History Series / UpstartCrow

* LargeHam: Robert Greene, particularly in episode 3, ''The Apparel Proclaims the Man''

* SequelGap: Two years between "A Crow Christmas Carol" and "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: A Lockdown Christmas 1603", though in-story it's [[TimeSkip seven years]].

* CastingGag: Creator/KennethBranagh, the foremost Shakesperean actor of his generation, guest stars as an uncultured seasonal performer who disgusts the Bard himself.

** "What Bloody Man is This?" takes a very dim view of Scottish nationalism and Scottish nationalists habit of constantly bringing up centuries-old incidents that have no bearing on current events.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Episodes end with Will and Anne sitting by the fire, or in bed, talking about what's happened in that episode. In the season 3 finale, [[spoiler: following Hamnet's death]], they say nothing at all.

-->"I've profited from it enough. We've all healed a little, which I believe is what the stranger hoped when he told me it. Besides, if I'm honest, it's not really me. There's not enough baffling characters and bewildering subplots for my tastes, and frankly I find the complete absence of any crossdressing very disappointing. So I think I'll leave it. Perhaps in some other age, another great English writer -- though not as great as me, obviously -- will be searching for a Christmas story and the stranger will visit him. Let that future writer have it, from me, as a Christmas gift."

** "What Bloody Man is This?" takes a very dim view of Scottish nationalism and Scottish nationalists habit of constantly bringing up centuries-old incidents that have no bearing on current events.[[note]]Real-life Scottish nationalists tend not to do this; it’s an example of Elton letting his politics show again.[[/note]]

* OddCouple: Confident, charismatic, unquenchably cheerful, outgoing Kit Marlowe is best friends with anxious, irritable, self-absorbed worry-wart Will Shakespeare

** Brilliantly done in the season 3 finale "Go On and I Will Follow", where everyone thinks that Will's new play "Hamlet" is a hilarious comedy about a useless college student who can't get his act together, because Will clearly hasn't brought the tragedy into it yet. [[spoiler: By the end of the episode, Hamnet has died and the implication is that Will's grief will turn the play into what it eventually became.]]

* SmallNameBigEgo: Invoked with Will. While he ''is'' a highly intelligent man and a legitimately great storyteller, it's pretty clear that his extremely high thoughts about himself aren't quite justified.

** Kit Marlowe is a dashing scoundrel, a shameless womaniser who is happy to abuse his friendship with Will to get his name on plays he had not written a word of. However when it comes to genuinely ruinous situations Will faces he is happy to step in, sometimes at the risk of his own reputation.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The 2020 Christmas special is nominally about the plague in 1603, but only as the analogy for the Coronavirus pandemic.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: The 2020 Christmas special is nominally about the plague in 1603, but only as the analogy for the Coronavirus pandemic.

** Marlowe's claim that he's actually a spy for Lord Walsingham is a clear reference to modern historical novels' obsession with making every character in the Elizabethan era a spy for the state, and Marlowe in particular.

* {{Crossover}}: Of the single character sort. Judge "Robert Roberts" ("Call me Bob") is strongly implied to be Kate from ''Series/Blackadder II'', being played by the same actor, Gabrielle Glaister, and still disguising herself as a man in order to find work. She's gone up in the world, now being a judge.

* TornFromTheHeadlines: The 2020 Christmas special is nominally about the plague in 1603, but only as the analogy for the Coronavirus pandemic.

** Marlowe's claim that he's actually a spy for Lord Walsingham, is a clear reference to modern historical novels obsession with making every character in the Elizabethan era a spy for the state.