Wood explains how Shakespeare became a star of the London stage.

Michael Wood explains how Shakespeare became a star of the London stage, and uncovers a tale of religious conflict behind his lost years. Wood travels with the Royal Shakespeare Company, who perform the plays in a Tudor inn yard as Shakespare's company did, and using Tudor maps and remarkable Victorian photos, he brings Shakespeare's first London home back to life. He also follows Shakespeare's great rival, Christopher Marlowe, on his fateful journey by river to Deptford and the murder that left 29-year-old William the star of Elizabethan London.