The Hollow Crown is a series of British television films featuring William Shakespeare's history plays. The first cycle is an adaptation of Shakespeare's second historical tetralogy, the Henriad: Richard II, Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II and Henry V. It starred Ben Whishaw, Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston. Olivier Award winners Rupert Goold, Richard Eyre and Thea Sharrock directed the telefilms. It was produced by Rupert Ryle-Hodges for BBC Two and was executive produced by Sam Mendes and Pippa Harris under Neal Street Productions in association with NBCUniversal. The first series aired in the United Kingdom in 2012. The first series of films received positive reviews from critics. Ben Whishaw and Simon Russell Beale won British Academy Television Awards for Leading actor and Supp