King Charles III
by Mike Bartlett
TV Version
BBC2
10th May 2017
SEE MY REVIEW OF STAGE VERSION: King Charles III by Mike Bartlett, Almeida & Wyndham’s Theatre, September 2014
Three years on from its Almeida / West End version, King Charles III gets the full BBC TV treatment. The stage cast of seventeen are now a cathedral full of costumed extras, with riots on the street and real military vehicles. The lèse-majesté of the stage version went largely unnoticed, while the TV version has the Mail on Sunday frothing in fury.
The BBC have PC’d it a tad. Mr Stevens, the leader of the opposition has become Mrs Stevens, an Asian woman. Stevens, always appeared to be a Conservative stirrer. Maybe they’re just recognising a switch to a female Conservative leader. She’s also lost a lot of lines. Adam James retains the role of a smooth Blair-like prime minister, which remains faithful to the stage play, though looks nothing like the Corbyn Labour Party of 2017. A major scene between the two party leaders from the theatre play was cut entirely on TV, skewing the whole from political manipulation further toward the royal soap opera. That is accentuated by adding the Cambridge children, not in the original. The play was done a few months ago, so no one can say the party politics was excluded because we are in the run up to an election either.
Jessica, Prince Harry’s right-on girlfriend has become Afro-Caribbean, played by Tamara Lawrence, replacing Tafline Steen. We have a new Kate, Charlotte Riley (ex-Peaky Blinders), replacing Lydia Wilson. Otherwise the principals remain the same.
Oliver Chris as William, Tim Piggot-Smith as Charles, Charlotte Riley as Kate Middleton
Tim, Piggott-Smith, as Charles, looks older and less lookalike than in 2014 (he sadly died shortly after filming this). Oliver Chris as William and Richard Goulding as Harry, and Margot Leicester as Camilla all reprise their stage roles. The close ups, especially on Tim Piggott-Smith, Oliver Chris and Richard Goulding bring out a deeper dimension to their performances. In the absence of Tim Piggott-Smith, Oliver Chris has been taking the press interviews, and I found his performance as William even more astonishing than I found it on the stage.
Add Richard Goulding as Harry, Margot Leicester as Camilla.
It got away with so much in the theatre because it was stagey, Shakesperean in its use of blank verse as well as in its tragedy. With real rooms, Jessica’s flat with its outside walkway, and real streets and riots, it becomes more uncomfortable to watch. TV drama is different to the stage. The play takes a serious view of Charles, and avoids all of the potential tabloid tattle and twaddle … the valet squeezing out the toothpaste, the notorious phone call with Camilla and the tampons, the talking to plants, the spidery handwritten diatribes to ministers, the retreats to monasteries by luxury yacht. That’s in spite of press intrusion being a major theme. The Charles portrayed is deeply sincere, honest, committed … but stubborn. Possibly not the sharpest knife in the drawer. In the 1960s students were much annoyed by Charles’ entry to Cambridge with two bare A level passes … in spite of going to an expensive public school. Then as now, very good passes indeed were required. That was a life-changing elite place someone did not get (he grumbled. Still, I loved Hull).
Jessica (Tamara Lawrence) and Harry (Richard Goulding)
I asked in the theatre review what Charles and William would have made of it, but there was little chance of them seeing it. BBC2 is different. The play is politically and constitutionally fascinating, and I think the papers are misleading on its alleged “slurs” – they’re just showing what’s been bandied around the lowest common denominator gossip press, especially abroad. The newspaper reaction is ironic, in that Charles “sin” is to assert Royal prerogative and refuse to assent to a bill to drastically curb press freedom. He is indeed defending the core of democracy, press freedom. The play is so good because it shows how he believes he has to defend the press despite what they did to Diana, what they said about him and Camilla, and bringing it up to date, publishing explicit photos of Jessica. I thought the scene where Charles was sympathetic and supportive to Jessica was a key, and even more touching on stage than it was here.
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Harry, Charles and Jessica: He comes across as Mr Nice Guy here.
It is also less clear in the TV version that the press love William and Kate because they are prepared to perform as marionettes. That came out more strongly on stage. I thought the TV “Kate” had veered further in the Lady Macbeth direction in manipulative behaviour too. The tragic point is that Charles is right in so many ways. I’d hope he is intelligent enough (if he has to see it) to be aware of that.
The stage play was applauded almost universally. I thought it excellent and thought provoking on the constitutional issues, and pleased it avoided trivia. My companion disliked it on stage and on TV. Her point is that the stupid of the world take TV messages as gospel truth, and it’s yet another of those mystical “William will be the next king” stories beloved of the press.
STAGE VERSION
King Charles III by Mike Bartlett, Almeida & West End
OLIVER CHRIS
Twelfth Night, National Theatre 2017
Fracked! Or Please Don’t Use The F-Word, Chichester 2016
King Charles III, 2014
One Man Two Guv’nors 2013