Evil Genius with Russell Kane - William Shakespeare

He’s the most famous writer of all time; but before his reign of terror over the GCSE syllabus, William ‘Shag-speare’ was an upcoming playwright with humble beginnings in Stratford-upon-Avon. But was he more evil, or genius? Did he put the ‘knob’ into Two Noble Kinsmen, or just the ‘mid’ into Midsummer Night’s Dream? It’s up to Stephen Bailey, Kate Cheka and Steve Bugeja to decide whether the Bard of Avon was a bisexual icon, or a bit of a bastard.

Additional material: Christina Riggs and Katie Sayer
Researcher: Christina Riggs
Recording Engineer: Dom Boucher
Sound Editor: Kate Mac
Production Coordinator: Liz Tuohy
Executive Producer: Paul Smith

The producer was Katie Sayer. Evil Genius with Russell Kane is a BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds.

Published on Wednesday, 20th May 2026.

Available Podcasts from Evil Genius with Russell Kane

Subscribe to Evil Genius with Russell Kane

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Evil Genius with Russell Kane webpage.