The Hollow Crown (TV series)

The Hollow Crown is a British television series that adapts William Shakespeare's English history plays for the screen. It first aired on BBC Two from 30 June 2012, and its run ended on 21 May 2016. The first series dramatises the second historical tetralogy, the Henriad, which comprises Richard II, the two parts of Henry IV and Henry V, and it aired in 2012. The concluding second series, known as The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, turns to the first tetralogy, which comprises the three parts of Henry VI and Richard III, and it aired in 2016. Rather than a continuing story with invented characters, the programme is a connected sequence of screen versions of existing plays, which is why it is recorded here as a television-originated franchise. Both series received widespread praise for their production and performances.