Quiz

The title of the series refers to a pamphlet published in autumn of 1592 in which playwright and poet Robert Greene referred to William Shakespeare as an "upstart crow".

The theme music is a dance tune titled "Jamaica" collected by John Playford and published in his fourth edition of 'The English Dancing Master' in 1670.

The character Kempe (Spencer Jones), continuously bragging of his time in the Italian theatre (based upon the famous actor of the time) is a parody of Ricky Gervais.

Anne Hathaway, William Shakespeare's wife, was eight years older than him. Lisa Tarbuck, who played Anne, is ten years older than David Mitchell, who played Will.

The title of most episodes refers to a play or a sonnet by William Shakespeare:

• "Star-Crossed Lovers" from "Romeo and Juliet"
• "The Play's the Thing" from "Hamlet"
• "The Apparel Proclaims the Man" from "Hamlet" and "Twelfth Night"
• "Love Is Not Love" from Sonnet 116
• "What Bloody Man Is That?" from "Macbeth"
• "The Quality of Mercy" from "The Merchant of Venice"
• "The Green-Eyed Monster" from "Othello"
• "I Know Thee Not, Old Man" from "Henry IV, Part II"
• "I Did Adore a Twinkling Star" from "The Two Gentlemen of Verona"
• "Food of Love" from "The Comedy of Errors"
• "Beware My Sting!" from "The Taming of the Shrew"
• "Sweet Sorrow" from "Romeo and Juliet"
• "Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be!" from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
• "Wild Laughter in the Throat of Death" from "Love's Labour's Lost"
• "If You Prick Us, Do We Not Bleed?" from "The Merchant of Venice"
• "Sigh No More" from "Much Ado About Nothing"
• "The Most Unkindest Cut of All" from "Julius Caesar"
• "Go On and I Will Follow" from "As You Like It"
• "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow" from "Macbeth"

The only exceptions are the Christmas specials "A Christmas Crow" and "A Crow Christmas Carol"