If you haven’t seen Bill yet, go see it. If you have seen Bill, go see it again. You know you want to.

Exploring the genre of speculative history with its tongue firmly lodged in cheek, the makers of Horrible Histories set out to give a possible (but probably not true) account of a period in the life of William Shakespeare about which we know very little.

Mathew Baynton fits perfectly into the titular role: ambitious but floundering Bill, having been ousted from his band, Mortal Coil (which surely makes a case for it being about time we see a surge of lute-filled indie folk enter heavy rotation on, like, BBC 6Music), finds himself in search of a new vocation. Despite protestations from his wife, Anne (Martha Howe-Douglas), Bill eschews the prospect of a normal job and makes for London to seek his fortunes as a playwright.

All this culminates first in an acting stint alongside the venerable Christopher Marlowe (Jim Howick), in which Bill performs the illustrious role of a tomato. As he endeavours to ascend to playwriting success, he finds himself embroiled in a sticky mess of politics and danger as moustachioed menace Philip II of Spain (Ben Willbond) and his gaggle of henchmen hatch a plot against Queen Elizabeth I (Helen McCrory), enlisted to write a play by the gloriously dim Earl of Crawley Croydon (Simon Farnaby), while Walsingham (Laurence Rickard) continues in his dogged pursuit of Catholic threat.

It’s wonderful to see such joy and enthusiasm in all of the performances here, as the cast take on a range of hilarious roles.

The script, co-written by cast members Willbond and Laurence Rickard, is every bit as much silly, giggle-inducing fun as you would expect from a team behind CBBC’s Horrible Histories and Sky1’s puppet-infused fantasy series Yonderland, with a good measure of heart, to boot.

Quality viewing indeed for fans of history and giggles.

Released in UK cinemas on Friday 18 September 2015.

> Read more by Sami Kelsh on her website.

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