Episode 1

By Sebastian Baczkiewicz

Set in an alternative Europe in the 1930s, Elsinore imagines the turbulent world of the Danish Court in events that take place some years before the story told in Shakespeare's Hamlet.

King Hamlet's brother, Claudius, is sent to Spain as Denmark's new ambassador. On the way, he is captured by the infamous pirate Captain True. Back in Elsinore, meanwhile, the King must deal with a possible rebellion.

Directed by Marc Beeby & Sasha Yevtushenko

ELSINORE is a prequel to Shakespeare's Hamlet, exploring the relationships at the Danish court, particularly the troubled, not to say murderous relationship between King Hamlet and his brother Claudius. The plays are set in an alternative Europe in the early 1930s. Denmark is a powerful, militarised country with a small Empire around the Baltic which it is fighting hard to maintain. There is more than a hint of totalitarianism in the air. The realism of this is sometimes combined with moments of magical otherworldliness, not out of keeping with Shakespeare's original play.