Upstart Crow - Series 2 & 3

YES!! Starts September 11th - Brilliant. :D

It was great to see Ben Elton back on form.

Yes I liked it because of the subject and the huge array of storylines it offers, not dissimilar to a sitcom based on the whole of British history. It has to be a very poor writer who can't cash in on such a treasure trove of opportunities, and Elton always manages this well. Unfortunately the style he does it in is more questionable, to say the least. Him penning scripts based on the works of Shakespeare is like Alexander Armstrong standing in for Pavarotti. And you get the impression Elton never feels it is above him. Unimpressed

Finding it funnier, and Mark Heap makes it for me - so, so funny.

Yes from memory the funniest yet and Greene is a wonderful villain verily. Thought that was a superb opener making great use of a classic Shakespeare tale but with a pretty weak ending if I was being picky - Greene's plot simply being rumbled by Will. But not much else wasted there, pretty packed script with some good laughs thrown in. Elton develops a good formula for every sitcom and sticks to it.

I loved last night's Othello episode.

Another great episode. Mark Heap, what can I say? Brilliant.

Much too smart arse for its own good. Elton is a smug bastard. The only saving grace is the brilliance of Mark Heap.

Yes I can see that as valid, Elton is partly damaged by his own successful career including the lucrative stint in Musical theatre which he has the nerve to lambast ln a later episode here. UC is a very decent and funny but smugly irritating sitcom in that it has Elton, Mitchell and Enfield all smugging it up. Which is a lot of smuggness, agreed.

I agree with this. Based on the 1st 2 eps they've gone for a How The Elizabethan Age Is Stroke Isn't Like The 21st Century trick far too much. "Thank God here in Shakespearean times we use quills not some sort of handheld device that people constantly stare at on commuter trains, let's hope that never happens."

They also overplay the joke that people think Shakespeare wrote all English idioms - though it is a good one.

However, other than that the 1st two eps have been a lot of fun, with some good jokes, neat plots and strong performances (though they could do without Bottom - it's like Elton's trying so hard not to write Baldrick he's forgotten to write anything at all).

I also concur that the very best thing about the show is Mark Heap's phenomenal pronuncia-tion.Laughing out loud

Not a bad show but not a great show either. Mitchell seems much more comfortable in "Back" on C4 which shows a lot of promise.

A very good episode 3, I thunk. Slick, more Shakespeare play centred than ep 2 and it flowed better, as Elton has a bad habit of getting stuck in a single scene pontificating, just as WS did in his earlier works. Captured the romance of his comedies and the side actors playing Marlowe and Kate shone. When it's very Mitchell focused it's stodgy. I don't know what the audience figures are for it but it's evident Elton could easily get another 2 series out of this

This and ITV's Bad Move have both featured characters with OTT Mick Jagger affectations.

Quote: gb901 @ 3rd October 2017, 11:13 AM

This and itvs bad move have both featured characters with ott mick jagger affectations.

Oh really. Unimpressed

Quote: gb901 @ 3rd October 2017, 11:30 AM

This and itvs bad move have both featured characters with ott mick jagger affectations.

Oh really. Whistling nnocently

Duplicate original post deleted by the site editor.

I've quite enjoyed this show, in an unchallenging, cosy way. The jokes are decent, if repetitive, most of the performances are good, and I quite enjoy a lot of the Shakespeare references. However, I really don't think it should have gone to a third series, I feel as though the seam has been mined.