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3. A Fair Youth

Episode 3 of 5

A world of vice and entertainment - the Bard makes his name in London and meets a muse for his sonnets. Read by Toby Stephens.

Arriving in London in the 1580s, Shakespeare moved to Bankside where whorehouses sat beside theatres.

New works were needed. Shakespeare would have seen Tamburlaine by his contemporary, the university educated Christopher Marlowe.

Then audiences flocked to see Shakespeare's own Henry VI plays. By the time his main literary rivals were dead, Richard III and his comedies were staged. And could the 'young and fantastical' Earl of Southampton have inspired Shakespeare's finest love sonnets?

A reconstruction of the life, work and era of William Shakespeare.

Written by Stephen Greenblatt and abridged by Miranda Davies

Read by Toby Stephens

Excerpts read by:

Alice Hart
John Rowe

Producer: Emma Harding

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2004.

15 minutes

Last on

Thu 19 Dec 202403:30
BBC Radio 4 Extra

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2. Married in Haste

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4. Grief and The Globe

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Broadcasts

  • Wed 24 Jun 200914:15
    BBC Radio 7
  • Thu 25 Jun 200904:15
    BBC Radio 7
  • Wed 4 Aug 201015:15
    BBC Radio 7
  • Wed 1 Jun 201115:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Wed 17 Apr 201314:45
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Wed 18 Dec 202408:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Wed 18 Dec 202413:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Wed 18 Dec 202419:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra
  • Thu 19 Dec 202403:30
    BBC Radio 4 Extra