TELEVISION

SATURDAY MARCH 20

SHAKESPEARE: THE MAN BEHIND THE NAME (Sky Arts, 8.00pm). It’s a big night in for anyone with a thing for Shakespearean history. As well as this doco, there’s Kenneth Branagh playing the Bard and directing himself, Judi Dench and Ian McKellen in the Ben Elton-written All Is True (Rialto, 8.30pm).

Some other notable Shakespearean thespians turn up in The Man, which also has the title , to advance the argument Shakespeare was actually a pseudonym for Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford. That is, a well-travelled toff living the aristocratic high life rather than a gifted commoner.