In the second part of this investigation into the life of the world's greatest writer, Micheal Wood explains how this young man from Stratford became a star of the London stage, and uncovers a tale of religious conflict behind Shakespeare's lost years. He travels with the Royal Shakespeare Company who perform the plays in a Tudor inn yard as Shakespeare did, and using Tudor maps and remarkable Victorian photos brings his first London home back to life. And he follows Shakespeare's great rival Christopher Marlow on his fateful journey by river to Deptford -- and a murder which left 29 year old Shakespeare as the star of Elizabethan London.

Note: This is part 2 of a series of 4 parts.