In a new BBC comedy by Ben Elton

David Mitchell is to star as William Shakespeare in a BBC sitcom pilot by Ben Elton.

Upstart Crow, which takes its title from dramatist Robert Greene's insult for Shakespeare, will focus on the playwright's life before he became famous.

The plot of the BBC Two pilot, which calls to mind Elton's scripts for the Elizabethan second series of Blackadder, revolves around a purloined play, a wise wife, a stroppy teen and the underhand machinations of England's sexiest spy, described as 'combining in a mirthful entertainment suitable for groundlings and gentlefolk alike'.

No other casting details have been revealed but stand-up Spencer Jones and The Inbetweeners' Emily Atack were involved in script readthroughs last year.

Mitchell previously appeared in the BBC's 2005 modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew by Sally Wainwright, playing Katherine's hapless secretary, and has also played Paroles and the King in productions of All's Well That Ends Well.

Upstart Crow is also Elton's first BBC commission since 2013's poorly received sitcom The Wright Way, which followed his cancelled Australian TV flop Live From Planet Earth.

The setting of echoes the forthcoming film Bill, from the team behind Horrible Histories, also set in the years before Shakespeare became famous as a playwright. Written by Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond it is due out on August 21.

'Upstart Crow' comes from a 1592 pamphlet credited to playwright Robert Greene, which caused a stir for being critical of other playwrights. The comment in Groats-worth of Witte, about an 'upstart crow beautified with our feathers' is generally accepted as a reference to Shakespeare, who is criticised as an actor who has the temerity to write plays.

Recording of the pilot – which is not for broadcast – will take place on April 27. Tickets are available here

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 2 Apr 2015