Written by Gareth Roberts
Directed by Charles Palmer
“You should never meet your heroes.”
Oh, The Shakespeare Code…how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…
(1) “Oh brave new world…”
It’s easily the most sumptuous production ever attempted by the revived Doctor Who. Location shooting in Elizabethan settings & within the reconstructed Globe Theatre itself…sets and street-scapes so amazing that you can’t tell where locations end and the studio begins…CGI and effects work that is epic & ridiculously spectacular…
This is reported to be Doctor Who’s most expensive production ever…and it shows. Director Charles Palmer takes a challenge different from last week’s Smith and Jones and turns in an absolutely astonishing piece of artistic expression. If you’re not convinced that you’ve literally taken a trip back to 1599, then you’re probably blind.
(2) “What a piece of work is man…”
The acting is of an equally high caliber…starting with Dean Lennox Kelly as a rock-star Shakespeare with genius & sex appeal pouring out of him like water. Honourable mention must go to Christina Cole as Lilith – her evil, seductive presence is the perfect compliment to the hilariously over-the-top antics of Mothers Doomfinger and Bloodtide.
Then there’s the evolving relationship between the Doctor and Martha, and once again, the amazing chemistry between David Tennant and Freema Agyeman is on full display. There’s a smooth, easy flow to their growing buddy-buddy relationship, and it’s nice to see Martha with a mind – and opinions of – her own…while still occasionally falling victim to her own fears and insecurities. As for the Rose references, it’s nice to see that the Doctor is still coming to terms with her loss without the mooning that could have resulted from the hands of lesser writers. It was certainly nice to see Martha’s irritation at her memory invoked, during the least appropriate of moments. This is definitely going somewhere…
(3) “The play’s the thing…”
“The thing is, though…am I missing something? The world didn’t end in 1599…it just didn’t. Look at me, I’m living proof.”
“Oh…how to explain the mechanics of infinite temporal flux. I know! Back to the Future…it’s like Back to the Future.”
“The film?”
“No, the novelization! Yes, the film!”
Gareth Roberts is no stranger to writing Doctor Who – with nine Doctor Who novels going back to 1992, the wit, imagination, and genius for dialogue that one could always find in his written pages finally arrives on-screen for all the world to share. The in-jokes (I love the Freedonia gag!), dialogue in iambic pentameter, sparkling lines, even the realization that Shakespeare’s dark lady is our very own time-travelling medical student…wow! This is a literary bounty that can be dipped into time and again…just like the works of Shakespeare himself. 
(4) “Expeliarmus!”
J.K. Rowling should be (like the Doctor) on 10 per cent…considering all the fantastic jokes at Harry Potter’s expense. She even gets a great big thank you!
This is absolutely divine – just as enjoyable and fast-paced as last week’s season opener, and in the finest traditions of Doctor Who’s best pseudo-historicals of the past (especially The Time Warrior & The Talons of Weng-Chiang…Robert Holmes would be so proud). Like the theatre that forms the heart of this story, The Shakespeare Code is full of the right kind of magic…and reminds us of Doctor Who’s best lesson: words are power.
Hey nonny nonny! Shakespeare would have given his teeth to put on this kind of show.
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