Of all the characters in King Lear, the Fool offers the most scope for diverse interpretations by actors. Beware of assuming that a single approach is definitive; try to see am range of performances. In the BBC production of 1982, for example, Frank Middlemass plays the Fool as an elderly man of Lear’s own generation, a weary professional comedian sharing hard-earned wisdom, while in the 1983 Granada production John Hurt is a young and caring figure, almost like a son to Lear.