I was anxious about this stage version of TV sitcom Upstart Crow about the comedic travails of William Shakespeare. When I interviewed writer Ben Elton earlier this year he talked about tackling issues of gender fluidity and diversity I thought that this incarnation might take itself too seriously to be a full-on comedy. Not a bit of it.

David Mitchell is to star in the West End next year in Ben Elton’s stage adaptation of the critically acclaimed BBC TV sitcom, Upstart Crow.  This all-new comedy - written especially for the stage - will see Mitchell once more don the bald wig and bardish coddling pouch in his iconic characterisation of Will Shakespeare. Tickets are available here. 

David Mitchell returns as aspiring playwright/superstar William Shakespeare in Ben Elton's return-to-form sitcom. I say return-to-form with a couple pf caveats. Firstly, it's way, way better than his last BBC outing The Wright Way, but that was simply bloody awful. And secondly Upstart Crow does owe a huge debt to Elton's finest half hour (aided by Richard Curtis), Blackadder.

Here's a first look at the Christmas special edition of Upstart Crow featuring David Mitchell as William Shakespeare and Emma Thompson as Queen Elizabeth i.