Science fiction is a genre very much associated with technological marvels, innovations, and visions of the future. So it may be surprising to find so many of its writers are drawn to Shakespeare – he's a figure associated with tradition and the past. Sometimes his plays are reworked in a science fiction setting. The 1956 film Forbidden Planet is just one of many variations on a "Tempest in space" theme. Sometimes the playwright appears as a character caught up in a time travel adventure.

When their inventor the aptly named Dr Capek dies, the robot who plays Hamlet determines to find out the truth and just like Shakespeares original prince avenge the murder of his creator.This is just one example of a strange apparent association between Hamlet and robots.

Science fiction is a genre very much associated with technological marvels, innovations, and visions of the future. So it may be surprising to find so many of its writers are drawn to Shakespeare – he's a figure associated with tradition and the past. Sometimes his plays are reworked in a science fiction setting. The 1956 film Forbidden Planet is just one of many variations on a "Tempest in space" theme. Sometimes the playwright appears as a character caught up in a time travel adventure.

Science fiction is a genre very much associated with technological marvels, innovations, and visions of the future. So it may be surprising to find so many of its writers are drawn to Shakespeare – he's a figure associated with tradition and the past. Sometimes his plays are reworked in a science fiction setting. The 1956 film Forbidden Planet is just one of many variations on a "Tempest in space" theme. Sometimes the playwright appears as a character caught up in a time travel adventure.