Blackadder

Bgcolour	#000
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Show name	Blackadder
Caption	Left to right: (back) Tim McInnerny,Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie,(front) Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinsonin Blackadder Goes Forth
Genre	Period, Situation comedy
Creator	Richard CurtisRowan Atkinson
Starring	Rowan AtkinsonTony RobinsonTim McInnernyMiranda RichardsonStephen FryHugh Laurie
Theme music composer	Howard Goodall
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Num series	4
Num episodes	24 (plus 3 specials)
List episodes	List of Blackadder episodes
Producer	John Lloyd
Camera	Multi-camera
Runtime	30 minutes approx
Network	BBC1
Picture format	PAL (576i)
Audio format	Monaural sound
First aired
Last aired
Website	http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/

Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, 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, for example Melchett and Lord Flashheart.

The first series was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, while subsequent episodes were written by Curtis and Ben Elton. The shows were produced by John Lloyd. In 2000 the fourth series, Blackadder Goes Forth, ranked at 16 in the "100 Greatest British Television Programmes", a list created by the British Film Institute. Also in the 2004 TV poll to find "Britain's Best Sitcom", Blackadder was voted the second-best British sitcom of all time, topped by Only Fools and Horses. It was also ranked as the 20th-best TV show of all time by Empire magazine.

Premise

Although each series is set in a different era, all follow the fortunes (or rather, misfortunes) of Edmund Blackadder (played by Atkinson), who in each is a member of a British family dynasty present at many significant periods and places in British history. It is implied in each series that the Blackadder character is a descendant of the previous one, although it is never mentioned how any of the Blackadders manage to father children.

Although the character is quite unintelligent in the first series, he is increasingly clever and perceptive in subsequent generations (while decreasing in social status). Each Blackadder though is a cynical, cowardly opportunist concerned with maintaining and increasing his own status and fortunes, regardless of his surroundings.

The lives of each of the Blackadders are also entwined with their servants, all from the Baldrick family line (played by Tony Robinson). Each generation acts as the dogsbody to his respective Blackadder. They decrease in intelligence (and in personal hygiene standards) just as their masters' intellect increases. Each Blackadder and Baldrick are also saddled with the company of a dim-witted aristocrat whose presence Blackadder must somehow tolerate. This role was taken in the first two series by Lord Percy Percy (Tim McInnerny), in the third series by Prince George, Prince Regent, and in the fourth by Lieutenant George, the latter two played by Hugh Laurie.

Each series was set in a different period of British history, beginning in 1485 and ending in 1917 comprising six half-hour episodes. The first series, made in 1983, was called The Black Adder (set in the fictional reign of 'Richard IV'). This was followed by a second series, Blackadder II (1986) set during the reign of Elizabeth I), a third series Blackadder the Third (1987) set during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the reign of George III, and finally Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) in 1917, set in the trenches of the Great War.

Series and specials

Series 1: The Black Adder

The Black Adder was the first series of Blackadder and was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, and produced by John Lloyd. The series was originally aired on BBC1 from 15 June 1983 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 a secret history which contends that King Richard III won the Battle of Bosworth Field, only to be accidentally murdered, and is succeeded by Richard IV, one of the Princes in the Tower. The series follows the exploits of Richard IV's unfavoured second son Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh (who calls himself "The Black Adder") in his various attempts to increase his standing with his father (although in one episode it is revealed he is illegitimate) and his eventual quest to overthrow him.

Conceived while Atkinson and Curtis were working on Not the Nine O'Clock News, the series dealt comically with a number of medieval issues 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, the last Crusade to the Holy Land ended in 1291); this poetic licence would continue in the subsequent Blackadders. 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 is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), played by Miranda Richardson. The principal character is Edmund, Lord Blackadder, the great-grandson of the original Black Adder. During the series, he often comes into contact with the Queen, her obsequious Lord Chamberlain Lord Melchett (Stephen Fry) with whom he has a rivalry, and The Queen's demented former nanny Nursie (Patsy Byrne).

Following the BBC's request for improvements (and a severe budget reduction), several changes were made. The second series was the first to establish the familiar Blackadder character: cunning, shrewd and witty, in sharp contrast to the bumbling Prince Edmund of the first series. To make the show more cost-effective, it was also shot with virtually no outdoor scenes (in contrast to the first series which was shot largely on location) and several, frequently used, indoor sets, such as the Queen's throne room and Blackadder's front room.

A quote from this series ranked number three in a list of the top 25 television 'put downs' of the last 40 years by the Radio Times magazine. It was the following insult directed at Lord Percy by Edmund Blackadder: "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 is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the Regency. In the series, E. Blackadder Esquire is the butler to the Prince of Wales (the prince is played by Hugh Laurie as a complete fop and idiot). 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, as he says: 'If I'm running short of cash all I have to do is go upstairs and ask Prince Fat-head for a raise'.

As well as Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson in their usual roles, this series starred Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent, and Helen Atkinson-Wood as Mrs. Miggins. The series features rotten boroughs (or "rubber buttons"), Dr. Samuel Johnson (played by Robbie Coltrane), William Pitt the Younger (Simon Osborne), the French Revolution (featuring Chris Barrie, Nigel Planer and Tim McInnerny as the Scarlet Pimpernel), over-the-top theatrical actors, a squirrel-hating transvestite highwayman, and a duel with the Duke of Wellington (played by Stephen Fry).

Series 4: Blackadder Goes Forth

This series is set in 1917, on the Western Front in the trenches of the First World War. Another "big push" is planned, and Captain Blackadder's one goal is to avoid being killed, so he plots ways to get out of it. 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 thirty-five miles from the front, where he is aided and abetted by his assistant, Captain Darling (Tim McInnerny), pencil-pusher supreme and Blackadder's nemesis, whose name is played on for maximum comedy value.

The series is somewhat darker in tone than the other Blackadders; it details the depredations of trench warfare as well as the infamous incompetence and life-wasting strategies of the top brass. For example, Baldrick is reduced to making coffee from mud and cooking rats, 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 of this series, "Goodbyeee", is known for being extraordinarily poignant for a comedy – especially the final scene, which sees the main characters (Blackadder, Baldrick, George, and Darling) finally venturing forward and charging off to die in the fog and smoke of no man's land. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, Blackadder Goes Forth was placed 16th.

Specials

Pilot episode

The Blackadder pilot was shot but never aired on terrestrial TV in the UK (although some scenes were shown in the 25th anniversary special Blackadder Rides Again). One notable difference in the pilot, as in many pilots, is the casting. Baldrick is played not by Tony Robinson, but by Philip Fox. Another significant difference is that the character of Prince Edmund presented in the pilot is much closer to the intelligent, conniving Blackadder of the later series than the snivelling, weak Edmund of the original series. Set in the year 1582, the script of the pilot is roughly the same as the episode "Born to be King", albeit with some different jokes, with some lines appearing in other episodes of the series.

Blackadder: The Cavalier Years

This special, set in the English Civil War, was shown as part of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on Friday 5 February 1988. The 15-minute episode is set in November 1648, during the last days of the Civil War. Sir Edmund Blackadder and his servant, Baldrick, are the last two men loyal to the defeated King Charles I of England (played by Stephen Fry, portrayed as a soft-spoken, ineffective, slightly dim character, with the voice and mannerisms of Charles I's namesake, the current Prince of Wales). However, due to a misunderstanding between Oliver Cromwell (guest-star Warren Clarke) and Baldrick, the king is arrested and sent to the Tower of London. The rest of the episode revolves around Blackadder's attempts to save the king, as well as improve his standing.

Blackadder's Christmas Carol

The second special was broadcast on Friday 23 December 1988. In a twist on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Blackadder is the "kindest and loveliest" man in England. The Spirit of Christmas shows Blackadder the contrary antics of his ancestors and descendants, and reluctantly informs him that if he turns evil his descendants will enjoy power and fortune, while if he remains the same a future Blackadder will live shamefully subjugated to a future incompetent Baldrick. This remarkable encounter causes him to proclaim, "Bad guys have all the fun", and adopt the personality with which viewers are more familiar.

Blackadder: Back & Forth

Blackadder: Back & Forth was originally shown in the Millennium Dome in 2000, followed by a screening on Sky One in the same year (and later on BBC1). It is set on the turn of the millennium, and features Lord Blackadder placing a bet with his friends – modern versions of Queenie (Miranda Richardson), Melchett (Stephen Fry), George (Hugh Laurie) and Darling (Tim McInnerny) – that he has built a working time machine. While this is intended as a clever con trick, the machine, surprisingly, works, sending Blackadder and Baldrick back to the time of the dinosaurs, where they manage to cause the extinction of the dinosaurs, through the use of Baldrick's best, worst and only pair of underpants as a weapon against a hungry T. Rex. Finding that Baldrick has forgotten to write dates on the machine's dials, the rest of the film follows their attempts to find their way back to 1999, often creating huge historical anomalies in the process which must be corrected before the end. The film includes cameo appearances from Kate Moss and Colin Firth.

Chronological order

{| class="wikitable sortable" ! Title !! Type !! Production / air date !! Set in century |- | The Black Adder (pilot) || Pilot || 1982 (unaired) || 16th |- | The Black Adder || Series || 1983 || 15th |- | Blackadder II || Series || 1986 || 16th |- | Blackadder the Third || Series || 1987 || 18th–19th |- | || Comic Relief Special || 1988 || 17th |- | Blackadder's Christmas Carol || Christmas Special || 1988 || 19th |- | Woman's Hour Invasion || Radio || 1988 || |- | Blackadder Goes Forth || Series || 1989 || 20th |- | The Shakespeare Sketch || Theatre || 1989 || 16th |- | Blackadder and the King's Birthday || Sketch || 1998 || 17th |- | || Millennium Special || 1999 || 20th, Various |- | Blackadder: The Army Years || Theatre || 2000 || 21st |- | The Royal Gardener (From the Queen's Jubilee) || Sketch || 2002 || 21st |- | Jubilee Girl || Sketch || 2002 || |- | Blackadder Exclusive: The Whole Rotten Saga || Documentary || 2008 || |- | Blackadder Rides Again || Documentary || 2008 || |}

Production

Series development

Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis developed the idea for the sitcom while working on Not the Nine O'Clock News. Eager to avoid comparisons to the critically acclaimed Fawlty Towers, they proposed the idea of a historical sitcom. An unaired pilot episode was made in 1982, and a six episode series was commissioned. The budget for the series was considerable, with much location shooting particularly at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and the surrounding countryside in February 1983. The series also used large casts of extras, horses and expensive medieval-style costumes. Atkinson has said about the making of the first series:

The first series was odd, it was very extravagant. It cost a million pounds for the six programmes... [which] was a lot of money to spend...It looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked. Atkinson did not wish to continue writing for the second series, so writer and stand-up comedian Ben Elton was chosen to replace him.

Blackadder II was therefore to be a studio-only production (along with the inclusion of a live audience during recording, instead of showing the episodes to one after taping). Besides adding more jokes, Elton suggested a major change in character emphasis: Baldrick would become the stupid sidekick, while Edmund Blackadder evolved into a cunning sycophant. This led to the familiar set-up that was maintained in the following series.

Only in the Back & Forth millennium special was the shooting once again on location, because this was a production with a budget estimated at £3 million, and was a joint venture between Tiger Aspect, Sky Television, the New Millennium Experience Company and the BBC, rather than the BBC alone.

Casting

Each series tended to feature the same set of regular actors in different period settings, although throughout the four series and specials, only Blackadder and Baldrick were constant characters. Several regular cast members recurred as characters with similar names, implying, like Blackadder, that they were descendants.

Main cast

Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder, the series' protagonist.

Tony Robinson as S. Baldrick, his servant.

Stephen Fry played Melchett in two series, first as Lord Melchett, the sycophantic adviser to Queen Elizabeth I in series two and secondly as General Melchett, a blustering buffoon and presumed descendant in series four. Fry also appeared as King Charles I, The Duke Of Wellington in series three and as various characters in Blackadder Back & Forth.

Tim McInnerny played Lord Percy Percy, Blackadder's dimwitted sidekick in series one and two before a change of character to antagonist Captain Kevin Darling in series four. He also appeared as The Scarlet Pimpernel (alias Lord Topper and Le Comte de Frou Frou) for one episode in the third series, and reprised his role as Darling in Blackadder: Back & Forth.

Hugh Laurie played George in series three and four, first as HRH The Prince Regent, and later Lieutenant George in series four. Laurie also appeared twice in series two as Simon "Farters Parters" Partridge and Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in the final instalment of Blackadder II. He similarly reprised this role in Back & Forth.

Miranda Richardson was only a regular cast member for series two where she played Queen Elizabeth I, reprising the role in Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Back & Forth. However, she also played significant one-off roles as Amy Hardwood (aka The Shadow) in "Amy and Amiability" in the third series and Mary Fletcher-Brown, a dutiful nurse in "General Hospital" from the fourth.

Non-recurring cast

Brian Blessed, Elspet Gray and Robert East appeared in all six episodes of the first series as the Black Adder's father, mother and brother respectively. Gray had also appeared in the non-broadcast pilot.

Patsy Byrne played Nursie in all six episodes of Blackadder II but never featured in either of the subsequent series, either as a regular character or one-off. She briefly reprised the character in and Blackadder's Christmas Carol.

Helen Atkinson-Wood played the role of Mrs. Miggins in all six episodes of Blackadder the Third, but did not appear again in the programme, although the character was mentioned several times in Blackadder II and in the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth.

Guest cast

Ben Elton's arrival after the first series heralded the more frequent recruitment of comic actors from the famed "alternative" era for guest appearances, including Robbie Coltrane, Rik Mayall (who had appeared in the final episode of the first series as "Mad Gerald"), Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Mark Arden, Stephen Frost, Chris Barrie and Jeremy Hardy. Elton himself played an anarchist in Blackadder the Third.

Gabrielle Glaister played Bob – an attractive girl who poses as a man appears in both series 2 and 4. Rik Mayall plays Lord Flashheart, a vulgar yet successful rival of Blackadder in two episodes of series 2 and 4. Mayall had appeared in The Black Adder as Mad Gerald. He also played a decidedly Flashheart-like Robin Hood in Back & Forth. Lee Cornes also appeared in an episode of all three Curtis-Elton series. He appeared as a guard in the episode "Chains" of Blackadder II; as the poet Shelley in the episode "Ink and Incapability' of Blackadder the Third; and as firing squad soldier Private Fraser in the episode "Corporal Punishment" of Blackadder Goes Forth.

More 'establishment'-style actors, some at the veteran stage of their careers, were also recruited for roles. These included Brian Blessed, Peter Cook, John Grillo, Simon Jones, Tom Baker, Jim Broadbent, Hugh Paddick, Frank Finlay, Miriam Margolyes, Kenneth Connor, Bill Wallis, Ronald Lacey, Roger Blake, Denis Lill, Warren Clarke and Geoffrey Palmer, who played Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig in "Goodbyeee", the final, fatal episode of Blackadder Goes Forth.

Unusually for a sitcom based loosely on factual events and in the historical past, a man was recruited for one episode essentially to play himself. Political commentator Vincent Hanna played a character billed as "his own great-great-great grandfather" in the episode "Dish and Dishonesty" of Blackadder the Third. Hanna was asked to take part because the scene was of a by-election in which Baldrick was a candidate and, in the style of modern television, Hanna gave a long-running "live" commentary of events at the count (and interviewed candidates and election agents) to a crowd through the town hall window.

Theme tune

Howard Goodall's theme tune has the same melody throughout all the series, but is played in roughly the style of the period in which it is set. It is performed mostly with trumpets and timpani in The Black Adder, the fanfares used suggesting typical medieval court fanfares; with a combination of recorder, string quartet and electric guitar in Blackadder II; on oboe, cello and harpsichord (in the style of a minuet) for Blackadder the Third; by a military band in Blackadder Goes Forth; sung by carol singers in Blackadder's Christmas Carol; and by an orchestra in Blackadder: The Cavalier Years and Blackadder: Back & Forth.

Awards

In 2000 the fourth series, Blackadder Goes Forth, ranked at 16 in the "100 Greatest British Television Programmes", a list created by the British Film Institute. Also in the 2004 TV poll to find "Britain's Best Sitcom", Blackadder was voted the second best British sitcom of all time, topped by Only Fools and Horses. It was also ranked as the 20th Best TV Show of All Time by Empire magazine. However, aside from a brief mention in June 2005, there have been no further announcements from the BBC that a new series is being planned. Furthermore, in November 2005, Rowan Atkinson told BBC Breakfast that although he would very much like to do a new series set in Colditz or another prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, something which both he and Stephen Fry reiterated at the end of Blackadder Rides Again, the chances of it happening are extremely slim.

There were a couple of ideas that had previously floated for the fifth series. Batadder was intended to be a parody of Batman with Baldrick as the counterpart of Robin (suggested by John Lloyd). This idea eventually came to surface as part of the Comic Relief sketch "Spider-Plant Man" in 2005, with Atkinson as the title hero, Robinson as Robin, Jim Broadbent as Batman and Rachel Stevens as Mary Jane. Star Adder was to be set in space in the future (suggested by Atkinson), though this too was touched upon in Blackadder's Christmas Carol.

On 10 April 2007, Hello! reported that Atkinson was moving forward with his ideas for a fifth series. He said, "I like the idea of him being a prisoner of war in Colditz. That would have the right level of authority and hierarchy which is apparent in all the Blackadders."

A post on www.BlackAdderHall.com from Ben Elton in early 2007 states that Blackadder will return in some form, whether it be a TV series or movie. Elton has since not given any more information on the putative Blackadder 5.

During an interview in August 2007 regarding his latest movie, Mr. Bean's Holiday, Atkinson was asked about the possibility of a further Blackadder series, to which the simple reply "No, no chance" was given:

:"There was a plan for a film set in the Russian revolution, a very interesting one called The Red Adder. He would have been a lieutenant in the Secret Police. Then the revolution happened and at the end he is in the same office doing the same job but just the colours on his uniform have changed. It was quite a sweet idea and we got quite a long way with it but in the end it died a death."

Stephen Fry has expressed the view that, since the series went out on such a good "high", a film might not be a good idea.

During his June 2007 stage performance, chronicled on the Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out DVD, Robinson states that after filming the Back & Forth special, the general idea was to reunite for another special in 2010. Robinson jokingly remarked that Hugh Laurie's success on House may make that difficult.

At the end of Blackadder Rides Again Robinson asked Tim McInnerny if he would do another series and he responded "no", because he thought people wouldn't want to see them as they are now and would rather remember them for how they were. In the same documentary, Rowan Atkinson voiced his similar view; 'Times past; that's what they were!' However, Miranda Richardson and Tony Robinson expressed enthusiasm towards the idea of a series set in the Wild West, whilst John Lloyd favoured an idea for a series with a Neanderthal Blackadder. Lastly Stephen Fry suggested a series set during the Holocaust but later remarked that "perhaps some things should be left alone." Shortly afterwards in Comic Relief 2011 t-shirts with pictures of Lord Blackadder and Queenie were sold.

Media availability

All series and many of the specials are available on DVD and video, and as well many are available on BBC Audio Cassette. As of 2008 a "Best of BBC" edition box set is available containing all four major series together with Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Back & Forth. All 4 seasons and the Christmas special are also available for download on iTunes.

Single DVD releases

Box set DVD releases

References

Curtis, Richard, Elton, and Atkinson. Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485–1917. Penguin Books, 2000. ISBN 0-14-029608-5. Being the—almost—complete scripts of the four regular series.

Howarth, Chris, and Steve Lyons. Cunning: The Blackadder Programme Guide. Virgin Publishing, 2002. ISBN 0-7535-0447-2. An unofficial guide to the series, with asides, anecdotes and observations.

Curtis, Richard, Ben Elton. Blackadder: Back & Forth. Penguin Books, 2000. ISBN 0-14-029135-0. A script book with copious photographs from the most recent outing.

External links

Category:BBC television sitcoms Category:Blackadder Category:Period television series Category:1983 in British television Category:1983 British television programme debuts Category:1980s British television series