I first encountered Emma Smith by listening to loads of her lectures free on an Oxford University website. This is just an excellent introduction to Shakespeare. Obviously, the better you know the plays, then the more you get out of the lectures. The chapter on 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is especially enlightening... it's not really a play for young school children. (We are told of one group being quickly ushered out of a particularly raunchy production! I'm sure other school trips have resulted in quick evacuations or teachers composing letters to placate outraged parents!)

Link to Oxford podcasts

More of a Telegraph reader myself, but funny how often Google directs me to excellent material on The Guardian's website - click here