Upstart Crow

Upstart Crow
Title screen of Upstart Crow, based on the Visscher panorama.
Genre	Comedy
Written by	Ben Elton
Directed by	Matt Lipsey Richard Boden
Starring	David Mitchell Liza Tarbuck Rob Rouse Gemma Whelan Mark Heap
Composer	Grant Olding
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer	Myfanwy Moore
Producer	Gareth Edwards
Running time	30 minutes (series), 40 minutes (Christmas 2017)
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	9 May 2016 (2016-05-09) – present

Upstart Crow is a British sitcom which premiered on 9 May 2016 at 10pm on BBC Two as part of the commemorations of the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. 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.

It is scripted by Ben Elton and is set from 1592 (the year of Greene's quotation) onwards. Shakespeare is played by David Mitchell; his wife, Anne Hathaway, is played by Liza Tarbuck; and Greene himself by Mark Heap. All episodes are directed by Matt Lipsey.

The first series follows the writing and preparation to stage Romeo and Juliet after William has gained some early career notoriety for his poetry, Henry VI and Richard III. 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 or dissuaded from using them in a future work. Along with the many Shakespearean references there are also several references to the television shows Blackadder and The Office. There are two running gags in every episode; the casual sexism towards Kate's attempts to become an actress and Shakespeare's coach journeys between London and Stratford which refer to modern motorway and railway journey frustrations.

In June 2016 the BBC announced that a Christmas Special would be produced, and that a second series had been commissioned: this began broadcasting on 11 September 2017, followed by the Christmas special, on Christmas Day 2017.

In October 2017, after the second series had finished, the BBC commissioned a third series and a second Christmas special to air in 2018.

Cast

• David Mitchell – Will Shakespeare, aspiring playwright who wishes to overcome his humble origins.
• Liza Tarbuck – Anne Hathaway, wife of Will, an older and commoner woman.
• Paula Wilcox – Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother, who looks down on Anne.
• Helen Monks – Susanna, daughter of Shakespeare and Anne. According to her mother, "a grumpy little bitchington."
• Harry Enfield – John Shakespeare, father of Will, formerly wealthy but less educated than his son. Will bases the Falstaff character on him.
• Gemma Whelan – Kate, daughter of Shakespeare's London landlord; she aims to become an actress.
• Tim Downie – Kit Marlowe, playwright and spy. The series makes a recurring joke on the Marlovian theory of Shakespeare authorship, making Shakespeare the actual author of some of Marlowe's plays. Downie's portrayal resembles Lord Flashheart from Blackadder.
• Rob Rouse – Bottom, household servant of Shakespeare.
• Mark Heap – Robert Greene, Master of the Revels and author of Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit. Shakespeare's nemesis.
• Dominic Coleman – Henry Condell, actor, prominently of female roles.
• Steve Speirs – Richard Burbage, actor and leader of Will's acting company.
• Spencer Jones – William Kempe, comic actor; his portrayal is a parody of Ricky Gervais.
• Jocelyn Jee Esien – Lucy, pub landlady and former slave.
• Noel Fielding – Thomas Morley, composer.
• Adam Harley – Lord Southampton, Shakespeare's "Fair Youth".

Episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	6		9 May 2016 (2016-05-09)	13 June 2016 (2016-06-13)
2	7		11 September 2017 (2017-09-11)	25 December 2017 (2017-12-25)

All episodes of series 2 were made available through BBC iPlayer on 11 September 2017.

Series 1 (2016)

No.	Title	Title reference	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Star-Crossed Lovers"	Romeo and Juliet	Matt Lipsey	Ben Elton	9 May 2016 (2016-05-09)
Will struggles to finish his new play, Romeo and Juliet, but gets unexpected inspiration from an unwelcome guest, Robert Greene's nephew.
2	"The Play's the Thing"	Hamlet	Matt Lipsey	Ben Elton	16 May 2016 (2016-05-16)
When his play about Mary Stuart is stolen, Will writes another play to catch the conscience of the thieves.
3	"The Apparel Proclaims the Man"	Hamlet and Twelfth Night	Matt Lipsey	Ben Elton	23 May 2016 (2016-05-23)
Robert Greene tries to trick Will into wearing silly pants and cross garters to shame him at Lord Southampton's dance.
4	"Love Is Not Love"	Sonnet 116	Matt Lipsey	Ben Elton	30 May 2016 (2016-05-30)
Will's sonnet collection lands him in trouble with his wife (for philandering and sodomy) and with an inquisition (just for sodomy).
5	"What Bloody Man Is That?"	Macbeth	Matt Lipsey	Ben Elton	6 June 2016 (2016-06-06)
An outbreak of the plague in London prompts Will and his friends to flee to Stratford. On the journey north he meets three witches who make some strange predictions about his future.
6	"The Quality of Mercy"	The Merchant of Venice	Matt Lipsey	Ben Elton	13 June 2016 (2016-06-13)
Investing in cargoes from the New World proves profitable, but while Marlowe invests in tobacco and potatoes Will would rather invest in a new theatre forcing him to make a strange deal with Greene.

Series 2 (2017)

No.	Title	Title reference	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
7	"The Green-Eyed Monster"	Othello	Richard Boden	Ben Elton	11 September 2017 (2017-09-11)
Will is desperate to make a good impression with the College of Heralds so that he can finally get a coat of arms. Befriending a dashing African prince by the name of Otello may provide Will with the means to climb the social ladder.
8	"I Know Thee Not, Old Man"	Henry IV, Part 2	Richard Boden	Ben Elton	18 September 2017 (2017-09-18)
Will has to confront a demon from his past when his former schoolmaster comes to stay uninvited, much to the disgust of his wife Anne. Meanwhile Marlowe is on the hunt for Roman Catholic spies - but he seems to be rather more interested in ale and pies.
9	"I Did Adore a Twinkling Star"	The Two Gentlemen of Verona	Richard Boden	Ben Elton	25 September 2017 (2017-09-25)
Will finds himself tricked by his evil nemesis Robert Greene into writing a blood-soaked tragedy for a nobleman who only really likes romances set in exotic foreign locations. Suddenly Will needs to write a whole new play and he's all out of ideas. Meanwhile, Marlowe is taking Italian lessons from Kate, and they seem to have developed something of a soft spot for each other.
10	"Food of Love"	Twelfth Night	Richard Boden	Ben Elton	2 October 2017 (2017-10-02)
Will takes it badly when everybody tells him his new play about two sets of identical twins separated at birth and given the same names is rather far-fetched until he hits on a sure fire way to stop any audience minding when the plot gets really ridiculous – make it a musical. In fact, he's going to make it the first ever musical. And to really guarantee a hit he wants to use the songs of Thomas Morley, a rocking, rolling, madrigal-composing, tax-avoiding Tudor music legend.
11	"Beware My Sting!"	The Taming of the Shrew	Richard Boden	Ben Elton	9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)
Will is thrilled with his new play The Taming of the Shrew in which a bright and strong-minded young woman is crushed and humiliated into submission by the man in her life. For some reason, Kate is less than impressed, and back in Stratford his wife Anne isn’t convinced either. Will thinks the solution is to try out a bit of 'taming' on his very stroppy teenage daughter Susannah. But it turns out what works in a play doesn’t always work out quite so well when it comes to real life.
12	"Sweet Sorrow"	Romeo and Juliet	Richard Boden	Ben Elton	16 October 2017 (2017-10-16)
Romeo and Juliet is finally finished, and the only problem is now who will play the young lovers. Burbage and Condell see themselves in the title roles of course, but is there a polite way for Will to tell them they may no longer look like young teenage lovers? Kate would give anything to take to the stage, but she can't possibly be Juliet as she's a girl, and lady-acting is illegal in Tudor England.
13	"A Christmas Crow"	none	Richard Boden	Ben Elton	25 December 2017 (2017-12-25)
Marlowe, Kate and Greene coax Will into inviting them to celebrate Christmas with his family. The actors prepare to perform Eighth Night for Queen Elizabeth (Emma Thompson).

Music

The theme music is a 17th-century English country dance tune called "Jamaica". This was first published in the 1670 4th Edition of John Playford's The Dancing Master, after Shakespeare's death.

Ratings

Ratings sourced from BARB.

Series 1 (2016)

Episode no.	Airdate	7 day viewers (millions)	28 day viewers (millions)
1	9 May 2016	1.95	2.19
2	16 May 2016	1.35	1.58
3	23 May 2016	1.20	1.37
4	30 May 2016	1.30	1.46
5	6 June 2016	1.14	1.26
6	13 June 2016	1.18	1.31

Series 2 (2017)

Episode no.	Airdate	7 day viewers (millions)	28 day viewers (millions)
1	11 September 2017	1.74	1.92
2	18 September 2017	1.22	1.45
3	25 September 2017	1.29	1.42
4	2 October 2017	1.24	1.38
5	9 October 2017	1.41	1.51
6	16 October 2017	1.39	1.48
7	25 December 2017	1.65	1.76

Reception

Upstart Crow has been positively received by critics, many of whom had been hostile to Ben Elton's work for years, given his record of creating shows such as Get a Grip and The Wright Way, which were pulled after one series due to low ratings and poor notices. By contrast, Crow has been described as a return to form for the writer, besides being a return to the historical sitcom genre that made Elton's name when he worked on Blackadder. The acting by David Mitchell and supporting cast including Harry Enfield, Liza Tarbuck, and Mark Heap has also received praise.

External links

• Upstart Crow at BBC Online
• Upstart Crow at British Comedy Guide
• Upstart Crow at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com show
• Upstart Crow at epguides.com
• Only snobbish, elitist Britain could say that Shakespeare didn’t write his own plays Ben Elton on the shows historical background. Radio Times