Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream starring Bolton actress Maxine Peake to be shown on Bank Holiday Monday.

Writer and producer Russell T. Davies has adapted the play as part of the the channel's Shakespeare Season to commemorate 400 years since the playwright's death — and put his own magic touches to it.

He said: "I have loved this play all my life. It wasn't a matter of choosing this play to adapt.

"I wanted this to be unashamedly popular — I came to the BBC saying this needs to be an all-star cast because I want people to watch it. When you've got Maxine as Titania and Nonso as Oberon, half your work's done to be honest, you can sit back and go, 'Wow, isn't this good?'"

The play opens in the court of Athens where Theseus, the Duke, is preparing his nuptials to conquered Amazon queen Hippolyta.

There's a love circle between four young Athenians — Helena loves Demetrius, who's betrothed to Hermia, who actually loves Lysander — and they all end up in the woods, where local am-dram group the "Mechanicals" are rehearsing a play for the Duke's wedding, all watched over by two gangs of rival fairies, led by Oberon and Titania, played by Maxine.

Mr Davies' version, the court of Athens is a sinister complete with banners bearing a black insignia.

And when we first see Hippolyta, she's wearing a straitjacket and Silence Of The Lambs-style mask.

Mr Davies said: "I thought the greatest kick needed in the play was Theseus and the court of Athens.

"This play's been done in the theatre so many times, this version will undoubtedly have been done 20 times before, by a million directors, but nonetheless, in the version I wanted to see on screen, I wanted Athens to be strong.

"And it's absolutely true to the text: when Theseus walks into the first scene, he says to his bride he has captured her in war, that she is a prisoner of war — that's a fact, that's not me making it up.

"So we played it as that. It's often played as this quite sweet, lovely romantic Charles and Di wedding, but it's not, so I played up the strength of that and it works — it's a very strong opening."

Mr Davies has also had fun with CGI — Doctor Who meets Shakespeare — and there are a few tweaks as to who ends up with who.

He said: "It's very male-female, male-female, so I wanted to have a man with a man, a man who was dressed as a woman with a man, and a woman with a woman, because it's 2016, so that's the world now.

"I wanted children to watch this and see the real world in the middle of this fantasy."

A Midsummer Night's Dream airs on BBC One on Monday, May 30 at 8.30pm.