Upstart Crow
| Upstart Crow | |
|---|---|
Title screen of Upstart Crow, based on the Visscher panorama.
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| Genre | Comedy |
| Written by | Ben Elton |
| Directed by | Matt Lipsey |
| Starring |
David Mitchell Liza Tarbuck Rob Rouse |
| Composer(s) | Grant Olding |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Myfanwy Moore |
| Producer(s) | Gareth Edwards |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Picture format | 16:9 1080i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 9 May 2016 – present |
| External links | |
| www |
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Upstart Crow is a six-part British sitcom which premiered on 9 May 2016 at 10pm on BBC Two as part of the celebrations 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 multiple references to 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, to air in 2017.
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