Described by critics as "scintillating", "exquisite", and "breathtaking", this version of the famous comic opera was a blockbuster hit at the world-renowned Stratford Festival. Cloaked in the guise of a Japanese musical drama, The Mikado is a spoof of Victorian English society. Centered on Ko-Ko (Eric Donkin), a lowly tailor, it chronicles his transformation from prisoner in a country jail to the rank of Lord High Executioner. But Ko-Ko is plagued by a terrible quandary: the emperor (Gidon Saks) has instructed him to produce a head - or forfeit his own!

Special features: Chapter indexing of songs ; two CBC News documentaries about the production ; text alterations - original and revised for those songs which were updated for this production ; biographies of Gilbert & Sullivan ; program notes, glossary and photographs of historic relevance ; interactive menus ; sketches of Our town; Stratford, Ontario video. Home use only. Program content : The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1983.