It was two o'clock in the morning, British time. James would normally have been in bed and fast asleep by now - but he had forced himself to stay awake. He had followed the twists and turns of Succession for five years, through 39 episodes: tonight was the final one. There was no way he was going to miss it.

Succession has been a TV phenomenon, attracting an enormous audience and winning numerous awards. Some critics have even given it the ultimate accoladeAn award, honour or privilege given to someone. , comparing it to a play by Shakespeare.

The series focuses on a media tycoon, Logan Roy, and three of his children. Logan has risen from humble origins in Scotland to become one of the richest and most powerful men in the US.

He is a foul-mouthed, double-crossing bully who treats his family incredibly badly. His children, however, try to stay close to him because each hopes to take over his media empire when he retires or dies.

Logan is fully aware of their ambitions. He sometimes shows affection for them, but is more often seen exploiting their flaws and playing them off against each other. Even as old age begins to get the better of him, he refuses to name a successor.

The final episode reveals which of them ultimately wins. Writing in The Atlantic, Shirley Li calls it "an equal parts hilarious, repulsive and sensational end to one of the most enthralling series of our era".

There has been much speculation about parallels between the Roys and the Murdoch family. Rupert MurdochAn Australian businessman who has amassed a vast media empire since the 1970s. He has been accused of using the media outlets he controls to further his own business interests., now 92, has six children, three of whom are seen as possible heirs to his huge media business. According to Vanity Fair, his ex-wife Jerry HallAn American model and actress. agreed not to talk to Succession's producers as part of her divorce settlement.

The Shakespeare play with which Succession is often compared is King Lear. This too deals with children competing to succeed their father. But in terms of plot the two are very different.

The play begins with the ageing Lear announcing that he is going to give up his kingdom and divide it equally between his three daughters. First, though, he wants them to declare how much they love him.

Two of them, Goneril and Regan, make empty speeches about their devotion to him. But the youngest, Cordelia, refuses to play the game, saying simply that she loves him as she should. In a fury, Lear casts her out and gives her share of the kingdom to the other two.

But unlike Logan Roy, he finds he has surrendered power too early. Goneril and Regan treat him with such disrespect that he goes mad. The three daughters then fight each other for control of the kingdom. 

Megan Garber, also writing in The Atlantic, argues that King Lear sheds light on modern figures such as Donald Trump and Boris Johnson.

She sees it primarily as "a study of monarchy in crisis - of all that goes wrong when a leader's problems become everyone else's emergency". Or, as Maureen Dowd puts it in The New York Times, the chaos that comes "when madmen lead the blind".

Yes: Many of his plays are about power struggles and family relationships, so he would be fascinated by a 21st Century view of them. He would also appreciate the sharp scriptwriting.  

No: He was also concerned with more fundamental issues such as the struggle between good and evil. Since all the main characters in Succession are bad, it lacks that crucial extra dimension.

Or... He would enjoy Dr Who more. Since the genre of science fiction had not yet been been invented in the Elizabethan age, he would be intrigued by the possibilities that if offers a writer.