In the late 1970s the BBC set itself the task of placing on film what it thought would be the definitive television Shakespeare of that time.

Performance views of Shakespeare change with every generation; this view, now a quarter of a century old, is a bit slow and creaking and, dare we say it, reverential at times.

But all is redeemed by the core casting of Derek Jacobi as the tortured Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Jacobi was truly one of the outstanding actors of his time, and this ranks with his Claudius in I Claudius as amongst his greatest filmed performances.

Direction is by the very capable television director Rodney Bennett, whose other work spans an extraordinary range, from The Darling Buds of May to the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery Murder Must Advertise; from The House of Idiot -- sorry, Elliott, to some episodes of Doctor Who.

Under his direction Hamlet gets off to a fairly stiff, even plodding start. But it builds up steam, and the tragic ending fairly sizzles along, with terrific tension and drama.

Hamlet suffers from being performed too often. And, even worse, studied too often. It suffers from too much familiarity -- the play seems riddled with cliches, even though Mr Shakespeare invented them all. This production manages to override that, since Derek Jacobi's main gift is to speak the words as if we'd never heard them before. It's a beautifully thought-out performance, where he searches for the meaning he must convey rather than just find a beautiful way to speak the words.

Watch for a fine performance too from Claire Bloom as Gertrude, and from Patrick (Captain Picard) Stewart as Hamlet's wicked uncle.

This is a fine DVD for students and general public alike. Laurence Olivier's movie version may have more dramatic flair, but Jacobi is, in his own special way, just as fine a melancholy Dane.

I don't think a better 'complete' (and there's lots of debate on just what 'complete' means here) version exists on film. Settle down, get over the slightly stilted opening, and surrender to the rhythms and cadences of some of the greatest lines ever penned for the English stage.

The full-screen transfer (the original television-screen ratio) is very fine, though rather soft in some scenes. Just remember that this is television, not film, and you'll be pleasantly impressed at how well this has stood the test of time, in both picture and sound.

The only 'extra' as such are the English subtitles; a helpful aid for anyone who has to study the text. Clarity though is to the fore in this production -- a general viewer will not need the subtitles at all. And the 'difficulties' of Elizabethan English disappear as soon as your ears, as well as your eyes, become attuned to the drama as it unfolds.

There are plenty of chapter selection points, but the scene menu is totally unhelpful, with nothing to indicate just what part of the drama you're summoning up. To be or not to be? It's pure guesswork.