PICK OF THE DAY

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, 8 8.30PM, BBC1

MADE by the same team that helped him to resurrect Doctor Who for the 21st century, Russelll T. Davies’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s play is a similarly individual take on an oft-performed classic. Led by John Hannah, Maxine Peake, Matt Lucas and Elaine Paige, the starry cast bring events in Athens to life in a fantastical spin on the Bard’s work; it may not appeal to everyone, but it is original. The opening scenes find ruthless dictator Theseus (Hannah) demonstrating his tyrannical power to his court, while in the forest — the domain of fairy queen Titania (Peake, pictured) and husband Oberon (Nonso Anozie) — there’s mischief afoot . . .