William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare won reknown as the greatest poet and playwright in the history of England and one of the greatest in Human history.

Appearances
Via the Space-Time Visualizer, the Doctor and his companions watched William Shakespeare in conversation with Queen Elizabeth I. (DW: The Chase)

References and mentions
The Doctor claimed to have known the young Shakespeare, calling him a little boy who never said a word when he didn't need to. The Doctor also recognizes the handwriting in an original draft of Shakespeare's Hamlet as being his own, Shakespeare having sprained his wrist writing sonnets. The Doctor also said that he had warned Shakespeare that Hamlet's line "to take up arms against a sea of troubles" was a mixed metaphor, but that Shakespeare would not listen. (DW: City of Death)

Quotations and minor references

 * Planet of Evil (anecdote by the Doctor)
 * The Mark of the Rani (quoted)
 * The Two Doctors (Hamlet quoted)
 * The Ultimate Foe (Hamlet quoted)
 * The Empire of Glass (perhaps?)
 * Charles Dickens used the exclamation, "What the Shakespeare?!" to express alarm. (DW: The Unquiet Dead)


 * An obvious play on the expression, "What the dickens?"