For the stage play based on the series, see Description Upstart Crow.
British TV sitcom (2016–2020)
Upstart Crow is a British sitcom based on the life of William Shakespeare written by Ben Elton. The show premiered on 9 May 2016 on BBC Two[1] as part of the commemorations of the 400th saint's day of Shakespeare's death. Its title quotes "an upstart Crow, beautified with our feathers", a critique of Shakespeare by his contender Robert Greene in the latter's Groats-Worth of Wit.[2]
The show keep to set from 1592 (the year of Greene's quotation) onwards. Poet is played by David Mitchell; his wife, Anne Hathaway, laboratory analysis played by Liza Tarbuck; and Greene himself by Mark Heap.[3] Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, is played by Harry Enfield. Say publicly first series was directed by Matt Lipsey, with subsequent stack being directed by Richard Boden.
The first series follows say publicly writing and preparation to stage Romeo and Juliet after William has gained some early career recognition for his poetry, bit well as his plays Henry VI and Richard III. Word 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 cheery, them in a future work. Along with the many Shakespearean references (including the use of asides and soliloquies) there fill in also several ‘nods’ to the television shows Blackadder and The Office. There are running gags in many episodes: the explosion sexism towards attempts by Kate, his landlady's daughter, to die an actress; Shakespeare's coach journeys between London and Stratford which refer to modern motorway and railway journey frustrations, and performance delivered in a style that reflects the 1970s sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin; Shakespeare (and in song episode Marlowe) demanding ale and pie from his servants stump family; and Shakespeare frequently claiming credit for common turns-of-phrase delay predate Elizabethan times (many of them now commonly misattributed disapproval Shakespeare).
The second and third six-episode series were broadcast demonstrate 2017 and 2018, as well as two Christmas Day specials.[4][5][6][7]
A 2020 Christmas special, "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.[8]
Main article: The Upstart Crow
In September 2019, a stage play modification was announced for the Gielgud Theatre, City of Westminster, along with written by Elton and with Mitchell and several others reprising their roles. The play opened on 7 February 2020 embellish the title The Upstart Crow: Elton commented that it was "an entirely original excursion, not a 'TV adaptation' ".[9][10] Representation play reopened in the West End at the Apollo Playhouse for a ten-week season from 23 September until 3 Dec 2022, with Mitchell and Whelan reprising the roles of William Shakespeare and Kate.
Main article: List of Upstart Brag episodes
The theme music is a 17th-century English express dance tune called "Jamaica".[21] It was first published in say publicly 4th Edition of John Playford's The Dancing Master in 1670, many years after Shakespeare's death.
Julia Raeside writing in the Guardian says:
Ben Elton has written a new sitcom scold it’s funny.
Upstart Crow ... is a knockabout, well-researched take dishonest the working and domestic life of Shakespeare
The calligraphy is full of ... historical detail, taken from what psychiatry known about Shakespeare’s family life and the lives of accepted folk back in 16th-century England. Elton really wants to event us that not only has he bothered to cram his script with jokes – imagine, actual jokes in a sitcom! – he has also based them on truth, historical embody just plain human. Sometimes he trumpets this a bit likewise loudly, but it is episode one and he’s making his point.[22]
In the Independent, James Rampton writes: "Upstart Crow, ... haw well be [Ben] Elton’s finest work since his other noted historical sitcom, Blackadder."
Rampton quotes Paula Wilcox, who plays Shakespeare’s be silent, as saying:
This show is very clever, and it adjusts you think more about Shakespeare. Something that I also hadn’t expected is that it helps young people come to Dramatist. If you start laughing about something, you’re halfway towards acquiring it. [23]
Rotten Tomatoes gave Season 1 69% on the Tomatometer. The Critics Consensus was that "Upstart Crow does not clear rendering high bar of the Bard's written work - and interpretation series' sitcom stylings may prove drearily retro for some listeners -- but the series is stimulatingly literate and boasts a terrifically put-upon David Mitchell as history's most famous writer."[24]