Dvd/150: THE HOLLOW CROWN: THE WAR OF THE ROSES - HENRY VI PT 1 (Dominic Cooke, 2016)

What again??  Yes, after the BBC's THE AGE OF KINGS (1960) and the RSC's THE WAR OF THE ROSES (1965), I plunge again into the 30 year civil war with the BBC's second cycle of THE HOLLOW CROWN, four years after their version of The Henriad.

Luckily Dominic Cooke has a cast of well-known actors; all the better to keep track of the countless Dukes - Somerset, Winchester, Exeter, Suffolk, etc. - fighting to control weak Henry VI and secure their way to the crown.

Cooke and Ben Power have condensed one and a half plays into this version but keep the plot moving, from Henry V's burial to the murder of the Duke of Gloucester, which triggers the Yorkist rebellion.

Notable are Hugh Bonneville as the doomed Gloucester, Ben Miles as sly Somerset, Sophie Okonedo as devious Margaret of Anjou and Tom Sturridge's blankness works remarkably well as Henry VI

Shelf or charity shop?  a definite shelfer - oh and by the way... the death toll is currently five - the Duke of Gloucester, Sir Edmund Mortimer, Lord Talbot, John Talbot and Joan of Arc - watch this pile grow!