Blackadder is a series of four period British sitcoms — The Black Adder, Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth — along with several one-off installments, that originally aired on BBC1 from 1983 to 1989. All episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's servant Baldrick. Each series was set in a different historical period, with the two protagonists accompanied by different characters, though several reappear in one series or another, including Tim McInnerny as Percy and Darling, Stephen Fry as Melchett, and Hugh Laurie as George.
The first series was written by Atkinson and Richard Curtis, while the subsequent three series were written by Curtis and Ben Elton. All four series were produced by John Lloyd. In 2000, Blackadder Goes Forth ranked at 16 in the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, a list created by the British Film Institute. In a 2001 poll by Channel 4, Edmund Blackadder was ranked third on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters. In the 2004 TV poll to find Britain's Best Sitcom, Blackadder (all four series combined) was voted the second-best British sitcom of all time, topped by Only Fools and Horses. It was also ranked as the ninth-best TV show of all time by Empire magazine in 2009. Atkinson has said Blackadder was "the least stressful" of all his work, due to the "feeling of shared responsibility among a lot of really good actors".
Premise
Each series comprises six half-hour episodes and is set in a different period of British history. The first series, made in 1983, was titled The Black Adder and was set in the fictional reign of "Richard IV". The second series, Blackadder II (1986), was set during the reign of Elizabeth I. Blackadder the Third (1987) was set in the Regency era in the late 18th and early 19th centuries during the reign of George III. Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) was set in 1917 in the trenches of the Great War.
Blackadder follows the misfortunes of Edmund Blackadder (played by Atkinson). It is implied in each series that the Blackadder character is a descendant of the previous one. The end theme lyrics of the series 2 episode "Head" specify that he is the great-grandson of the previous incarnation, although it is never specified how or when any of the Blackadders (who are usually bachelors) manage to father children.. Retrieved 25 July 2010
In series 1, Edmund Blackadder is not particularly bright, and is much the intellectual inferior of his servant, Baldrick (played by Tony Robinson). However, in subsequent series, the positions are reversed: Blackadder is clever, shrewd, scheming and manipulative while Baldrick is extremely dim.
Each incarnation of Blackadder and Baldrick is also saddled with tolerating the presence of a dimwitted aristocrat. In the first two series, this is Percy, played by Tim McInnerny. Hugh Laurie plays the role in the third and fourth series, as George. Characters of a higher organisational standing, such as Stephen Fry's Melchett in series 2 and 4, and McInnerny's other character, Darling, in series 4, provide antagonistic figures for Blackadder to deal with.
Episodes
Series 1: The Black Adder
The Black Adder, the first series of Blackadder, was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson and produced by John Lloyd, who would also produce the subsequent three series. It originally aired on BBC1 from 15 June to 20 July 1983, and was a joint production with the Australian Seven Network.
Set in 1485 at the end of the British Middle Ages, the series is written as an alternative history in which Richard III won the Battle of Bosworth Field only to be mistaken for someone else and assassinated, and is succeeded by Richard IV (Brian Blessed), one of the Princes in the Tower. The series follows the exploits of Richard IV's unfavoured second son Prince Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh (played by Atkinson), who calls himself "The Black Adder", in his various attempts to increase his standing with his father and his eventual quest to overthrow him. Other regular characters in this series are Edmund's mother Gertrude, Queen of Flanders (Elspet Gray), his brother Harry, Prince of Wales (Robert East), his sidekick Lord Percy Percy, the Duke of Northumberland (Tim McInnerny), and his squire Baldrick (Tony Robinson). Guest appearances in this series include Peter Cook as King Richard III, Russell Enoch as the Duke of Winchester, Miriam Margolyes as the Infanta Maria Escalosa of Spain (with Jim Broadbent as her interpreter), Frank Finlay as the Witchsmeller Pursuivant, Valentine Dyall as Lord Angus, Stephen Frost and Mark Arden as guards, and Rik Mayall as Mad Gerald.
Conceived while Atkinson and Curtis were working on Not the Nine O'Clock News, the series dealt comically with a number of aspects of medieval life in Britain: witchcraft, royal succession, European relations, the Crusades, and the conflict between the Church and the Crown. Along with the secret history, many historical events portrayed in the series were anachronistic (for example, Constantinople had already fallen to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, predating the events in the episode by 32 years); this dramatic licence would continue in the three subsequent Blackadder series. The filming of the series was highly ambitious, with a large cast and much location shooting. The series also featured Shakespearean dialogue, often adapted for comic effect; the end credits featured the words "Additional Dialogue by William Shakespeare".
Series 2: Blackadder II
Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, was written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, the team who would also write the subsequent two series, and originally aired on BBC1 from 9 January to 20 February 1986. The series is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), often referred to as "Queenie", who is portrayed by Miranda Richardson. The principal character is Edmund, Lord Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson), the great-grandson of the original Black Adder. During the series, he regularly deals with the Queen, her obsequious Lord Chamberlain Lord Melchett (Stephen Fry; his rival for the Queen's affections), his friend Lord Percy Percy (Tim McInnerny) and the Queen's demented former nanny Nursie (Patsy Byrne). Tony Robinson returned as Blackadder's servant Baldrick. Guest appearances in the series include Tom Baker as Captain Redbeard Rum, Simon Jones as Sir Walter Raleigh, Ronald Lacey as the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and Miriam Margoyles as Blackadder's aunt, Lady Whiteadder. The series also features two appearances by Hugh Laurie (as Simon Partridge, a friend of Blackadder's, in the episode "Beer", and as Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in the series' finale "Chains"), a returning Rik Mayall, this time as Lord Flashheart, and the first appearance of Gabrielle Glaister as Kate/"Bob" (a young woman who pretends to be a boy in order to achieve a well-paying job).
Following the BBC's request for improvements (and a severe budget reduction), several changes were made. In addition to Ben Elton joining Richard Curtis as co-writer, this second series was the first to establish the familiar Blackadder character: cunning, shrewd and witty, in sharp contrast to the first series' bumbling Prince Edmund. To reduce the cost of production, it was shot with virtually no outdoor scenes (the first series was shot largely on location) and several frequently used indoor sets, such as the Queen's throne room and Blackadder's front room.
In 2008, a quote from this series ranked number three in a list of the top 25 television "putdowns" of the past 40 years by the Radio Times magazine: "The eyes are open, the mouth moves, but Mr. Brain has long since departed, hasn't he, Percy?"
Series 3: Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third, the third series of Blackadder, originally aired on BBC1 from 17 September to 22 October 1987. The series is set in the Regency period, the late 18th and early 19th centuries. In the series, Mr. Edmund Blackadder Esquire (Rowan Atkinson) is a butler to George, Prince Regent, played by Hugh Laurie as a buffoonish fop. Despite Edmund's respected intelligence and abilities, he has no personal fortune to speak of, apart from his frequently fluctuating wage packet from the Prince (“If I’m running short of cash, all I have to do is go upstairs and ask Prince Fathead for a raise”), and from (it seems) stealing the Prince's socks and selling them off. As usual, Blackadder also has his own servant Baldrick (Tony Robinson). The episode titles were puns on Jane Austen’s novels Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice.
Along with Atkinson, Robinson, and Laurie, this series also starred Helen Atkinson-Wood as Mrs. Miggins. The series features Dr. Samuel Johnson (Robbie Coltrane); William Pitt the Younger (Simon Osborne); the French Revolution (with Chris Barrie, Tim McInnerny as the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Nigel Planer); hammy theatrical actors (Kenneth Connor and Hugh Paddick); Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Jim Sweeney); Shelley (Lee Cornes); Lord Byron (Steve Steen); Amy Hardwood (aka "The Shadow") (Miranda Richardson); and the Duke of Wellington (Stephen Fry).
Series 4: Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth and final series of Blackadder, originally aired on BBC1 from 28 September to 2 November 1989. This series is set in 1917, on the Western Front of the First World War. Another "big push" is planned, and Captain Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) has one goal—to avoid being killed—but his schemes always land him back in the trenches. Blackadder is joined by his batman Private S. Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and idealistic Edwardian twit Lieutenant George (Hugh Laurie). General Melchett (Stephen Fry) rallies his troops from a French château from the front, where he is aided and abetted by his assistant, Captain Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny), pencil-pusher supreme and Blackadder's nemesis, whose last name is played on for maximum comedic value. Guest appearances in this series include Stephen Frost as the leader of a firing squad detail, Miranda Richardson as Nurse Mary Fletcher-Brown, two further appearances of Gabrielle Glaister as "Bob" (in this series, a young woman who pretends to be a boy in order to join the army), Rik Mayall as Royal Flying Corps Squadron Commander The Lord Flasheart, Adrian Edmondson as Baron Manfred von Richthofen (aka "The Red Baron"), and Geoffrey Palmer as Field Marshal Douglas Haig.
The series' tone is somewhat darker than the previous three series; it details the privations of trench warfare as well as the incompetence and life-wasting strategies of the top brass. For example, Baldrick is reduced to cooking rats and making coffee from mud, while General Melchett hatches a plan for the troops to walk very slowly toward the German lines, because "it'll be the last thing Fritz will expect."
The final episode, "Goodbyeee", is known for being extraordinarily poignant for a comedy – especially the final scene, which sees four of the five main characters (Blackadder, Baldrick, George, and Darling) finally going "over the top" and charging off into the fog and smoke of no man's land, presumably to die. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 and voted for by industry professionals, Blackadder Goes Forth was placed 16th.
Specials
Pilot episode