"The Archbishop" is the third episode in of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder (The Black Adder).

In November 1487, the dying Duke of Winchester (William Russell, credited as Russell Enoch), the greatest landowner in the kingdom, leaves his lands to the Catholic Church, due to last-minute scare tactics on the part of Godfrey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, prompting King Richard to have the Archbishop murdered, the third in a year to suffer such a fate. (While the murders are absurdly obvious, the royal court-save for Edmund- believes the Archbishops' deaths to be "tragic accidents".) Edmund then overhears court gossip that Harry will be appointed Archbishop; and is overjoyed, confident that his brother will be murdered and leave him next in line for the throne.

The following day, however, King Richard announces that Edmund will be the new Archbishop. Fearing for his life, Edmund tries to grovel his way out of the job, but Richard refuses, declaring that he has always despised Edmund and that "when I've finally found a use for you, don't try to get out of it," before threatening to do to him "what God did unto the Sodomites" should he fail.

Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line. He has been listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest actors in British comedy, and amongst the top 50 comedians ever in a 2005 poll of fellow comedians. He has also had cinematic success with his performances in the Mr. Bean movie adaptations Bean and Mr. Bean's Holiday and in Johnny English and its sequel Johnny English Reborn. He also starred in the film Never Say Never Again (a spy film based on the James Bond novel Thunderball) in 1983.

Atkinson, the youngest of four brothers, was born in Consett, County Durham, England. His parents were Eric Atkinson, a farmer and company director, and Ella May (née Bainbridge), who married on 29 June 1945. His three older brothers were Paul, who died as an infant, Rodney, a Eurosceptic economist who narrowly lost the United Kingdom Independence Party leadership election in 2000, and Rupert. Atkinson was brought up Anglican, and was educated at Durham Choristers School, St. Bees School, and Newcastle University. In 1975, he continued for the degree of MSc in Electrical Engineering at The Queen's College, Oxford, the same college his father matriculated at in 1935, which made Atkinson an Honorary Fellow in 2006. First achieving notice at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1976, while at Oxford, he also acted and performed early sketches for the Oxford University Dramatic Society (OUDS), the Oxford Revue and the Experimental Theatre Club (ETC), meeting writer Richard Curtis and composer Howard Goodall, with whom he would continue to collaborate during his career.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group of Christians in the world^{[citation needed]}.

The current archbishop is the Most Reverend Rowan Williams. He is the 104th in a line which goes back more than 1400 years to St Augustine of Canterbury, the "Apostle to the English", in the year 597. From the time of St Augustine until the 16th century, the Archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the See of Rome and thus received the pallium. During the English Reformation the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church, at first temporarily under Henry VIII and Edward VI and later permanently during the reign of Elizabeth I.

In the Middle Ages there was considerable variation in the methods of nomination of the Archbishop of Canterbury and other bishops. At various times the choice was made by the canons of Canterbury Cathedral, the King of England, or the Pope. Since the English Reformation, the Church of England has been more explicitly a state church and the choice is legally that of the British crown; today it is made in the name of the Sovereign by the Prime Minister, from a shortlist of two selected by an ad hoc committee called the Crown Nominations Commission.

Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) became the Bishop of Durham and the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England on 29 September 2011. He was previously the Dean of Liverpool Cathedral.

Welby was born to Gavin Bernard Welby and his wife, Jane Gillian (née Portal). His mother remarried, becoming Lady Williams of Elvel, years after his father's death in 1975. He is also related to former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister Rab Butler, later Baron Butler of Saffron Walden. His great-grandfather, Sir Montagu Butler, was Lord Butler of Saffron Walden's father and also the father of Welby's grandmother, Iris Butler.

Welby was educated at Eton College before going up to Trinity College, Cambridge to read History and Law. Following graduation he spent 11 years in the oil industry, eventually becoming Group Treasurer of Enterprise Oil PLC.

From 1989 to 1992, Welby studied Theology and trained for the priesthood at Cranmer Hall and St John's College Durham before becoming a Curate at Chilvers Coton with Astley (Nuneaton) from 1992 to 1995. He then became Rector at St James' Church, Southam and Vicar of Ufton from 1995 until 2002.

Nicholas (Nicky) Glyn Paul Gumbel (born 28 April 1955 in London) is an ordained Anglican priest, vicar and author. He is most famous as the developer of the Alpha course, a basic introduction to Christianity supported by churches of many Christian traditions.

Gumbel is the son of Walter Gumbel, a German Jew from Stuttgart whose licence to practise law in that city was withdrawn in one of the early Nazi purges. Walter emigrated to Britain and became a successful barrister. Gumbel's mother, Muriel, served on the Greater London Council for many years between 1967 and 1986 and was Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. An avowed atheist, Nicky Gumbel was converted to Christianity in his first year at Trinity College, Cambridge through reading the New Testament. He said, "I was enthralled. It was as if I had found what I had been looking for all my life".

Gumbel was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.

After graduating in law in 1976, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a practicing barrister based at 3 Hare Court, Temple. Meanwhile, he became a regular worshipper at Holy Trinity Brompton, Knightsbridge. Then in 1982 he announced his decision to leave the bar to train for ordination in the Church of England. In 1983 Gumbel began theological studies at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford from where he graduated with an honours degree in theology. After some difficulty in finding a curacy, Gumbel joined the staff of his 'home' church of Holy Trinity Brompton Church in London as a curate in 1986. He was ordained priest in 1987.