Unmasking Shakespeare: The Painting that Could Rewrite History
Tudors Dynasty & Beyond
RedTop Media / Rebecca Larson
4.4 • 794 Ratings
🗓️ 11 November 2025
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What if a single painting could change how we see Shakespeare?
In this episode, I’m joined by filmmaker Madoc Roberts, and the star of the documentary, Steve Wadlow, whose remarkable discovery is the subject of the new PBS documentary Picturing Shakespeare — available beginning November 12. In their first podcast conversation with an American host, Steven and Madoc share the story behind the film, the meticulous research that followed the painting’s emergence, and how art, history, and curiosity collide when the world’s most famous playwright takes center stage.
🎭 Watch Picturing Shakespeare on PBS, then join us here for a thoughtful conversation about discovery, authenticity, and the enduring power of Shakespeare’s image.
Check out their website and contact them with information here: https://www.isthiswilliamshakespeare.com/
Watch until the end for some pictures provided by Madoc (filmaker).
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We are also have a FREE live chat with Sophie Bacchus-Waterman on November 15th - get your FREE ticket NOW!
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Host: Rebecca Larson
Guests: Steve Wadlow & Madoc Roberts
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the Tudors Dynasty and Beyond podcast, history with a twist. |
| 0:07.3 | And now your host, Rebecca Larson. |
| 0:11.1 | Hello and welcome back to the show. I'm your host Rebecca Larson, and today I have a very special episode for you, something a little bit different than what we normally do. |
| 0:20.6 | Today we're talking about |
| 0:21.8 | Shakespeare, but we're also talking about paintings and portraits, which I know you all love, |
| 0:26.9 | and identifying them, which is something that you all love, and one of the reasons why you come to |
| 0:31.1 | this show. Today, I am joined by Steve Wadlow and Maddoch, Robert's. Welcome. |
| 0:39.3 | Thank you very much. Yes, thank you for, thank you for having us. |
| 0:42.3 | So Steve, behind you, if you guys are watching this video right now, |
| 0:46.3 | behind you see a painting of Shakespeare. |
| 0:49.3 | And this is what we're talking about today, because maybe we should start from the beginning. I need everybody to understand where this painting came from and where it had been sitting for so many years. |
| 1:01.0 | Yes. Well, the first thing obviously, I suppose I better point out is that this is in our sitting room and it's just a copy because the real one is now unfortunately locked away in the dark somewhere, keeping it safe. |
| 1:16.2 | So, yeah, this all started in late 2012. |
| 1:23.6 | Well, this current quest started in late 2012. |
| 1:28.3 | The painting was sat above my parents' television in their home, and it had been there for 50 years at that point. |
| 1:38.1 | I'd grown up with it. |
| 1:39.6 | My dad was a little bit of an art dealer, but not really. |
| 1:43.1 | He was more of an antique sort of dealer and picture frame restorer and picture framer. |
| 1:47.4 | And he'd bought it or acquired it in the late 60s, was told he'd paid too much for it, |
| 1:53.0 | wasn't going to make the profit he'd hoped, and was advised to take it home and hang it on the wall, |
| 1:57.7 | which he did. |
| 1:58.3 | And it then sat there anonymous for all those years. |
... |
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