A televised Much Ado About Nothing starring Maggie Smith that was thought to be lost forever has been released online by the BBC.
Franco Zeffirelli’s 1967 production, directed for TV by Alan Cooke, is thought to have been the first time Shakespeare’s comedy was ever broadcast in full.
It was recorded at a time when the BBC did not archive every broadcast and was therefore thought lost, alongside 64 other plays.
But after being found in a Washington DC library in 2010, the recording has now been digitally restored, and made available to schools and other education institutions by the BBC.
The TV play was filmed after the production’s original run at the Old Vic theatre, starring Smith as Beatrice and Robert Stephens – who would marry her four months later – as Benedick.
It also starred Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon and Christopher Timothy in smaller roles.

BBC Shakespeare Archive Resource:

You can find this production and other Shakespeare content from the 1950s to 1989 in the BBC Shakespeare Archive Resource which is only available to those in formal UK education and is free at the point of use. If you are unable to automatically view and play the media, you will need to authenticate yourself as being part of a formal educational institution in the UK. Schools in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can log in using their Hwb+, Glow or C2K credentials and schools in Scotland and England can also access the site using RM Education’s Launchpad. If you are unable to login, please email us at shakespeareaccess@bbc.co.uk to request access credentials. Teachers can access the whole collection from the 1950s to the present day if their school, college or University subscribes to off-air providers like BoB, Planet eStream’s Connect or Clickview.

'you will need to authenticate yourself as being part of a formal educational institution in the UK' - czyli nadal raczej trudno; ale dzięki za info; kto wie...

BBC rzeczywiście starannie dba o to, żeby oddzielić swoich od foreigners. No cóż, przynajmniej stawiają sprawę jasno.