Henry IV, Part 2

Lore & Background

The play picks up where Henry IV, Part 1 left off, but Hal and Falstaff meet only twice and very briefly. Falstaff continues drinking and petty crime in London, accompanied by new characters including Ancient Pistol, Doll Tearsheet, and Justice Shallow. He feigns deafness to avoid the Lord Chief Justice, asks for a loan of one thousand pounds, and later accepts bribes from potential recruits not to be conscripted. In the other storyline, King Henry IV is disappointed in Hal, but after the king's death Hal convinces him of his loyalty and receives advice to wage war abroad. In the final scene, Hal rejects Falstaff, saying he has changed and can no longer associate with such people.

Reader's Guide

Henry IV, Part 2 is generally seen as a less successful play than Part 1, with a structure in which Falstaff and Hal barely meet, sometimes criticized as undramatic. Some critics believe Shakespeare never intended a sequel and was hampered by a lack of historical material, making comic scenes seem like filler. However, the scenes with Falstaff and Justice Shallow are admired for their touching elegiac comedy, and Falstaff's rejection can be extremely powerful onstage. The critic Harold Bloom has suggested the two parts of Henry IV along with the Hostess' elegy for Sir John in Henry V may be Shakespeare's greatest achievement. It was less popular than Part 1, and this was the only quarto edition. The epilogue promises a forthcoming play with Sir John in it, though Falstaff dies offstage in Henry V.

Did You Know?

• The play is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.
• Falstaff was originally named Oldcastle, but Shakespeare changed the name after complaints from Oldcastle's descendants.
• The epilogue assures the audience that Falstaff is not based on the anti-Catholic rebel Sir John Oldcastle.

Production & Filming

The two-part adaptation was filmed simultaneously over a three-month span from January through March 2012. The production team made use of several distinct locations across England and Wales. Ealing Studios in London served as the base where the Boar's Head Tavern set was constructed. Court scenes depicting Henry IV's presence at the Palace of Westminster were captured at Gloucester Cathedral. In Wales, Caerphilly Castle doubled for two separate narrative purposes: it stood in for Warkworth Castle and also hosted the scenes involving the meeting with Glendower. The climactic Battle of Shrewsbury was shot in a field near Rickmansworth, and the crew encountered an unexpected winter snowfall during filming. Although the historical engagement took place in July, director Richard Eyre welcomed the conditions, explaining that English grass tends to soften the visual impact of battle, while the snow converted the landscape into a stark, monochromatic world.

Cast & Creative Team

The creative leadership behind both episodes was concentrated in a small group: Sam Mendes served as producer, while Richard Eyre handled both the direction and the adaptation of Shakespeare's text. The principal cast featured Jeremy Irons in the role of King Henry IV, Simon Russell Beale as the beloved companion Falstaff, and Tom Hiddleston as the young Prince Hal. A significant portion of the cast and crew worked across both parts, reinforcing the sense of a continuous narrative that flows directly from one episode to the next. The most notable recognition came for Simon Russell Beale, whose performance as Falstaff was awarded the 2013 British Academy Television Award for Supporting Actor, cementing his portrayal as a standout achievement in the series.

Shakespearean Context & Adaptation

Within the broader architecture of Shakespeare's Henriad, the two Henry IV plays occupy the second and third positions in a tetralogy that traces the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. The Hollow Crown's first series adapted this second set of plays as its second and third episodes, placing them after the Richard II installment and before the Henry V conclusion. The adaptation treats the two parts as a unified narrative arc, with the plot flowing directly from Part 1 into Part 2 without a significant break. This structural choice mirrors the original plays' interdependence, where the political intrigue and personal relationships established in the first part carry forward and evolve in the second, creating a seamless dramatic progression across both episodes.

Broadcast & Release

The two episodes found their audience on BBC Two in the summer of 2012. Part 1 was scheduled for Saturday, 7 July 2012, but the broadcast was delayed by a full hour to accommodate live coverage of the 2012 Wimbledon Championships. To make up for the late start, the episode was repeated the following Sunday, 8 July, on BBC4. Part 2 aired exactly one week later on Saturday, 14 July 2012, maintaining the weekly Saturday schedule. The placement during the Wimbledon period meant that the first episode's premiere was somewhat overshadowed by the sporting event, though the repeat on BBC4 gave viewers a second opportunity to watch at a more conventional time.

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