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 ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

ShakespeaRe-told | Much Ado About Nothing

Retelling of Shakespeare plays: a romantic comedy set in a south coast regional TV newsroom, charting the relationship between ex-l...

ShakespeaRe-told | A Midsummer Night's Dream

An updated retelling of Shakespeare's romantic comedy. A Midsummer Night's Dream is transferred to a holiday centre. Cue four wa...

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 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...

Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare | A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare's riotous tale of love and magic, filmed live at the Globe Theatre in 2016. Emma Rice's exuberan...

Culture in Quarantine: Shakespeare | Much Ado About Nothing

Autumn 1918: a group of soldiers return from the trenches, and the world-weary Benedick and his friend Claudio fi...

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...

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

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

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...

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...

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.

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...

A Christmas Carol (2019)

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

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...

The Hound of the Baskervilles (2002)

Richard Roxburgh and Ian Hart head an all-star cast as Holmes and Watson in Allan Cubitt's dramatisation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's cla...

Oliver Twist (2007) | Omnibus 2

Sikes escapes back to London with a badly wounded Oliver where the child is nursed by Nancy.

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...

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.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

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

Great Expectations (2011) | Episode 2

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

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, ...

Jane Eyre (2011)

Adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's classic tale set in the 1840s. Jane Eyre falls in love with Mr Rochester, unaware of the terrible secret that he is harbour...

A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong

Blacklisted by the BBC, the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society do not take their ban lying down and force themselves back on the BBC by hijacking...

Jane Eyre (2006)

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

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...

Sherlock | Series 1

A war hero, invalided home from Afghanistan, meets a strange but charismatic genius who is looking for a flatmate - it is London in 2010, and Dr Watson a...

Detective | The Speckled Band

Rupert Davies as Maigret introduces Sherlock Holmes, played by Douglas Wilmer, in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Speckled Band, adapted by Giles ...

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes | The Blue Carbuncle

Dramatised for television by Stanley Miller, with Peter Cushing and Nigel Stock as the famous investigative team.

Oliver Twist (2009)

A mysterious woman is found lying in the street outside a workhouse in Victorian London. She dies just a few moments after giving birth to a son, Oliver ...

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.

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.

In Context | An Inspector Calls

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

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...

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

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

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.

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.

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...

GCSE Bitesize Revision | An Inspector Calls

GCSE English Literature video shorts to support students studying 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 | 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'.

Animal Farm (2021)

The landmark allegory about hypocrisy and corruption of power. Unabridged and read by Roger Ringrose.

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'.

An Inspector Calls (2015) | Inspector Gooles speech

In a film adaption of 'An Inspector Calls', Inspector Goole's speech.

An Inspector Calls (2015) | Inspector Gooles arrival at the Birling home

In a film adaption of 'An Inspector Calls', Inspector Goole arrives as the Birling household.

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'.

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...

The Great Gatsby (2013) | Gatsby's party

From Baz Luhrmann's 2013 adaptation of 'The Great Gatsby', Nick Carraway goes to Gatsby's party for the first time.

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...

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...

PSHE | Stone Cold

Drama illustrating the stark realities of homelessness.

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...

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...

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...

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 Sally Lockhart Mysteries | The Ruby in the Smoke

Drama adapted from Philip Pullman's novel. Sally Lockhart strikes a man dead with simple words sent to her from her fath...

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 Imitation Game (2014)

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

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...

Lord of the Flies (2026)

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

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...

Noughts + Crosses (2020) | S01E02

Callum and Sephy take desperate measures to find somewhere they can be alone together, but Lekan suspects Sephy is hiding something from h...

Noughts + Crosses (2020) | S01E03

As Albion celebrates midsummer, Lekan stops at nothing to get revenge on Callum. Jude takes desperate measures to prove himself to Dorn.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)

Rescued from the destroyed arena in the 75th Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen is taken to District 13, whose underground community...

Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical

Musical based on Roald Dahl's classic book. Matilda Wormwood is a little girl with a sharp mind, a vivid imagination and the worst parents i...

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...

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.

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, ...

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, ...

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-...

Gods and Monsters: Homer's Odyssey

Simon Armitage undertakes his own Greek adventure, following in the footsteps of one of his personal heroes, Odysseus, at the same time wo...

The Romantics

Peter Ackroyd reveals how the radical ideas of liberty that inspired the French Revolution opened up a world of possibility for British writers such as Blake a...

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...

Odysseus The Greatest Hero Of Them All

Episode 1: The Golden Slagheap - Odysseus takes a tip from both his wily grandpa and Penelope's chamber-pot. He falls in love, and the...

The Canterbury Tales (2003) | The Knight's Tale

Two life-long friends, who are also prison cellmates, become bitter rivals when they both fall for the same woman.

Off by Heart

More than 1500 schools took part in a national poetry recitation competition, the first of its kind, and this documentary follows the 12 children who progress t...

Simon Armitage: Writing Poems | ''Out of the Blue''

Simon Armitage discusses his poem about 9/11, 'Out of the Blue'.

The Romantics and Us with Simon Schama | Passions of the People

In this episode, Simon explores how Romantic artists created the secular icons of the modern democratic age, ...

The Canterbury Tales (1998)

The animated version of Geoffrey Chaucer's poem 'Canterbury Tales'. The pilgrims hold a storytelling competition.

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

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

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...

Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale | Siegfried Sassoons influence on Anthem for Doomed Youth

Jeremy Paxman looks at original manuscripts and discovers how integral Siegfried S...

English File | Dulce et Decorum Est

Dramatisation of the meeting between Owen and Sassoon, and a reading of Owen's Dulce et Decorum Est.

Odysseus The Greatest Hero Of Them All | 02: The Burly Nun

Who is the sinister one-eyed man? Why is Achilles dressed in women's clothes? And where is Troy?

Gods and Monsters: Homer's Odyssey | 01: Contextualising the Odyssey

Explaining who Odysseus is and how the start of the Odyssey links to the fall of Troy.

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...

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

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

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 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...

Edward II (1970)

Ian McKellen and Timothy West star in Prospect Theatre Company's 1969 Edinburgh Festival production, recorded at the Piccadilly Theatre, London.

Omnibus | The Brothers Grimm

Dramatiseed film of lives of The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Willhelm, compilers of fairy tales, German grammer books and dictionaries.

Akala's Odyssey

Writer and hip-hop artist Akala investigates the mysterious origins of Homer's Odyssey, travelling the Mediterranean to understand the work before writing hi...

Zig Zag | The Odyssey

Robert Erskine retells one of the greatest stories in the world - the wanderings of the hero Odysseus. The Greeks have been besieging Troy for ten year...

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...

Paradise Lost

John Milton began writing Paradise Lost in the 1650s. Michael Symmons Roberts' version of this epic poem is a gripping piece of storytelling for today.

Zig Zag | 02: The Odyssey - The Cyclops

Odysseus and his men begin their journey home from Troy and meet the first of their opponents - the terrible one-eyed giant, the Cycl...

Citizens | 03: Antigone

The episode reflects the timeless conflict between personal morals and state power, much like the original play, but set against the backdrop of mode...

Stage 2 | The Duchess of Malfi

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

Edward II (1970) | Part 2

Ian McKellen and Timothy West star in Prospect Theatre Company's 1969 Edinburgh Festival production, recorded at the Piccadilly Theatre, London.

Zig Zag | 06: The Odyssey - The Homecoming

Robert Erskine tells how Odysseus escaped the twin perils of Scylla and Charybdis to be shipwrecked by Poseidon. Illustrated by Pa...

Zig Zag | 05: The Odyssey - The Fury of Poseidon

Robert Erskine tells how Odysseus escaped the twin perils of Scylla and Charybdis only to be shipwrecked by Poseidon. Only o...

Zig Zag | 04: The Odyssey - The Sirens

The children try their hand at being archaeologists and Robert Erskine tells how Odysseus meets the Sirens. Their beautiful singing ha...

Zig Zag | 03: The Odyssey - The Magic of Circe

Robert Erskine continues the story of Odysseus' wanderings. He tells how our hero outwits the beautiful Circe and saves his me...

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...

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 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.

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'.