Gareth Roberts' "The Shakespeare Code" is an episode I originally disliked upon first watching as a kid when it aired & yet as I've grown in to an adult, I've also equally grown to really admire it over time.
The installment boasts a brilliant sense of humour - littered with topical jokes which equate to continuously self aware winks to the camera - ones I wouldn't have understood as a child; a probable contributing factor as to why I initially responded so badly to its release. Additionally, it has a lot of jokes which aren't considered politically correct anymore - but this seems like a deliberate creative choice considering he (the writer) later makes an accurate observational jab about the ever-changing terms which are considered acceptable & how new names / ways of referencing one another / words or phrases continue to modify & be invented throughout history as public perceptions shift & whilst time slowly progresses.
It's an acknowledgement of the unavoidable - embracing it rather than fighting against that inevitability & instead of attempting to remain current & ensure the relevancy of his script for decades to come, he alternatively (& rather boldly) revels in the finality of it - as (like "Love's Labours Won") those words will surely be gone forever some day - so we're encouraged to enjoy them while they last.
Hence, this works in the outing's favour because (as was preemptively predicted by the episode) watching it 13 years later, it has grown a little dated with the terminologies used - just as all works of literature do - but these works persist regardless, as great stories are timeless, irrespective of when they're told to an audience or read - which is the main point conveyed in the narrative - reaffirmed cleverly merely by its existence, in & of itself.
It's an ode to writers - past, present & future - (playing on lines by Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, JK Rowling etc.) paying homage to their collective contributions whilst restyling & refashioning them for what was then (in 2007) a modern audience.
This culminates to form something potentially controversial in 2020 - but that doesn't detract from the power of the central themes - it actually ironically validates them.
The installment boasts a brilliant sense of humour - littered with topical jokes which equate to continuously self aware winks to the camera - ones I wouldn't have understood as a child; a probable contributing factor as to why I initially responded so badly to its release. Additionally, it has a lot of jokes which aren't considered politically correct anymore - but this seems like a deliberate creative choice considering he (the writer) later makes an accurate observational jab about the ever-changing terms which are considered acceptable & how new names / ways of referencing one another / words or phrases continue to modify & be invented throughout history as public perceptions shift & whilst time slowly progresses.
It's an acknowledgement of the unavoidable - embracing it rather than fighting against that inevitability & instead of attempting to remain current & ensure the relevancy of his script for decades to come, he alternatively (& rather boldly) revels in the finality of it - as (like "Love's Labours Won") those words will surely be gone forever some day - so we're encouraged to enjoy them while they last.
Hence, this works in the outing's favour because (as was preemptively predicted by the episode) watching it 13 years later, it has grown a little dated with the terminologies used - just as all works of literature do - but these works persist regardless, as great stories are timeless, irrespective of when they're told to an audience or read - which is the main point conveyed in the narrative - reaffirmed cleverly merely by its existence, in & of itself.
It's an ode to writers - past, present & future - (playing on lines by Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, JK Rowling etc.) paying homage to their collective contributions whilst restyling & refashioning them for what was then (in 2007) a modern audience.
This culminates to form something potentially controversial in 2020 - but that doesn't detract from the power of the central themes - it actually ironically validates them.