King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.
Michael Hordern
Sarah Badel
Penelope Wilton
Angela Down
Frank Middlemass
Anthony Nicholls
Michael Jayston
Ronald Pickup
Ewan Hooper
Benjamin Whitrow
John Shrapnel
Donald Gee
David Horovitch
David Neal
George Merritt
Mike Hayward
Roger Elliott
Geoffrey Collins
David Kincaid
Leslie Glazer
Paul Haley
David Sinclair
Alec Sabin
Terry Wright