Written by: Gareth Roberts | Directed by: Charles Palmer

Screen Caps
The Story
The Doctor and Martha land in Elizabethan England in the year 1599. The Doctor has taken Martha to see a performance of Shakespeare's A Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre. After the show the man himself appears promising his audience a premier of the sequel A Love's Labour's Won the following evening.

However, all is not well. A trio of witch-like creatures are manipulating Shakespeare's words in order to free the rest of their kind from captivity in the hope of laying claim to the Earth. One of them sends Shakespeare to sleep and pens the last line of the play - the line that will free her kind...

Memorable Quotes
Doctor: Watch as he chooses the best words - new, beautiful, brilliant words.
Shakespeare: Ah shut your big fat mouths!

Actor: I don't think much of sequels, they're never as good as the original.

Doctor: How to explain the mechanics of the infinite temporal flux? I know! Back to the Future! Just like Back to the Future.
Martha: The film?
Doctor: No, the Novelisation! Yes, the film!

Editor's Review
The Shakespeare Code was quite similar to The Unquiet Dead in a way. There was an historical setting, a famous writer and a theatre involved. The character of Shakespeare was an unusual one and strayed far from the classical portrayal of the Bard - most likely done to appeal to the younger viewers. Christina Cole's witch was quite impressive I felt.

Again it was quite a good story with the promise of another encounter with Elizabeth the first. (Dan Ludlow)

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