Upstart Crow (2016–)

Upstart Crow (2016–)

18 episodes, approx 29 mins each + 3 Christmas Specials, approx 49 mins each.

In the simplest terms, if you like Shakespeare and enjoyed the format of the Blackadder TV series, then Upstart Crow is probably for you.

Written by comedian Ben Elton, it portrays the bard as a playwright struggling for inspiration and unappreciated by his family and friends.

David Mitchell is wonderful in the title role, as is Liza Tarbuck as his wife Anne Hathaway, the only one of his group that truly understands him.

To get the most from the series you'll need some pretty sizeable knowledge of Shakespeare's written works and of events in his personal life, including that of his contemporaries (e.g. Kit Marlowe and Robert Greene) and be aware of the various theories regarding authorship.

That's an unusually high level of prerequisite for a sitcom to ask of its audience, but if you have it, then you're going to have a lot more fun.

Episodes more often than not tend to focus on the writing of a single play, with events in Will's personal life having a direct influence on his writing, in either a positive or negative aspect.

Events take place primarily in two locations, Stratford-upon-Avon and London; the former is where Will's family home is located and the latter is where he resides when he's required to be near the theatre. Each location has its own set of secondary characters, but there's some overlap from time to time. The misery the bard experiences on the journey from one location to the other is a running joke and functions as a wry commentary on modern day public transport woes.

Besides his wife, Stratford also has Will's parents (Paula Wilcox + Harry Enfield) and children. The most prominent of the kids is teen-angsty daughter Susanna (Helen Monks), a youth with a stroppy attitude that's often annoying but works as intended and admittedly adds to the whole.

- From L to R: Will, Bottom, Kate. -

London has significantly more characters, including Will's manservant Ned Bottom (Rob Rouse), who's less idiotic than Baldrick but performs a similar role; Kate (Gemma Whelan), the landlady's spirited daughter, who's more educated and refined than Will but repeatedly stifled by being a woman; and playwright Christopher Marlowe (Tim Downie), a kind of Lord Flashheart character. In addition,  there's a group of actors that together make up Will's theatre company (one of whom is an insufferable git, modelled on Ricky Gervais), and Will's rival Robert Greene (Mark Heap), the author responsible for labelling Shakespeare as the titular upstart crow.

At time of writing there's been three series (18 eps total) and a trio of Xmas specials. The weekly episodes are excellent, with a comedic tone that's recognisably Ben Elton-esque. The specials aren't good, however, feeling rushed and the topics covered often seem shoehorned in.

The commentary on modem society may date the work in the long run, but it too can be viewed as period-specific gags, if the viewer chooses, like those that riff on 16th century concerns.

- Something that I'll remember fondly is the warmth present in each episode's closing scene, wherein Will and Anne sit by the fireside and sum up the day's shenanigans. -

Despite all its playful mocking and japery, it's still very much a celebration of Shakespeare, and will likely appeal to students of the same. For those very folks, it's worth noting that Ben Elton penned a different kind of ode to the bard in the film All Is True (2018 / Dir. Kenneth Brannagh), which proves his skill in writing dramatically serious work with much more genuine pathos.