I know - that looks like Richard the Eleventh. But how do you write a Roman 2 on a laptop? ANyway, who saw it? Wasn't it fan- blody- tastic? I can't stop thinking about it! Can't wait for Henry Four Part One next week.

Just popping in to answer your first question - capital i - II.

I missed the programme but will look out for Henry IV Part One. I studied that at school.

Yes, I thought it was brilliant.

Stunning. Prince Hal next. I've not been this ridiculously excited about a telly programme - ever? (Glad I'm not alone in this. Quoting all day.)

Just been watching it on iPlayer - isn't it terrific!

Oooh, that was good!!!!!!!

I don't think I've ever seen it where the real affection between Richard and Bolingbroke came out so well - the genuine love which is broken by what happens. You forget that they must have been playmates. Which makes Henry's guilt the more, of course: human, family guilt as well as political and moral.

And Rory Kinnear really made me believe that Henry didn't see Richard's complete collapse coming... and so didn't quite know what to do. He IS a good actor - his Hamlet was excellent.

But I'm interested by the ways in which the director was happy NOT to play to the default of TV drama, with naturalism, and when it was happy to work with something more expressive and symblolic.

There's no way, for example, in real life that Bolingbroke would have gone into exile alone in a rowing boat (let alone Richard come back from Ireland by wading straight across the Irish Sea.) But of course it's much more effective (as well as cheaper) than having the servant or two (or several, in Richard's case) that would be historically correct. And in the theatre we wouldn't think anything of it, to have just the main character coming on.

Did you see the programme aftewards with Derek Jacobi? The director confessed he had in mind Michael jackson as inspiration for Richard - hence the monkey! That was a brilliant bit of acting by the monkey!

The monkey was used so brilliantly...

I didn't want to watch the JAcobi thing straight afterwards, but I did mean to go back and do so before it vanished off the iPlayer, so thanks for reminding me about it, Jem.

He's one of those who thinks that the Earl of OXford wrote the plays. A poor grammar school lad just couldn't have pulled it off, see.

Yes, must admit that put me off - such tosh.

he had in mind Michael jackson as inspiration for Richard

Yes. Perfect. Wonderful how you (I, anyway) felt sympathy for him and also repulsed by him - such a fascinatingly subtle performance, I thought. A nasty Christ who you couldn't help feeling sorry for...

A nasty Christ who you couldn't help feeling sorry for...

It was thick with medieval religious images, wasn't it - St Sebastian, the last shot of his body in the coffin...

Halo round his head when he was on the battlements

Yes - that too - and the golden armour. Though I did have a drearily literal twinge of wondering how the halo and the cut-out gold-painted angels got there: were they digging around in the attic, looking for last year's Christmas pageant props?

true!