Queen Elizabeth I rules the country and Christopher Marlowe rules the theatre. From Stratford-upon-Avon, a young man called William Shakespeare arrives in London determined to match Marlowe as poet and playwright.

As England lies ravaged by plague, Shakespeare has usurped Marlowe as playwright of the day.

Will Shakespeare produces the greatest play about young love - Romeo and Juliet. But what of his own love? Who is the 'dark lady' he adores and curses in his sonnets?

Shakespeare wishes for his son Hamnet to have everything, despite disapproval from the rest of his family.

Shakespeare is drawn into the dangerous political intrigues of Robert Devereux the Second Earl of Essex.