This article deals with the metatheatrical concerns in Gregory Doran's Hamlet (2009). This film derives from an RSC stage production presented at the Courtyard Theatre (Stratford-upon-Avon) and the Novello Theatre (London).1 In opposition to the standing prejudices against the possibility of filming plays on the small screen, Doran and the creative team of Illuminations Media embrace the opposed natures of theatre and film. The result of such creative decision is materialized in the form of a hybrid television performance. The film has been shot in a type of location that has been re-furbished to purposefully evoke its stage origins. In this sense, the collision between these two languages theatre and film precisely constitutes the highest point of interest in the film far beyond its mere formal implications. In fact, David Tennant's approach to performing Hamlet in this film consistently operates on the idea of the eponymous hero trying to fight his frustrations through dramatic art. However, Hamlet does not reconcile the playful nature of drama with its other more rigorous aspects. As a consequence, the hero toys with film, thus overcomplicating his artistic drive. Hamlet's inability to handle either of these codes derives into worsening the character's perceptions of himself. The nature of Hamlet's failure is not necessarily in the choosing of drama as a means of self-preservation but the ways through which he engages in dramatic activity.