Will

As you might have guessed by now, Will makes practically no attempt to be historically accurate.

Critics everywhere have cried out in collective grief. But who cares? Da Vinci's Demons had very little to do with the real-life Leonardo -- that didn't stop it from running for three seasons!

Like Demons, Will is "historical fiction". Not a biography; not a serious reconstruction of the life of The Bard. It's a drama loosely based on characters loosely based on vague descriptions of people who lived at some point.

It's entertainment. And in that, it does a pretty good job. There's your usual cable TV "must-haves": violence, sex, backstabbing -- general depravity. Everyone's a little greasy, one way or the other. There are crazy sub-plots. If they hadn't called the main character Shakespeare, the critics would have been much happier with it.

But, alas, Shakespeare appears to be sacred. And maybe, that's the cow Will is trying to slaughter. Set the table, we're having steak.

I like to state, as someone growing up within my local punk scene that emulated the early punk scene (late 70's/early 80's) and has a history of art, I love this series. It tries to show the story the early days of Shakespeare as if Elizabethan England is going through a punk phase. And does so amazingly without it being overbearing, and is something you can see back in the clothing, music choice, hair styles, posters, etc. this all to the point that, seemingly, a lot of other reviewers actually haven't noticed it aside from the music.

Take the clothing for example: most major characters wear something like leather jackets that are studded with patterns, this all without it being terribly out of place within Elizabethan England. Or a more obvious example are the posters, they look nothing little to nothing Elizabethan era posters however do look like cheap punk concert posters with some Elizabethan flair thrown in for good measure. And lets be frank in what late 1500's world would they have used, what looks like, cut out photocopied letters for a wanted poster?

But I could continue to list all the small details and how amazing it works within the setting.

The story as of yet has also been top notch in my opinion, not to shallow but not so deep that it requires art history major to understand. It also doesn't, if you notice the punk elements obviously so, to be historically accurate.

All in all, great show.

The story line of Kit Marlowe interested me most. His search for meaning and willingness to try anything just to feel was captivating. His delve into religious and supernatural means to seek it was compelling. Bower was completely seductive. I would like to pluck all of his story and make it into one movie. I don't know if I would have stuck with it if there wasn't that juxtaposition of Will with his faith and Kit with his search for it. Nonetheless, I began to care about all the characters in this bizarre show and I looked forward to seeing it every week. Who would have thunk it? And as a writer, the last line wrung true especially as it was delivered by Marlowe.

He loved modernizing things....if this was true to time it would be disgusting... read some history! The royals were disgusting.

I love this show! It explored some historical "tabloid material" with no true claims, but the theory's being exposed; was enjoyable! The costumes are mind blowing ....It makes me crave to bring some of these adornments to our current fashion.

This is definitely a period piece

It saddens me that people are complaining that London is too colourful, that the characters are too simple and clownish, when that was exactly what Shakespeare himself did. He was bright, sexual, crude and clever and so was this. Maybe it's a little messy but it has so much spirit, so much fire. Every moment is interesting, and that was exactly how the man himself wrote.