Upstart Crow

May 9, 2016

Episode one sees Will struggle to find inspiration for Romeo while having to deal with an angry actor, a very annoying house-guest and his family’s not terribly helpful script suggestions.

May 16, 2016

Just when Will’s controversial new play is about to be presented to Queen Elizabeth, it goes missing. As the finger of suspicion points to his best friend Marlowe, can Will come up with a way to recover his stolen masterpiece? Given its politically sensitive content, is he really wise to want it back?

May 23, 2016

Will hopes to move up in the world when he is invited to a high-society party hosted by Lord Southampton, but is unsure what a poorly-educated country boy should wear to one of London's most upmarket events. The playwright's rival Sir Robert Greene offers him some fashion tips, but is it a double bluff, a triple bluff, or something even more fiendish?

May 30, 2016

Will has completed his final sonnet and senses literary immortality just around the corner. But will the fair youth and the dark lady like them as much as he hopes? And is Anne likely to be impressed that her husband’s 154 hot new love poems don’t contain much about her?

Jun 6, 2016

The plague leads Will and his friends to escape to the family home in Stratford. On the way, they meet three witches who have some surprising predictions to make about Will’s future, leading to a very serious case of house envy.

Jun 13, 2016

When Will's savings go missing, he is forced to make an unusual bargain with his rival. Kate's frustration with the lack of roles for women leads her to make a dramatic intervention.

Sep 11, 2017

When a dashing African Prince comes to town, Will decides to befriend him.

Sep 18, 2017

When his old teacher invites himself to stay, Will must confront some awful memories.

Sep 25, 2017

Will has to write a romance set in an exotic foreign location Kate has fallen for Marlowe.

Oct 2, 2017

Will Shakespeare has invented an amazing new dramatic form: the greatest hits musical.

Oct 9, 2017

The women in Will's life are not impressed with his play about a strong woman humiliated.

Oct 16, 2017

Will's finished Romeo and Juliet but now there's competition over who will play Juliet.

Aug 29, 2018

Will needs inspiration for his new play A Midsummer Night's Dream. Meanwhile how can he get hold of some love potion, and where is Bottom going to put that stuffed donkey head?

Sep 5, 2018

Will Shakespeare has been working on his masterpiece. His friends tell him it's his greatest comedy yet, but Will insists that Hamlet isn't actually meant to be funny.

Sep 12, 2018

London is full of anti-immigrant rioting. Will looks forward to an age when such sentiments are long-gone, but in the meantime he and the players plan to do their bit to help those worse off than themselves with a fund-raising charity gala night. “Inflated Pig's Bladder Day” is a triumph.

Sep 19, 2018

When Kate stands in for Sue at the masked ball she accidentally sets off a chain of events that leaves Sue humiliated by the other local teenagers and Will needs to come up with a ruse to turn the tables on the bullies. Meanwhile in all the confusion Hamnet has gone missing.

Sep 26, 2018

Will's troupe plot against each other, but his defusing of the situation helps give him a better idea for his new play about Julius Caesar.

Oct 3, 2018

As Will wrestles with temptation a bigger threat to his family lurks in the wings.