Upstart Crow
This second series of Upstart Crow has felt a little under the radar. I'm not sure whether that is to do with the blink-and-you'll-miss-it 8.30pm scheduling or the fact that we are now not so pleasantly surprised by Ben Elton's Blackadder-ish turns of phrase as we were first time round. It's been good but it has not really blown me away.
Ben Elton’s eloquent defence of the mainstream sitcom last month was illuminating, fascinating and persuasive. And in a way maybe it could be seen by some as an incidental pre-emptive strike against critics who might have their hatchets sharpened for the new series of Upstart Crow, Elton’s popular sitcom about Shakespeare’s early years starring David Mitchell.
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.
Noel Fielding has spoken exclusively to Beyond The Joke about his role in the second series of Ben Elton's Shakespearean sitcom Upstart Crow.
Fielding recently finished filming his role as a glamorous Elizabethan musician who collaborates with Shakespeare on a comedy in the episode entitled Food of Love. "I play Thomas Morley, who writes popular madrigals! He is a kind of rock star of his day. It was great fun!"
As revealed earlier this week on Beyond The Joke Noel Fielding is one of the star guests in the second series of the Ben Elton sitcom Upstart Crow. It has also been announced that Emma Thompson will appear in the Christmas Special as Queen Elizabeth I.
The first episode of the second series of Shakespearean send-up Upstart Crow starring David Mitchell has been filmed.
Tim Downie, who plays the bard's rival Christopher Marlowe, posted the news on Twitter: "Fantastic audience. Made even better by this young hepcat joining the fun. It's a blinder." The ypung hepcat in question is Noel Fielding, who makes a guest appearance in the series written by Ben Elton.
For those armchair critics that have been constantly comparing Ben Elton’s Upstart Crow to Blackadder there was a delicious surprise in the final episode featuring Gabrielle Glaister from his old series which made it clear that Elton knew the similarities were there when he first put quill to paper to write this comic celebration of the bard.
I couldn't see a co-writing credit alongside Ben Elton's name* for William Shakespeare, but as anyone with a basic grasp of English literature will spot this week's episode is a comical rewrite of Macbeth. And a pretty nifty one, with David Mitchell as the bard convinced that he has committed murder at the behest of his scheming wife so that they can move to the big house in Stratford before prices rise out of reach.
There was a bit of chat on Twitter recently about how Upstart Crow is a refreshing real sitcom, contrasting it with the trend for non-sidesplitting studio comedies, which I guess means things like Going Forward and Mum. I think there is room for both. I like the more subtle comedies and while there is nothing subtle about Ben Elton’s Shakespearen send-up I can certainly see the attraction of Upstart Crow if you just want stupid, painless laughs and smutty innuendo.
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