David Mitchell confirms Upstart Crow future after BBC talks over Christmas special
Ludwig star David Mitchell has given an update on the future of Upstart Crow.
David Mitchell has confirmed Upstart Crow has been axed by the BBC despite talks over a Christmas special.
The BAFTA-nominated sitcom, which starred the 52-year-old actor as a fictionalised version of William Shakespeare and was written by Blackadder creator Ben Elton, won't be returning for a fourth series.
David told The Sun newspaper's TVBiz column: "There was a time, quite recently, when the BBC was giving serious consideration to more Upstart Crow, possibly in the form of a Christmas special.
“But sadly nothing has come of it and now there are no plans for future episodes, which is a shame because it was a show of which I felt enormously proud and I know Ben — who I think is a genius — did too.”
The name Upstart Crow was taken from a real life jibe towards Shakespeare from rival writer Robert Greene, played by Mark Heap in the show.
The series launched in 2016 and ran for three six-episode series, plus three Christmas specials.
The last episode aired in December 2020.
As well as David and Mark, the cast also included Liza Tarbuck as Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway, Harry Enfield as his dad John, and Gemma Whelan and Helen Monks as his daughters Susanna and Kate.
Despite no plans for more Upstart Crow, David is still on good terms with the BBC, with crime drama Ludwig - which returned last week - already commissioned for a third series.
The detective series sees David portray puzzle maker John "Ludwig" Taylor and his identical twin brother, detective chief inspector James Taylor.
David stars opposite Anna Maxwell Martin, who portrays James' wife Lucy Betts-Taylor, and Dylan Hughes appears as Ludwig's nephew Henry Betts-Taylor.
Asked about the appeal of cosy crime dramas, he recently told the BBC: "The truth is that we live in troubled times.
"The golden age of crime, as they call it, was the 1930s, and that's when people disappeared into their Dorothy L. Sayers novels, and Agatha Christie.
"That was also an extremely troubled era. Let's hope that this cosy crime boom ends more happily than the 1930s one did."
The Would I Lie To You star insisted that the team behind Ludwig were "quite worried" about nailing the "balance between mystery and humour".
He explained: "It's a comedy drama, not a straight drama. Although, my view is that any drama with no comic element is flawed.
"The main thrust is caring about the plot and the characters and then the comedy is decorative to that.
"The risk in Ludwig was putting too many jokes in, so the plot is undermined and becomes silly and a spoof.
"You need it to be broadly straight, but then to have funny elements that are believable for the characters."
