Stars of BBC soap Doctors have filmed scenes in Stratford-upon-Avon to mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death.
The scenes see doctor Heston Carter (Owen Brenman) take to the stage at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) to serenade his girlfriend Ruhma (Bharti Patel) with one of the great writer’s sonnets.
Ruhma and Heston (BBC/PA)
The show’s team is currently filming a week of sonnet-based episodes as a way of marking the milestone.
Each episode, which will be screened across one week in April, will be inspired by a sonnet, in terms of story and theme.
Talking about the reasons behind the idea, Peter Lloyd – series producer of Doctors, said: “As Shakespeare was a Midlands boy, we wanted to play a part in the BBC’s celebrations to mark 400 years since his death. On Doctors we have the ability to do something a little different.
Each episode will be inspired by a sonnet (BBC/PA)
“A lot of people know one of the sonnets, or lines from them, and they can be a bit more digestible than entire plays. All the episodes will go out around the anniversary and each episode will be inspired by and named after a sonnet.
“In the one we’re filming here at the RSC, Heston actually recites Sonnet 73 as a way of wooing Ruhma back at the end of the episode. It will be terribly romantic.”
