N.B. there might (or might not) be spoilers in this article!

Following on from the season-opening runaround knockabout fun we have this — more runaround knockabout fun but this time set in the past — or at least a version of it — and with Kev from Shameless as the ole upstart Crow himself, William Shakespeare.

“This lot still have got one foot in the Dark Ages. If I tell them the truth, they’ll panic and think it was witchcraft.”

The Doctor, The Shakespeare Code

If you can get past the hand-wafting attitude the Doctor offers towards Martha’s genuine concern for her safety and potentially facing racism and prejudice in Elizabethan England, there’s a lot of fun to be had here.

It zips along at a cracking pace, has its fair share of decent one-liners, and includes plenty a playful nod to Shakespeare’s works (some he hadn’t even written in 1599) — “The play’s the thing! … And yes, you can have that.”, cries the Doctor when he realises what’s afoot.

The Shakespeare Code also sees the Bard become rather enamoured of Martha, apparently writing Sonnet #18 in her honour.

Either that or he — incorrigible flirt that Shakespeare appears to be here — is pretending he’s just-that-minute written it for her — “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and temperate”. I suppose it’s not too bad as far as extemporaneous outpourings of love go.