Upstart Crow

This episode sees Will struggle to find inspiration for Romeo while at the same time having to deal with an angry actor, a very annoying house-guest and his family's not-terribly-helpful script suggestions.

Will's controversial new play is about to be presented to Queen Elizabeth when it goes missing. As the finger of suspicion points at his best friend Marlowe, can Will come up with a way to recover his stolen masterpiece? And given its politically sensitive content, is he really wise to want it back?

Will hopes to move up in the world when he is invited to Lord Southampton's party. But what should a poorly-educated country boy wear to London's poshest do? And are Sir Robert Greene's fashion tips a double bluff, a triple bluff, or something even more fiendish?

Will has completed his final sonnet and senses literary immortality just around the corner. But will the fair youth and the dark lady like them as much as he hopes? And is Anne likely to be impressed that her husband's 154 hot new love poems don't contain much about her?

The plague leads Will and his friends to escape to the family home in Stratford. On the way, they meet three witches who have some surprising predictions to make about Will's future, leading to a very serious case of house envy.

There's money to be made investing in cargoes from the New World: but while Marlowe invests in tobacco and potato products, Will would rather invest in building a new theatre. When Will's savings go missing he's forced to make a rather unusual bargain with his rival Robert Greene. Meanwhile Kate's frustration with the lack of roles for women leads her to make a rather dramatic intervention.