I'm doing this from memory but I think Alan Bates was the Laertes.

And yes, I sort of forgot about the John Daly show even though I
grew up with it.

For a different take on all this, go see if there's a copy
of Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Gildenstern Are Dead" over your
way. It's a film that's available on vhs etc. Stoppard does his
play from the POV of R&G. This woulkd put you in mind of the
Absurd.

One of the big criticisms of MG and many others in the role is
that Hamlet is a student on vacation from Wittenberg. So these
old farts going "Words words words" is most often a stretch of the
imagination.

I spoze a really new twist on this would be to have a
Holden Caulfield-type Hamlet showing the angst of youth in all
this. I think what holds directors back from casting like this are
the Gertrude scenes. They tried it in this one but it didn't work:

• Ethan Hawke Hamlet yuck