An unexpected collection of celebrities have joined together to recite an Alfred, Lord Tennyson poem.
Sir David Attenborough, Idris Elba, Emma Bunton, Miriam Margolyes, Jamie Oliver and even the late Bruce Forsyth are among nearly 100 famous faces taking part in performing The Lady of Shalott.
Put together by radio presenter and interviewer Matthew Stadlen, he finally published the video after starting to work on it five and a half years ago.
“I sort of forgot about the project for a year or two but this week I found time in the lockdown to fill the gaps by asking the likes of Stephen Fry and Alain de Botton to send me their lines,” he said in a post on Instagram. “I taught myself to edit on iMovie. The result is the 180 line poem by the great Alfred, Lord Tennyson being recited by nearly 100 famous faces – and mum and me.”
The video is dedicated to his mother Frances Stadlen, who started Pass on a Poem, an initiative to get people interested in poetry.
Stadlen added that he wants people “to pass on poems during these challenging times”.
