Vivat Rex: Volume One (Dramatisation)

Landmark Drama from the BBC Radio Archive

By: William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Martin Jenkins

Narrated by: Richard Burton, Full Cast

Length: 12 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Richard Burton narrates this famous dramatic chronicle of the English Crown, a treasure of the BBC radio archive published on audible for the very first time.

Vivat Rex is the landmark drama series first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1977. Over the course of 26 instalments, each one narrated by Richard Burton with a full cast, the fortunes of the English Crown are followed through 225 years of British history, from Edward II’s accession in 1307 to the birth of Elizabeth I.

This first volume includes the first 13 instalments, beginning with John Hurt’s portrayal of Edward II. The stellar cast includes John Hurt, Paul Eddington, Keith Michell, Derek Jacobi, Michael Redgrave, Maureen O’Brien, Patrick Troughton, Timothy West, Robert Hardy, Martin Jarvis, Anthony Quayle, Robert Harris, Robert Powell, June Whitfield, Roy Dotrice, Billie Whitelaw and Colin Baker.

Each drama is adapted by Martin Jenkins from the works of Shakespeare, Marlowe and their Elizabethan contemporaries, and each includes a stirring musical score by Christopher Whelen. Also included in this collection are bonus interviews with Vivat Rex writer, producer and director, Martin Jenkins, studio manager Enyd Williams and actor Martin Jarvis, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra.

©2015 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2015 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

So glad I found this.

I read Tolstoy’s War and Peace a few years ago because I was going to see a play of it, which ended up being incredibly disappointing, but it set me on a binge read of books about Napoleon. At the time, I couldn’t help but think, “What if someone made a musical about Napoleon, and combined it into a long cycle or series of musicals about his time and after, including the lesser-know musical of Le Rouge et Le Noir, and the aforementioned War and Peace, and culminating with the famous Les Miserables? It would be like Shakespeare’s Wars of the Roses, but with multiple authors and a larger scope. That would be awesome!” Of course, all those musicals are still under copyright, so it would require a lot of permissions, but first the idea— would it be too complicated?

I’m glad to see that these producers had a similar idea back in the 1970’s, and with Shakespeare and his contemporaries. From the interviews contained in this recording, the had the opposite “problem” (if you’d call it that, for it’s really more of an adventure). They went into archival libraries and read plays that hadn’t been touched in centuries. That’s pretty amazing.

This is just a really great series, and I’d highly recommend it.

What a treat...

The quality of this collection of (mostly) sixteenth century dramas adapted for radio is superb. With truly great voice talent and effects, the production is riveting, once you get settled into the rhythms of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and company. Between the episodes there are short interviews with members of the original cast or production crew that illuminate the creative process behind the production. I found the interviews most enjoyable, and am looking forward to the 2nd half.