本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇将在BBC电视电影中饰演理查德三世。影片由尼尔街公司制作，该公司去年成功推出广受好评剧集《空王冠》。这次电视电影系列可算作其续篇，除了理查德三世，还会制作亨利六世上下两部电视电影。

在1930年代，当时世界被战争而分裂，人类处在激情与痛苦当中。导演理查德·隆克瑞恩巧妙地将故事中的狡诈、阴谋、残暴，与当代法西斯象征主义结合在一起…

劳伦斯奥利维尔的第三部莎剧制作是由他自导自演的《理查三世》。亚历山大·柯达在影片开拍之初就说服了奥利维尔重新饰演这个为他在40年代的老维克剧院获得赞誉与喝彩的角色。这个角色被认为体现了奥利维尔最精湛的演技（只有1955年的舞台制作《麦克白》和电影《艺人》才能与之匹敌）。在西班牙拍摄期间，一名弓箭手的箭误中了奥利维尔的脚踝，导致他只能跛行。幸运的是，在电影的这一部分理查三世正好是一个跛子。

在1930年代，当时世界被战争而分裂，人类处在激情与痛苦当中。导演理查德·隆克瑞恩巧妙地将故事中的狡诈、阴谋、残暴，与当代法西斯象征主义结合在一起。伊安·麦克莱恩演出理查三世，他欲夺取兄长的王位，谋杀、骗婚、歼灭亲族无所不用其极，这样强烈的欲望，驱使他永无止尽的毁掉周遭的人。

故事描写十五世纪的英国国王理查三世患有精神病，而且外貌有点残疾，但却能继英皇爱德华四世之后登基，因而引了宫廷中的种种恶行和阴谋接连发生。

Richard Duke of Gloucester, youngest brother of King Edward IV, will stop at nothing to get the crown. He first convinces the ailing King that the Duke of Clarence, his elder brother, is a threat to the lives of Edward's two young sons. Edward has him imprisoned in the Tower of London; killers in Richard's pay then drown Clarence in a barrel of wine. When news of Clarence's death reaches the King, the subsequent grief and remorse bring about his death. Richard is made Lord Protector, with power to rule England while his nephew (now King Edward V) is still a minor. Before the young king's coronation he has his two nephews conveyed to the Tower, ostensibly for their safekeeping. Richard's accomplice, the Duke of Buckingham, then declares the two boys illegitimate and offers Richard the crown, which after a show of reticence he accepts. After Richard's coronation, he and Buckingham have a falling-out over whether or not to assassinate the two children.

阿尔．帕西诺演而优则导处女作就挑战高难度，用半纪录半戏剧，既诠释又议论的复杂手法拍摄本片，其创作诚意和导演技巧都有令人惊喜。本片基本上是纪录阿尔．帕西诺和美国演员排学莎翁的冷门剧本《理查三世》的整个过程。透过大量的街头访问，让人了解到美国年轻一代对莎士比亚的戏剧是何其陌生，这也解释了帕西诺为何要拍此片的动机。而一连串选角和围读剧本的讨论，则有如向观众解读《理》剧，深入了解其时代背景和角色心理动机，让大家在欣赏戏中戏的正式演出部分很快便进入状况。因此，本片采用的叙事手法看似零乱，实际却对观众发挥了下面的辅助作用，因为影片的镜头运用更自由奔放，戏里戏外的呼应更紧密，关注的层面更广泛，成功地为莎剧电影注入了新血液。

In a world exclusive in February 2013, Channel 4 broadcast a film that followed the extraordinary hunt for Richard III: the king discovered, against all the odds, under a car park in Leicester. Since then, for the first time, scientists have been able to subject the skeleton of an English king to intense scrutiny and analysis, allowing them to reassemble his life in fascinating detail. Using the latest scientific techniques, experts at the University of Leicester and beyond have been able to work out the extent to which his potentially extreme spinal deformity would have affected his ability to be the warrior king famed for leading the charge at the Battle of Bosworth. They have also pieced together his diet and revealed his lifestyle in his final years, with surprising results. The scientists have been helped in their investigations by a living body double who volunteered to test their theories via practical experiments and reconstructions. Dominic Smee, who suffers from the same form of scoliosis as Richard III and whose spine, with its 75-degree spinal curve, is deemed 'virtually identical' by the experts, agreed to collaborate with the scientists on a unique intensive physical programme to see how Richard's scoliosis would have affected his ability to wield a sword, wear armour, ride a horse and use a lance.