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  • Published: 15 November 2018
  • ISBN: 9781787630093
  • Imprint: Bantam Press
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $45.00

Upstart Crow




The hilarious script book - with new introduction and annotations - to accompany Ben Elton's Upstart Crow, the BBC historical sitcom which is now entering its third series and attracts over 1.5 million viewers per episode.


"This does indeed deserve comparisons with Blackadder" Radio Times

"A knockabout, well-researched take on the working and domestic life of Shakespeare." The Guardian
It’s the 1590s. William Shakespeare – brought to life on screen by the inimitable David Mitchell – is at the start of his career. But no one is taking him seriously. In London, he is mercilessly mocked by his rivals and at home in Stratford he is belittled by his sullen teenage daughter.

Yet he is determined to find an ending for his newest creation Romeo and Juliet. Luckily, inspiration is forthcoming. The trials and tribulations of his closest friends and family reveal the plot twists he’d been missing. And not only for this famous tragedy but for many of his finest plays.

With sparkling wordplay, hilarious gags and his trademark wit, Ben Elton celebrates the great William Shakespeare and reveals the startling stories behind the playwright’s best-known plays.

  • Published: 15 November 2018
  • ISBN: 9781787630093
  • Imprint: Bantam Press
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $45.00

About the author

Ben Elton

Ben Elton’s multi-award winning career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past thirty-five years. In addition to his hugely influential work as a stand-up comic, he was co-writer of TV hits The Young Ones and Blackadder and sole creator of The Thin Blue Line and Upstart Crow. He has written fifteen major bestsellers, including Stark, Popcorn, Inconceivable, Dead Famous, High Society, Two Brothers and Time and Time Again, three West End plays and three musicals, including global phenomenon We Will Rock You. He has written and directed two feature films, Maybe Baby and Three Summers.

He is married and has three children.

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Praise for Upstart Crow

A knockabout, well-researched take on the working and domestic life of Shakespeare

The Guardian

Gloriously restores Elton's credentials as a reliable provider of quality sitcom

The Telegraph

Packed with gags

Mirror

The guffaws come thick and fast

Independent

A gag-packed riot

The Times

It's really, really funny

Spectator

This does indeed deserve comparisons with Blackadder

Radio Times

A rollicking good comedy

Express