Shakespeare & Hathaway season 4 recap: Everything to know before season 5 airs

BBC and Amazon Prime Video’s Shakespeare & Hathaway, which first premiered in 2018, is all set to return with its fifth season. Season 5 had already begun streaming for the viewers and audience in the UK from September 24, 2025, while for North American audiences, the show will premiere on BritBox on November 25, 2025.

The comedy mystery series, created by Jude Tindall and Paul Matthew Thompson, focuses on Luelle Shakespeare, who, after the death of her fiancé, joined the private detective Frank Hathaway to assist and help him in solving some strange and peculiar cases in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The three main protagonists of the show are played by veteran actors Mark Benton and Patrick Walshe McBride and veteran actress Jo Joyner. 

In season 4 of Shakespeare & Hathaway, there were 9 episodes in total, along with a 10th Christmas special. Luella and Frank were shown having to collaborate with their acquaintances, like the computer expert Spider and their sidekick Sebastian Brudenell. Apart from solving top-tier mysteries and criminal investigations, the show also deals with the raw emotions of the characters.

In one episode, Luella ends up running into her estranged sister in an undercover operation and has to make a difficult choice. In the last episode of season 4, episode 10, Frank and Luella deal with a special case, while Sebastian becomes independent enough to take on his first ever solo case, which makes for an emotional season finale. 

Details explored on everything that happened in season 4 of Shakespeare & Hathaway

BBC and Amazon Prime Video’s Shakespeare & Hathaway, which premiered for the first time in 2018, is all set to return for its fifth season after a long hiatus. In season 4 of the show, which aired from February 14, 2022, to February 24, 2022, the protagonists of the show were Frank Shakespeare, a private investigator, and Luelle Shakespeare, a former hairdresser who had joined forces with Frank in helping him solve crimes in Stratford-upon-Avon after the tragic death of her fiancé.

In the first episode of the show, both Frank and Lu end up going to the Silicon Valley of Stratford after finding out from their computer expert, called Spider, that the company had someone on the inside who had been leaking secrets outside.

Frank and Lu collaborated and ended up solving the corporate espionage case, and also had to move on to bigger cases, like that of the mysterious and suspicious drowning of the former Miss Stratford and how her death was also tied to a 500,000 pound life insurance cheque which her husband, Jonathan, was all set to receive.

In another episode of the season called Most Wicked Speed, Frank and Lu delved into a case to try to help an American investigator clear his name after he had been booked on charges of murder, which he had allegedly not committed. That case also ended up being an eye-opener for the two of them, and they understood how their rival worlds worked. 

In the episode called Hunger for Bread, Lu went undercover in a slimming club and ended up finding out that her estranged sister was a part of it, and had to confront some raw emotions from her past regarding her family members. In the season finale of the show, Lu and Frank had to end up solving a case involving a voice in the dark who had been threatening to spoil all the Christmas festivities.

In addition to their case, their beloved sidekick, Sebastian, also went on his first-ever solo case, and it was a proud moment for them.

Stay tuned for more updates.