There was a time when the words “BBC Shakespeare” conjured up visions of filmed plays with shaky cardboard sets and just a hint of worthiness rather than full-blown films with cinematic values including castles made of actual stone and battle scenes spattered with mud and blood.

That this off-putting approach to the Bard is very much a thing of the past is quickly made clear by this handsomely filmed and magnificently performed BBC adaptation of the four linked historical plays, sometimes known as ‘The Henriad’.

The four telemovies were produced as part of the London Cultural Olympiad with four different directors under executive producer Sam Mendes, and while we’ve had to wait three years for the DVD boxed set in Australia, the wait has been worth it. If one of the most important marks of a successful Shakespeare production is the ease with which it guides a modern audience through the more arcane challenges of Elizabethan prose and verse, this one passes the test with flying colours, the actors and directors bringing admirable clarity to their characters’ words and actions.

Henry V is, of course, the best known of the four plays to cinema audiences via the contrasting Laurence Olivier and Kenneth...