson's novel 'The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll an...

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Condemned to death for a series of murders, Baron Frankenstein tries to convince his captors that the crimes were those of a strange half-hu...

Charles Dickens and the Invention of Christmas

Griff Rhys Jones reveals how Dickens created the idea of a traditional family Christmas through one of his best-known books, A...

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story

An opportunity to see Mark Gatiss's astonishing theatrical production of Dickens's classic winter ghost story, A Christmas Carol, directed f...

Great Expectations (2011) | Episode 3

Pip wants nothing to do with Magwitch and rushes to confront Miss Havisham. At Satis House he learns that Estella may be lost to him.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes | The Speckled Band

After her twin sister dies screaming in terror, a woman seeks the detective's help. Stars Clive Merrison and Michael Wi...

The Charles Dickens Show | 01: The Workhouse

Charles Dickens hosts a chat show. He is joined by fundraising virtuoso Doctor Thomas Barnardo to discuss the Victorian phenomen...

A Ghost Story for Christmas (1971-78) | 06: The Signalman

A railway signalman tells a curious traveller how he is being troubled by a spectre that seems to predict calamity.

Jane Eyre (2006)

Four-part dramatisation of Charlotte Bronte's classic novel, featuring Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre and Toby Stephens as Mr Rochester.

An Inspector Calls (2015)

Watch An Inspector Calls (2015). The mysterious 'Inspector Goole' interrupts a wealthy family's family party to tell them a young woman died of sui...

An Inspector Calls (1984)

This program is a compilation of the three-part play originally transmitted in 1981. With Bernard Hepton, Nigel Davenport and Margaret Tyzack.

Animal Farm (1955)

An animated version of George Orwell's classic allegorical novel about the totalitarian aftermath of a barnyard revolution.

In Context | An Inspector Calls

The social and cultural background to ''An Inspector Calls'', explored through archive footage, readings and personal accounts.

Saturday Drama | JB Priestley - An Inspector Calls

An affluent family's celebration is disrupted by a police inspector's visit over a factory worker's suicide. Stars Toby Jo...

The Great Gatsby (2013)

The sumptuous life of enigmatic American millionaire Jay Gatsby, viewed through the eyes of neighbour Nick Carraway. Directed by Baz Luhrmann and sta...

Journey's End (2017)

Raleigh, a naive and idealistic young officer, arrives at the Western Front and asks to be posted to the company of his old schoolfriend Captain Stanhope.

An Inspector Calls (2015) | Inspector Goole refuses to leave

The scene from 'An Inspector Calls' in which Inspector Goole refuses to leave.

JB Priestley - An Inspector Calls

As the Birlings celebrate daughter Sheila’s engagement, an unexpected visitor sparks family turmoil. Stars Bob Peck. Dramatised by John Foley.

GCSE Bitesize Revision | An Inspector Calls

GCSE English Literature video shorts to support students studying An Inspector Calls.

In Context | An Inspector Calls' - Social and political context of 1912

An investigation of the political and social context of 1919, the time in which J. B. Priestly set 'A...

English File | Priestley Shorts

This programme focuses on key scenes from JB Priestley's An Inspector Calls from the point of view of designer, performer and director.

English File | In Context Animal Farm

A historical background to George Orwell's 'Animal Farm' being studied for English Lit GCSE.

In Context | Women in 'An Inspector Calls'

An investigation of the social and political context behind the female character in J. B. Priestly's 'An Inspector Calls'.

The Diary of Anne Frank (2009)

Shortly after her 13th birthday, a young girl and her family living in wartime Amsterdam go into hiding from the Nazis, under strict rules of ...

In Context | The moral of 'An Inspector Calls'

A discussion of the morals that J. B. Priestly leaves for the audience of 'An Inspector Calls'.

Drama on 3 | A Streetcar Named Desire

Tennessee Williams's seminal drama about a catastrophic confrontation between fantasy and reality, starring Anne-Marie Duff, Pippa Benn...

In Context | An Inspector Calls' - historical context (pt 2/3)

A discussion of the historical context and influences behind J B Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'.

An Inspector Calls (2015) | The interrogation of Gerald

Inspector Goole interrogates Gerald about his interactions with Eva Smith.

In Context | An Inspector Calls' - Social and political context of 1945

An investigation of the post-war social and political context in which J. B. Priestly wrote 'An Inspe...

PSHE | Stone Cold

Drama illustrating the stark realities of homelessness.

The Woman in Black (2012)

A young solicitor travels to a remote village where he discovers that the vengeful ghost of a scorned woman is terrorizing the locals. Starring Dan...

The Hunger Games (2012)

As punishment for a failed rebellion, the 12 districts of Panem must offer up two tributes – a boy and a girl to fight to the death in the annual Hun...

Noughts + Crosses (2020) | Series 1

London, Albion; Sephy, the Cross daughter of powerful Home Secretary Kamal Hadley, and Callum, the Nought son of their housekeeper Meggi...

Drama on 3 | Leave Taking

Enid lives in Deptford with her two teenage daughters. When she takes them to the local ‘obeah' woman for some traditional Caribbean soul healing, ...

A Monster Calls

Adaptation of the Patrick Ness novel. As 12-year-old Conor struggles to deal with his mother's illness, he is woken from a recurring nightmare by the visitat...

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)

The tale of an unlikely friendship between Bruno (Asa Butterfield), the son of a Nazi commandant, and Shmuel (Jack Scanlon), a Jewish b...

The Imitation Game (2014)

During the Second World War, mathematician Alan Turing and his team of cryptographers set out to decipher the German Enigma code.

Drama on 3 | A View from the Bridge

Martin Jarvis directs Miller's award-winning 1955 drama, with a US cast including Alfred Molina, Jane Kaczmarek, Melissa Benoist and Hect...

English File | A View from the Bridge

Arthur Miller's play of love, jealousy and betrayal on the New York waterfront. The Corbone family are Italian immigrants living in Bro...

Coraline (2009)

Dark children's animation about a bored and lonely 11-year-old who discovers a fantastical parallel world that seems to be perfect but soon takes a twisted t...

Play for Today | Our Day Out

Drama from 1976, written by Willy Russell. One coach, 30 kids - and their teachers - set out from Liverpool to North Wales. As the volatile mixt...

Schindler's List (1993)

Wheeler-dealer Oskar Schindler exploits the German confinement of Jews to build a business, but the cruelty of Nazi officers, including the vicious A...

Carrie's War (2004)

Carrie and her young brother Nick are evacuated from wartime London and end up in a Welsh village, where they are taken in to a spartan home by kindly Lo...

English File | 02: A View from the Bridge

Arthur Miller's play of love, jealousy and betrayal on the New York waterfront. The Corbone family are Italian immigrants living in...

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Katniss Everdeen finds herself cast back into the arena when the Panem authorities announce a Quarter Quell, where former champions wi...

The Crucible (1981)

Play by Arthur Miller set in Massachusetts 1692. The village of Salem is about to be engulfed in the terror and hysteria of a witchunt.

My Name Is Leon

Leon, a mixed-race boy, and Jake, his white baby brother, are separated after their mother has a breakdown. Leon is determined to find him and gets unexpecte...

Lord of the Flies (2026)

Piggy finds something that proves useful to the group but is hurt when his new friend breaks a promise.

Lord of the Flies (1963)

Compelling film adaptation of William Golding's disturbing tale of a group of stranded schoolchildren who revert to primitive savagery following a p...

Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale

Jeremy Paxman tells the tragic story of World War One poet Wilfred Owen. At a time of jingoism and wartime propaganda, one Shropshire lad wa...

Poetry: Between the Lines - The Romantics

Presented by rapper Akala, this programme explores the poetry of the Romantic period through the work of Wordsworth, Byron, Blake, ...

War Poetry | Culture Fix

Examining poetry that has helped to shape our view of war, and traces its origins back through Tennyson's 'Charge of the Light Brigade' to Homer's c...

Learning Zone | Poetry: Between the Lines

Presented by hip-hop star Akala, Poetry: Between the Lines features contemporary poets including Jackie Kay, Gillian Clarke and Cia...

Simon Schama's John Donne

Simon Schama celebrates the life and work of love poet John Donne, looking at how Donne has transformed English poetry through his emotional honest...

The Poetry of War | English File

The story of WW1 through drama, poetry and archive, focusing on three poets: Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon. Aimed at 14-...

In My Own Words | Jackie Kay

One of Britian’s most loved poets, Jackie Kay, on how her powerful work draws from her life’s journey, considering race, gender and identity wit...

Poetry: Between the Lines - The Romantics | William Blake's 'London'

Akala presents a reading and discussion of 'London' from Blake's Songs of Experience.

The Power of Poetry | Robert Browning's 'The Laboratory'

A contemporary dramatisation of Browning's poem, with the poisoning set in a nightclub.

Texts in Time: The Way it Was | English File

Using contemporary and pre 20th century texts to examine how to evaluate truth. The Charge of the Light Brigade texts are commen...

English File | John Agard's poem Half-caste

John Agard discusses and reads his poem 'Half-caste'.

Simon Armitage: Writing Poems | ''The Manhunt''

Simon Armitage explores his response to war poetry, 'The Manhunt'.

Poetry: Between the Lines - The Romantics | Percy Bysshe Shelley - Ozymandias

Hip-Hop star, Akala meets the poet, Hannah Lowe, to explore Shelley’s poem ‘Ozymandias’ and how...

Out of Doors | My Favourite Place - a poem from Liz Lochhead

Scotland’s makar Liz Lochhead reads her poem abut her favourite place at Glen Uig, as part of our My Favourite P...

Bright Star (2009)

19th-century drama based on the slow-burning love affair between poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw), cursed by poverty and ill-health, and young seamstress Fan...

Intermediate English: Poetry | Education for Leisure' by Carol Ann Duffy

Carol Ann Duffy discusses the inspirations for her poem 'Education for Leisure'.

The Beauty of Books | Geoffrey Chaucer and the English language

An exploration of an early manuscript of 'The Canterbury Tales' and Chaucer's important decision to write in ...

Great Poets in Their Own Words | Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath in her own words.

Poets in Person | John Agard - Checking Out My History

Six short films, each celebrating a different contemporary poem, featuring performances and personal insights from the...

Omnibus | William Blake: Singing for England

An Omnibus documentary about visionary British artist and poet William Blake, who wrote Jerusalem and The Tyger, originally broa...

The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe

Andrew Marr presents a new production of John Webster's bloody revenge tragedy The Duchess of Malfi (1614) performed in a perfect...

Fairytales | Rapunzel

Tonight a comedy drama based on the Rapunzel story & set in the competitive world of tennis. Fading tennis star Jimmy is badgered by his father into en...

The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe | Light and dark in 'The Duchess of Malfi'

An exploration of the theatre that 'The Duchess of Malfi' was originally performe...

The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe | The wax figures

In a production of the 'The Duchess of Malfi', the Duchess is tricked into believing Antonio and eldest her son...

Stage 2 | The Duchess of Malfi

John Webster's tragedy of corruption, jealousy and intrigue with Aileen Atkins in the title role.

The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe | Antonio introduces the Cardinal, Duke and Duchess

In the opening scenes of 'The Duchess of Malfi', Antonio discusses the charac...

The Theban Plays by Sophocles | Antigone

Oedipus at Colonus starring with and Many years later Oedipus - now an old man, blind, outcast - wanders through Greece guided by hi...

Ovid: The Poet and the Emperor

Michael Wood goes in search of the Roman poet Ovid. Metamorphoses made him a superstar but then came scandal and exile. His story is told in h...

Armando Iannucci in Milton's Heaven and Hell

Armando Iannucci journeys through Milton's life and his great poem Paradise Lost, offering his own passionate and illuminating r...

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Simon Armitage goes on a journey to discover the language and landscape of our first great Arthurian romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight...

The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe | Performing the Duchess

An exploration of the character of the Duchess and the history of how she has been performed.

She Stoops to Conquer (1948)

She Stoops to Conquer tells the story of how a young man is tricked into thinking that the house of the woman he wants to marry is an inn.

Drama on 3 | She Stoops to Conquer (2023)

Robert Bathurst, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Mathew Baynton and Hugh Skinner star in an adaptation of Oliver Goldsmith's comedy of class ...

The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe | Death in 'The Duchess of Malfi'

A discussion of death in 'The Duchess of Malfi', with a close focus on Ferdinand's line ''...

The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe | The Duchess

A discussion of the character and appearance of the Duchess in 'The Duchess of Malfi'.

The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe | Webster's dark imagery

A discussion of John Webster's dark imagery in 'The Duchess of Malfi'.

The Mysterious Mr Webster: BBC Arts at the Globe | Introduction to The Duchess of Malfi

An introduction to John Webster and his play 'The Duchess of Malfi'.

The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe | Ferdinand hires Bosola to spy on the Duchess

In a production of 'The Duchess of Malfi', Ferdinand hires Bosola to spy on the Du...

The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe | The Duchess is murdered

In a production of the 'The Duchess of Malfi', the Duchess is murdered.

The Duchess of Malfi: BBC Arts at the Globe | Ferdinand sees the dead Duchess

In a production of the 'The Duchess of Malfi', Ferdinand immediately feels remorse after the de...