Hamlet

Hamlet

Hamlet

Ophelia

Gertrude

Claudius

Horatio

Marcellus

Rosencrantz

Cornelius

Polonius

Guildenstern

Barnardo

The Prologue

Player Queen

Lucianus

Voltemand

Player King

A Gentleman

The Ghost of Hamlet's Father

A Sailor

Fortinbras

Gravedigger

Francisco

Gravedigger

Doctor of Divinity

This was Patrick Troughton's first on screen acting role.

This, the first telecast ever of "Hamlet", was split into two parts. It was not a complete performance of the play, but TV productions running more than an hour over one evening were unheard of in those very early days of television, so this "Hamlet" was presented over two evenings rather than one. Because this production was telecast in England, and took place before television really became a major part of daily life, it is frequently overlooked in discussions of televised versions of "Hamlet", with the 1953 "Hallmark Hall of Fame" version receiving all the credit as being the first telecast version of Shakespeare's play.

Patrick Troughton (Horatio) and Patrick Macnee (Laertes) both later appeared in Laurence Olivier's version of Hamlet (1948). Troughton played the Player King while Macnee was an extra in the film.