'The Hollow Crown': TV review

Photo: Joss Barratt

Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal, who grows up to be England's King Henry V, in "The Hollow Crown"

PBS describes this ambitious new four-part Shakespeare production, only partly tongue in cheek, as its own “Game of Thrones.” PBS is right.

“The Hollow Crown” stitches together abbreviated versions of four Shakespeare dramas — “Richard II,” “Henry IV, Part 1,” “Henry IV, Part 2” and “Henry V” — into one tale of power, lust, greed, treachery and the ways family and birth shape destiny.

Shakespeare based these plays on real-life English kings, though he wisely drew his portraits in ways that would not offend the rulers of his own time.

In Friday’s opener, young Richard II (Ben Whishaw) decides to settle a dispute between his cousin Henry (Rory Kinnear) and rival Thomas Mowbray (James Purefoy) by ordering a duel.

He halts it at the last moment, then banishes them instead.

This so enrages Henry that he returns to overthrow Richard and seize the throne for himself.

Enter, next, Henry’s dissolute, party-hearty son Prince Hal (Tom Hiddleston), who grows up as his father struggles to control his family, court and kingdom.

Pound for pound, the drama in “The Hollow Crown” matches almost everything in “Game of Thrones.” At times, it’s just as violent and bloody.

The trump card of “Hollow Crown,” of course, is that it was written by Shakespeare — and if the language sounds stilted to modern ears, anyone who listens for more than a few minutes will be properly seduced.

Selling Shakespeare is always a chore. Watching him is a pleasure.

dhinckley@nydailynews.com