Season 1

American scholar James Shapiro presents a three-part series about Shakespeare in the reign of King James, beginning with the anxious mood of 1603 when a new dynasty came to power. Puritans, plague, an extravagant gift to a Spanish diplomatic delegation, and a new British coin called the Unite all feature in Shapiro's rich and fascinating history of a troubled time which saw an extraordinary creative outpouring.

It's 1606, and in the aftermath of the Gunpowder Plot the authorities are cracking down on Catholics. Shakespeare's Macbeth captures the anxiety and obsessions of the time, with James continuing to focus on succession and legitimacy, while food riots in the Midlands create the climate for the gripping tragedy of Coriolanus.

The concluding part of Professor James Shapiro's history of Shakespeare in the reign of King James. Shakespeare's late plays, such as The Winter's Tale and The Tempest, are often seen as mellow swansongs. Professor Shapiro gives us a different Shakespeare - a playwright still experimenting and alert to the troubled Jacobean world around him. He closes the series by reflecting on the legacies of king and playwright.