When Caius Marcus fights the Coriolian soldiers, he leaves his shirt on, but when he fights Aufidius in one-on-one combat, he takes it off. Elijah Moshinsky did this to give the scene an undercurrent of homoeroticism.
The production design of Rome in this episode was very specific; everywhere except the Senate was to be small and cramped. The idea behind this design choice was to reflect Coriolanus' mindset. He dislikes the notion of the people gathering together for anything, and on such a cramped set, because the alleys and streets are so small, it only takes a few people to make them look dangerously crowded.
In the script for the episode, Coriolanus' death scene is played as a fight between himself and Aufidius in front of a large crowd who urge Aufidius to kill him. However, in shooting the scene, Elijah Moshinsky changed it so that it takes place in front of a few silent senators, and there is no real fight as such.
Part of the long running BBC Television Shakespeare project which ran between 1978 and 1985.
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What was the official certification given to The Tragedy of Coriolanus (1984) in Japan?
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