King Lear is a 2008 television film based on the William Shakespeare play of the same name, directed by Trevor Nunn. It was broadcast on More4 in the UK on Christmas Day, and shown on PBS' Great Performances in the United States in March 2009. The production was filmed mainly at Pinewood Studios in England.

King Lear
Written byWilliam Shakespeare
Directed byTrevor Nunn
StarringIan McKellen
Romola Garai
Frances Barber
Jonathan Hyde
Sylvester McCoy
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerPaul Wheeler
CinematographyPaul Wheeler
Running time181 minutes
Original release
Release26 December 2008 (2008-12-26)

It features the same cast and director as the 2007 RSC production, and started filming only a few days after the final performance at the New London Theatre, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. The film was released on DVD in the UK[1] and then in the US on 21 April 2009. It was shown on Channel 4 on 26 December 2008, as well as being broadcast on PBS in 2009 and a number of other TV stations internationally, including NHK Japan.[2]

Cast and crew

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Cast

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Crew

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Production history

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King Lear started filming only a few days after the final stage performance on 12 January 2008. Filming at Pinewood Studios lasted for around a month.

Whilst McKellen appeared fully nude in the original production, PBS would not allow this on screen, so he appeared only partially nude in the televised production.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "King Lear". 6 October 2008 – via Amazon.
  2. ^ ""Great Performances" King Lear (TV Episode 2008)". IMDb.
  3. ^ King, Susan (25 March 2009). "Ian McKellen and the evolution of his 'Lear'" – via LA Times.
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