The Hollow Crown

Total Seasons :2Total Episodes : 7

Starting in the year 1399, this continuous story of monarchy follows events during sixteen years of dynastic and political power play. Kings, with their families and followers, are threatened by rebellion and conflict.

Episodes(4)

1. Richard II

King Richard is called upon to settle a dispute between his cousin Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray. Richard calls for a duel but then halts it just before swords clash. Both men are banished from the realm. Richard visits John of Gaunt, Bolingbroke's father, who, in the throes of death, reprimands the king. After seizing Gaunt's money and land, Richard leaves for wars against the rebels in Ireland. Bolingbroke returns to claim back his inheritance. Supported by his allies, Northumberland and the Duke of York, Bolingbroke takes Richard prisoner and lays claim to the throne.

Air Date : 2012-06-30

2. Henry IV (1)

The heir to the throne, Prince Hal, defies his father, King Henry, by spending his time at Mistress Quickly's tavern in the company of the dissolute Falstaff and his companions. The King is threatened by a rebellion led by Hal's rival, Hotspur, his father Northumberland and his uncle Worcester. In the face of this danger to the state, Prince Hal joins his father to defeat the rebels at the Battle of Shrewsbury and kill Hotspur in single combat.

Air Date : 2012-07-07

3. Henry IV (2)

In the aftermath of the Battle of Shrewsbury, Northumberland learns of the death of his son. The Lord Chief Justice attempts on behalf of the increasingly frail King to separate Falstaff from Prince Hal. The rebels continue to plot insurrection. Falstaff is sent to recruit soldiers and takes his leave of his mistress, Doll Tearsheet. The rebel forces are overcome. This brings comfort to the dying king, who is finally reconciled to his son. Falstaff rushes to Hal's coronation with expectations of high office.

Air Date : 2012-07-14

4. Henry V

Henry V has settled onto the throne and has the makings of a fine king when the French ambassador brings a challenge from the Dauphin. Inspired by his courtiers Exeter and York, Henry swears that he will, with all force, answer this challenge. The chorus tells of England's preparations for war and Henry's army sails for France. After Exeter's diplomacy is rebuffed by the French king, Henry lays a heavy siege and captures Harfleur. The French now take Henry's claims seriously and challenge the English army to battle at Agincourt.

Air Date : 2012-07-21

Cast

Simon Russell Beale

(Falstaff)

Julie Walters

(Mistress Quickly)

Tom Georgeson

(Bardolph)

James Laurenson

(Westmoreland)

Patrick Stewart

(John of Gaunt)

Jeremy Irons

(Henry IV)

Tom Hiddleston

(Prince Hal)

David Dawson

(Poins)

Michelle Dockery

(Kate Percy)

Maxine Peake

(Doll Tearsheet)

Henry Faber

(Lancaster)

Will Attenborough

(Gloucester)

Dominic Rowan

(Coleville)

Alun Armstrong

(Northumberland)

Paul Ritter

(Pistol)

Ian Conningham

(Peto)

Geraldine Chaplin

(Alice)

Ben Whishaw

(King Richard)

Rory Kinnear

(Bollingbroke)

David Suchet

(Duke of York)

David Morrissey

(Earl of Northumberland)

Tom Hughes

(Duke of Aumerle)

James Purefoy

(Thomas of Mowbray)

Lindsay Duncan

(Duchess of York)

Joe Armstrong

(Hotspur)

John Hurt

(The Chorus)

Paterson Joseph

(Duke of York)

Anton Lesser

(Exeter)

Lambert Wilson

(Charles, King of France)

Edward Akrout

(Louis, the Dauphin)

Owen Teale

(Captain Fluellen)

Mélanie Thierry

(Princess Katherine)

Tom Brooke

(Corporal Nym)

Jérémie Covillault

(Montjoy)

Maxime Lefrançois

(The Constable of France)

John Dagleish

(John Bates)

Gwilym Lee

(Williams)

Richard Clothier

(Earl of Salisbury)

Nigel Cooke

(Bishop of Ely)

George Sargeant

(Falstaff's Boy)

Clémence Poésy

(Queen Isabella)

Ferdinand Kingsley

(Sir John Bushy)

Samuel Roukin

(Bagot)

Harry Hadden-Paton

(Sir Henry Green)

Tom Goodman-Hill

(Sir Stephen Scroop)

Adrian Schiller

(Lord Willoughby)

Peter de Jersey

(Lord Ross)

Finbar Lynch

(Lord Marshall)

Lucian Msamati

(Bishop of Carlisle)

Richard Bremmer

(Abbot of Westminster)

David Hayman

(Worcester)

Harry Lloyd

(Mortimer)

Robert Pugh

(Glendower)

Alex Clatworthy

(Lady Mortimer)

Stephen McCole

(Douglas)

Mark Tandy

(Vernon)

Jolyon Coy

(Blunt)

David Bamber

(Shallow)

Niamh Cusack

(Lady Northumberland)

Iain Glen

(Warwick)

Nicholas Jones

(Archbishop of York)

Geoffrey Palmer

(Lord Chief Justice)

Adam Kotz

(Hastings)

Pip Torrens

(Mowbray)

Tim McMullan

(Silence)

Pip Carter

(Gower)

Billy Matthews

(Falstaff's Page)

Paul Freeman

(Thomas Erpingham)

Richard Griffiths

(Duke of Burgundy)

Malcolm Sinclair

(Archbishop of Canterbury)

Stanley Weber

(Duke of Orleans)

David Bradley

(Gardener)

Daniel Boyd

(Groom)

Isabella Laughland

(The Queen's Serving Lady)

Rhodri Miles

(Welch Captain)

Posters (8)

Images (28)

Videos (1)

Reviews (7)

Henry IV, Part 1: I think sometimes when us Brits moan about the BBC licence fee we are apt to forget that following in the tradition of the excellent "I Claudius" and "Elizabeth R" it can produce some of the finest drama to be seen on the small or the big screen. This is the first part of the comi...

Henry IV, Part 2: Though this hasn't quite the characterful potency of the first part of the Henry IV story, it's still a compelling couple of hours that depicts the decline of one king and the ascension of another. Henry IV (Jeremy Irons) and his court have slightly revised their opinions of the y...

Henry V: With Henry V now firmly on the throne, this drama moves on to challenge not only the robustness of his character but also Tom Hiddleston's characterisation - and I didn't really love the latter. His success in the Henry IV stories was as much to do with his evolving personable playboy pers...

Richard II: With Bollingbrooke (Rory Kinnear) and Mowbray (James Purefoy) at each other's throats over treason allegations, it falls to their king (Ben Whishaw) to try to settle matters. Thing is, Richard II isn't the most imposing of characters and when his attempts at arbitration fall pretty flat...

Henry VI, Part 1: Now that Henry V has died young, the crown passes to his infant son who grows under the regency of his uncle, the lord protector Gloucester (Hugh Bonneville), into Tom Sturridge. Despite claims to his throne from others with quite possibly more legitimacy, there is a period of sta...

Henry VI, Part 2: With virtually nothing left to call English in France now, the ailing and mentally strained Henry VI (Tom Sturridge) returns home with his French wife Margaret (Sophie Okonedo) to a court that is just as rife with intrigue as the one he has just left. The King has been enthroned f...

Richard III: Historians now dispute the extent to which Richard III (Benedict Cumberbatch) was actually the malevolent and power-hungry creature depicted here, but there can be no doubt as to William Shakespeare's interpretation - nor of Cumberbatch's either. With the sudden death of his brother Ed...

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