Bill (PG)
Directed by Richard Bracewell
4/5

ANYONE who has children might well agree that one of the unexpected joys — or necessary burdens — of parenthood is having to accompany kids to the cinema. Not this time, though.

The Bafta-winning stars of TV’s Horrible Histories deliver a wild and wonderful tale of William Shakespeare’s early days that parents and children alike will enjoy.

“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players... one man in his time plays many parts,” the Bard opined and he surely would have approved of what director Richard Bracewell, screenwriters Laurence Richard and Ben Willbond and a lively cast have done to fill in his “missing” years.

The fun begins, not in Stratford-upon-Avon, but in Spain.

There, dashing British daredevil Sir Richard Hawkins (Damien Lewis, splendidly and laughably swashbuckling) is taken captive by the King of Spain, amusingly overacted by co-writer Willbond. This dastardly action is the Spaniards’ first stage in their diabolical plot to assassinate England’s Queen Elizabeth I, played to perfection by Helen McCrory.

Then it’s back to Stratford. There, lute player and aspirant dramatist Bill Shakespeare (Matthew Baynton, memorably funny) is dumped by his colleagues from their modernistic — especially for the Elizabethan era — pop group Mortal Coil.

Unabashed, Shakespeare tells everybody: “I’ve written a great play for the stage” and heads to London determined to achieve his ambition to become a playwright, leaving his wife (Martha Howe-Douglas) and family finally to follow him to London.

Lively lunacy follows fast and frequently as the players, each of them following The Bard’s instructions and playing many parts, save the Queen from being killed.

Comic invention rarely flags and the enthusiasm of the entire cast is infectious. While historical correctness is more Blackadder than accurate, Bill is great fun for young and old alike.