The Quest for Shakespeare (2009)

Literary biographer and author Joseph Pearce pursues the question of William Shakespeare' religious views and their affect on his works. With tenacity and precision he investigates into Shakespeare's family, his upbringing and his life using historical facts and literary evidence, cutting through popular unfounded misconceptions that often lead to incomplete interpretations of his works affecting adaptations on stage and screen. With unmistakable clarity he arrives at the conclusion that Shakespeare was Catholic throughout his life despite persecution of Catholicism and rampant anti-Catholic sentiments during his time in England. In the second season of the series he examines and analyses three of Shakespeare's plays - The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, and King Lear - that reveal his Catholicism. The show features dramatizations of scenes from Shakespeare's work by actors.