An aging king destroys his kingdom with one bad decision—Shakespeare's most brutal family drama.
When England's aging King Lear renounces his throne to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, treachery, madness and murder soon follow. After banishing Cordelia, his most loyal daughter, Lear is betrayed and cast out by her elder sisters Regan and Goneril. Meanwhile, evil brews at the Gloucester castle as Edgar falls victim to his brother's deception. As battle lines are drawn and backs are stabbed, Lear rages against a fearsome storm. Can a man undo his wrongs? Will Cordelia be saved? Or will the wheels of fate crush all in its way?
Acting
Patrick Magee's Lear unravels with terrifying specificity.
Production
Raw 1974 BBC aesthetic—intimate, claustrophobic, unrelenting.
Director
Tony Davenell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This BBC production was shot on videotape in a single studio, giving it a theatrical immediacy that film adaptations often lose.
Patrick Magee had played Lear on stage before but reportedly found this television version more emotionally draining due to the camera's unforgiving closeness during his descent into madness.
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