The Best Bottoms in the Land

2016 is a momentous year for the Royal Shakespeare Company – it’s the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. As part of the celebrations, the Company is taking on its biggest challenge ever and the BBC is here to follow it all the way. Performing A Midsummer Night's Dream – one of Shakespeare’s best loved comedies – a professional cast will tour the country, but there’s something unique about this production. Alongside the cast of professionals, six actors from a local amateur company will play the Mechanicals, a group of parts which includes the famous role of Bottom. With unprecedented access, BBC English Regions is capturing all of the action in nine 30-minute regional documentaries, to show just how hard it can be to find The Best Bottoms in the Land. The Best Bottoms In The Land follows the pressures and pitfalls of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s project, from auditions to the opening night of each region’s local performance. Erica Whyman is the deputy artistic director at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and the pressure is on her to deliver a hit. She says: “My reputation is definitely on the line, because it’s got to be the finest production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I could possibly deliver. The most daunting aspect for me was the uncertainty of bringing together the professional company with the amateur actors and the schoolchildren; it was a project like no other that the RSC had ever taken on. Having the BBC’s cameras there to follow us from auditions to opening night has added another element of surprise – but it’s fantastic to have these documentaries to follow this once-in-a-lifetime experience.” Juggling real life with the pressures of appearing in a professional production has certainly been a challenge for the amateur actors. There have been sore throats, bruised egos, missed cues and even broken bones along the way – but, of course, the show must go on. BBC cameras have been on hand to capture

English
  • TheTVDB.com Series ID 313344
  • Status Ended
  • First Aired May 20, 2016
  • Recent May 20, 2016
  • Airs Friday, at 7:30pm
  • Network BBC One
  • Average Runtime 30 minutes
  • Genres Documentary Drama
  • Original Country Great Britain
  • Original Language English
  • Episode Screenshot Format 16:9 Screencap
  • Favorited This series has been favorited by 1 people.
  • Created June 18, 2016 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified June 18, 2016 by
    Administrator admin
Season From To Episodes
All Seasons
Specials 0
Season 1 May 2016 9
Unassigned Episodes 0
Season From To Episodes
Unassigned Episodes 9
Absolute ordering places all episodes in a single ordered season. This is generally used for anime.
Season From To Episodes
Season 1 0
Unassigned Episodes 9

No actors for this record.

Name Number of Episodes Dates
William Shakespeare 9 05/20/2016
Name Number of Episodes Dates
Ed Barlow 1 05/20/2016
Stuart Woodman 1 05/20/2016
Andy Richards 1 05/20/2016
Ed Hanson 1 05/20/2016

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