The transmission details have been revealed for the second series of Upstart Crow.

The sitcom written by Ben Elton and starring David Mitchell as the struggling bard returns to BBC2 on Monday September 11 at 8.30pm.

The series also stars Rob Rouse, Gemma Whelan, Liza Tarbuck, Mark Heap, Harry Enfield, Paula Wilcox, Helen Monks, Spencer Jones, Tim Downie, Steve Speirs and Dominic Coleman.

There will be six new episodes and also a Christmas special. Guest stars include Emma Thompson, who will take on the role of Queen Elizabeth I in the Christmas special. Noel Fielding will also join the cast to play Thomas Morley in one of the episodes.

This series reveals some of the surprising stories behind Will’s plays, including a brush with an African general (Steve Toussaint) who takes a shine to Kate; a cut-price trip to Verona to look for inspiration; a collaboration on a new comedy with madrigal maestro Thomas Morley (Noel Fielding); a shrewish teenage daughter who may or may not need some 'taming'; and a very frantic visit to Stratford that reveals the original inspiration for Falstaff. We also meet Simon Hunt (Geoffrey Whitehead), the schoolmaster who made Will’s life a misery in his boyhood and looks likely to do the same again; and at Christmas Will finds himself summoned before the Queen to present a special performance of the early draft of Twelfth Night, working title Eighth Night; and of course along the way there’s a great deal of wit, ale, pies and women dressing as men…