''Upstart Crow'' is a

British sitcom A British sitcom or a Britcom is a situational comedy programme produced for British television. British sitcoms have predominantly been recorded on studio sets, while some include an element of location filming. Live audiences and multi-camera ...

based on the life of William Shakespeare written by

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton is a British comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. One of the major figures in the alternative comedy movement of the 1980s, his early stand-up style was Left-wing politics, left-wing political satire ...

. The show premiered on 9 May 2016 on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

as part of the commemorations of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. Its title quotes "an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers", a critique of Shakespeare by his rival Robert Greene in the latter's '' Groats-Worth of Wit''. The show is set from 1592 (the year of Greene's quotation) onwards. Shakespeare is played by David Mitchell; his wife,

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime ...

, is played by

Liza Tarbuck Liza Tarbuck ( ; born 21 November 1964) is an English actress, comedian, and television and radio presenter. Early life Liza Tarbuck was born in Liverpool and grew up near Kingston upon Thames. She is the daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck an ...

; and Greene himself by

Mark Heap Mark Heap (born 13 May 1957) is a British actor and comedian. Television credits include '' Ghost Train'' (1991), '' Smith & Jones'' (1997–1998), '' Brass Eye'' (1997–2001), '' Kiss Me Kate'' (1998), '' The Zig and Zag Show'' (1998), '' Ho ...

. Shakespeare's father,

John Shakespeare John Shakespeare ( – 7 September 1601) was an English businessman and politician who was the father of William Shakespeare. Active in Stratford-upon-Avon, he was a glover and whittawer ( leather worker) by trade. Shakespeare was elected to ...

, is played by

Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian. He is known in particular for his television work, including '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'', '' Harry Enfield & Chums'' and '' Harry & Paul'', across which he created ...

. The first series was directed by Matt Lipsey, with subsequent series being directed by Richard Boden.

Synopsis

The first series follows the writing and preparation to stage ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' after William has gained some early career recognition for his poetry, as well as his plays '' Henry VI'' and ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

''. Events in each episode allude to one or more Shakespeare plays and usually end with Will discussing the events with Anne and either being inspired to use, or dissuaded from using, them in a future work. Along with the many Shakespearean references (including the use of

aside An aside is a dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience. By convention, the audience is to realize that the character's speech is unheard by the other characters on stage. It may be addressed to the audience expressly (in chara ...

s and soliloquies) there are also several ‘nods’ to the television shows ''

Blackadder ''Blackadder'' is a series of four Period piece, period British sitcoms - ''The Black Adder'', ''Blackadder II'', ''Blackadder the Third'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' - plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC1 from 19 ...

'' and ''

The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...

''. There are

running gags A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are not ...

in many episodes: the casual

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...

towards attempts by Kate, his landlady's daughter, to become an actress; Shakespeare's coach journeys between

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and Stratford which refer to modern motorway and railway journey frustrations, and are delivered in a style that reflects the 1970s sitcom ''

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin ''The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin'' is a British sitcom starring Leonard Rossiter in the title role. Three series were produced from 1976 to 1979, based on a series of novels written by David Nobbs. Nobbs adapted the screenplay for the fi ...

;'' Shakespeare (and in one episode

Marlowe Marlowe may refer to: Name * Marlowe (name), including list of people and characters with the surname or given name * Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593), English dramatist, poet and translator * Pat Marlowe (1933–1962), English socialite * Phili ...

) demanding

ale Ale is a style of beer, brewed using a warm fermentation method. In medieval England, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops. As with most beers, ale typically has a bittering agent to balance the malt and act as a preservative. Ale ...

and

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

from his servants or family; and Shakespeare frequently claiming credit for common turns-of-phrase that predate Elizabethan times (many of them now commonly misattributed to Shakespeare). The second and third six-episode series were broadcast in 2017 and 2018, as well as two Christmas Day specials. A 2020

Christmas special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared Christmas in literature, in literature and Christmas music, in music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth o ...

, "Lockdown Christmas 1603", depicted William and Kate during the plague of 1603, making references to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in Britain during the year of broadcast.

Stage play

In September 2019, a stage play adaptation was announced for the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

, also written by Elton and with Mitchell and several others reprising their roles. The play opened on 7 February 2020 under the title ''

The Upstart Crow ''The Upstart Crow'' is a stage play by Ben Elton developed from his BBC TV sitcom ''Upstart Crow''. Production history The play, directed by Sean Foley (director), Sean Foley, began previews at the Gielgud Theatre in West End theatre, London' ...

'': Elton commented that it was "an entirely original excursion, not a 'TV adaptation' ". The play reopened in the West End at the Apollo Theatre for a ten-week season from 23 September until 3 December 2022, with Mitchell and Whelan reprising the roles of William Shakespeare and Kate.

Series overview

Cast

Guest stars

Music

The theme music is a 17th-century

English country dance A country dance is any of a very large number of social dances of a type that originated in England in the British Isles; it is the repeated execution of a predefined sequence of figures, carefully designed to fit a fixed length of music, perfo ...

tune called "Jamaica". It was first published in the 4th Edition of

John Playford John Playford (1623–1686) was a London bookseller, publisher, minor composer and member of the Stationers' Company. He published books on music theory, instruction books for several instruments and psalters with tunes for singing in churches. ...

's ''

The Dancing Master ''The Dancing Master'' (first edition: ''The English Dancing Master'') is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English country dances. It was first published in 1651 by John Playford. History It was published in several ...

'' in 1670, many years after Shakespeare's death.

Reception

Julia Raeside writing in ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' says: In ''

the Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', James Rampton writes: "''Upstart Crow'', ... may well be enElton’s finest work since his other celebrated historical sitcom, ''Blackadder''." Rampton quotes Paula Wilcox, who plays Shakespeare’s mother, as saying:

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

gave Season 1 69% on the Tomatometer. The Critics Consensus was that "''Upstart Crow'' does not clear the high bar of the Bard's written work - and the series' sitcom stylings may prove drearily retro for some viewers -- but the series is stimulatingly literate and boasts a terrifically put-upon David Mitchell as history's most famous writer."

References

External links

* * * * *
Only snobbish, elitist Britain could say that Shakespeare didn’t write his own plays
' Ben Elton on the show's historical background. ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' {{Ben Elton 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death 2016 British television series debuts 2020 British television series endings 2010s British multi-camera sitcoms 2020s British multi-camera sitcoms BBC high definition shows BBC television sitcoms Cultural depictions of William Shakespeare British English-language television shows Television shows set in London Television shows written by Ben Elton Television series about actors Television series about families Television series about marriage Television set in Tudor England Television series created by Ben Elton Shakespeare authorship fiction