Robert Greene

 was an English playwright and poet and a contemporary of William Shakespeare. He fell victim to a plague and began dying in the shadow of the great playwright in 1592. On his deathbed, he wrote the pamphlet A Groatsworth of Wit, which was a "heartfelt repentence" for his life lived. Two Shadeys from a separate dimension, Bloodfinger and Woodscrape, appeared before him, deciding to manipulate him to feed on his negative energy. They allowed him to travel forward in time 400 years and used his feelings of anger toward Shakespeare and his fear of being forgotten after death against him, causing Greene to revolt and decide to murder the playwright by travelling back to 1592, and then besiege the Earth in revenge for his ultimate fate.

However, the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler convinced him to cast out the Shadeys by pledging to remember him after he died. Robert decided to comply and then returned to the house of a poor shoemaker, where he finally passed, but not in feelings of ill will toward Shakespeare. Instead, his last thoughts were of being remembered by the Doctor and Rose as "bigger than Shakespeare." (COMIC: A Groatsworth of Wit)