PICK OF THE DAY

UPSTART CROW, 8.30PM, BBC2

BEN ELTON’S witty Elizabethan sitcom based on the life of husband, father, commuter aand literary genius William Shakespeare (David Mit Mitchell, h ll pictured)i returns for a third series. In a cracking first episode, Will is affronted when Kate (Gemma Whelan) questions the political correctness of his latest play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Warning her that, if unmarried, ‘clever gobby birds’ are seen as witches, Will is delighted when a wealthy but warty old lord (Nigel Planer) takes a shine to Kate — much to her horror. Could a magic love potion bought from a woodland sprite send Kate running into the lord’s arms?