View source for Blackadder

{{Short description|British TV sitcom (1983–1989)}}
{{Hatnote group|
{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Black adder (disambiguation){{!}}Black adder}}
}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = Ba4.jpg
| caption              = Left to right: Tim McInnerny (as Darling), Rowan Atkinson (as Blackadder), Stephen Fry (as Melchett), Tony Robinson (as Baldrick), and Hugh Laurie (as George) in ''Blackadder Goes Forth''
| genre                = [[Period piece|Period]] sitcom
| creator              = [[Richard Curtis]]<br />[[Rowan Atkinson]]
| writer               = Richard Curtis<br />Rowan Atkinson (series 1)<br />[[Ben Elton]] (series 2–4)
| director             = Martin Shardlow (series 1)<br>[[Mandie Fletcher]] (series 2–3)<br>[[Richard Boden]] (series 4)
| presenter            = 
| starring             = Rowan Atkinson<br />[[Tony Robinson]]<br/>[[Hugh Laurie]]<br />[[Stephen Fry]]<br />[[Tim McInnerny]]<br />[[Miranda Richardson]]
| voices               = 
| narrator             = 
| theme_music_composer = [[Howard Goodall]]
| open_theme            = 
| end_theme             = 
| country              = United Kingdom
| company              = [[BBC]]
| language             = English
| num_series           = 4
| num_episodes         = 24 (plus 4 [[Television special|specials]])
| list_episodes        = List of Blackadder episodes
| producer             = [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]]
| executive_producer   = 
| camera               = [[Multi-camera]]
| runtime              = 30 minutes approx
| network              = [[BBC1]]
| first_aired          = {{Start date|1983|06|15|df=y}}
| last_aired           = {{End date|1989|11|02|df=y}}
| related              = 
}}

'''''Blackadder''''' is a series of four [[Period piece|period]] [[British sitcom]]s—''[[The Black Adder]]'', ''[[Blackadder II]]'', ''[[Blackadder the Third]]'' and ''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]—''plus several one-off instalments, which 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 [[protagonist]]s accompanied by different characters, though several reappear in one series or another, including [[Tim McInnerny]] as [[Lord Percy Percy|Percy]] and [[Captain Kevin Darling|Darling]], [[Stephen Fry]] as [[Melchett (Blackadder)|Melchett]], and [[Hugh Laurie]] as [[George (Blackadder)|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 (producer)|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]].<ref name="Babfi">{{cite web | author = BFI Staff | date = 4 March 2009 | title = The BFI TV 100: 1–100 | location = London, UK | publisher = [[British Film Institute]] | url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tv/100/list/list.php | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911083558/http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/tv/100/list/list.php | archive-date=11 September 2011}}</ref> In a 2001 poll by [[Channel 4]], Edmund Blackadder was ranked third on their list of the [[100 Greatest (TV series)|100 Greatest TV Characters]].<ref name="GreatestTVcharacters">{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/tv_characters/results.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531160558/http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/G/greatest/tv_characters/results.html |archive-date=31 May 2009 |title=100 Greatest TV Characters |access-date=26 May 2019 |work=[[Channel 4]]}}</ref> 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]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2004 |title=The Final Top Ten Sitcoms |url=http://www.bbcattic.org/sitcom/winner.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013160237/http://www.bbcattic.org/sitcom/winner.shtml |archive-date=13 October 2014 |access-date=10 February 2025|website=bbcattic.org |publisher=[[BBC]] |location=London}}</ref> It was also ranked as the ninth-best TV show of all time by ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine in 2009.<ref name="empire">{{cite web |url=http://www.empireonline.com/50greatesttv/default.asp?tv=20 |title=The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time – Number 20: Blackadder |work=Empire |access-date=5 April 2009 |archive-date=19 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170319183729/http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-tv-shows-ever/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pingitore |first=Silvia |date=2022-07-05 |title=The shortest interview ever with Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson |url=https://the-shortlisted.co.uk/rowan-atkinson-interview/ |access-date=2023-07-03 |website= |language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Premise==

Each series comprises six half-hour episodes and is set in a different period of [[History of the British Isles|British history]]. The first series, made in 1983, was titled ''[[The Black Adder]]'' and was set in the fictional reign of "[[Richard IV of England (Blackadder)|Richard IV]]". The second series, ''[[Blackadder II]]'' (1986), was set during the reign of [[Queenie (Blackadder)|Elizabeth I]]. ''[[Blackadder the Third]]'' (1987) was set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries during the reign of [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]]. ''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]'' (1989) was set in 1917 in the trenches of the [[World War I|Great War]].<ref name="Bfiba">{{cite web|title=BFI Screenonline: Blackadder (1983-89)|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/500473/index.html|publisher=BFI|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Comfort Classic: Blackadder - Royal Television Society|url=https://rts.org.uk/article/comfort-classic-blackadder|last1=Clarke|first1=Steve|date=7 October 2020|publisher=RTS|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

''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.<ref name=bcg>{{British Comedy Guide|sitcom|blackadder}}. Retrieved 25 July 2010</ref>

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.<ref name="Hxba">{{cite web|title=History of the BBC - Blackadder|url=https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/june/blackadder|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

Each incarnation of Blackadder and Baldrick is also saddled with tolerating the presence of a dimwitted [[aristocracy|aristocrat]]. In the first two series, this is [[Lord Percy Percy|Percy]], played by [[Tim McInnerny]]. [[Hugh Laurie]] plays the role in the third and fourth series, as [[George (Blackadder)|George]]. Characters of a higher organisational standing, such as [[Stephen Fry]]'s [[List of Blackadder characters#Melchett|Melchett]] in series 2 and 4, and McInnerny's other character, [[List of Blackadder characters#Darling|Darling]], in series 4, provide antagonistic figures for Blackadder to deal with.<ref>{{cite web|title=Blackadder characters - British Comedy Guide|website=[[British Comedy Guide]] |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/blackadder/characters/|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

==Episodes==
{{main|List of Blackadder episodes}}

{{:List of Blackadder episodes}}

===Series 1: ''The Black Adder''===
{{Main|The Black Adder}}
''The Black Adder'', the first series of ''Blackadder'', was written by [[Richard Curtis]] and [[Rowan Atkinson]] and produced by [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]], who would also produce the subsequent three series. It originally aired on [[BBC1]] from 15 June to 20 July 1983,<ref name="Ba1">{{cite web|title=BBC Programme Index - The Black Adder|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0b66a62d0b1309d9abc0ca807e422b9d|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> and was a joint production with the Australian [[Seven Network]].

Set in 1485 at the end of the [[Britain in the Middle Ages|British Middle Ages]], the series is written as an [[Counterfactual history|alternative history]] in which [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] won the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]] only to be mistaken for someone else and assassinated, and is succeeded by [[Richard IV of England (Blackadder)|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 (Blackadder)|Prince Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh]] (who calls himself "The Black Adder") (played by Atkinson) 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 [[List of Blackadder characters#Gertrude, Queen of Flanders|Gertrude, Queen of Flanders]] ([[Elspet Gray]]), his brother [[List of Blackadder characters#Harry, Prince of Wales|Harry, Prince of Wales]] ([[Robert East (actor)|Robert East]]), his sidekick [[List of Blackadder characters#Lord Percy Percy|Lord Percy Percy, the Duke of Northumberland]] ([[Tim McInnerny]]), and his [[squire]] [[List of Blackadder characters#Baldrick|Baldrick]] ([[Tony Robinson]]). Guest appearances in this series include [[Peter Cook]] as [[Richard III of England|King Richard III]], [[William Russell (English actor)|Russell Enoch]] as the Duke of [[Winchester]], [[Miriam Margolyes]] as the [[List of minor Blackadder characters#Maria Escalosa, Infanta of Spain|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 [[Crusade]]s, and the conflict between the Church and the Crown. Along with the secret history, many historical events portrayed in the series were [[anachronism|anachronistic]] (for example, [[Fall of Constantinople|Constantinople]] had already fallen to the [[Ottoman Empire]] in 1453, predating the events in the episode by 32 years); this dramatic license would continue in the subsequent three ''Blackadder'' series. The filming of the series was highly ambitious, with a large cast and much location shooting. The series also featured [[William Shakespeare|Shakespearean]] dialogue, often adapted for comic effect; the end credits featured the words "Additional Dialogue by William Shakespeare".

===Series 2: ''Blackadder II''===
{{Main|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.<ref name="BaII">{{cite web|title=BBC Programme Index - Blackadder II|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?filt=b006xxw7#top|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> The series is set in [[Kingdom of England|England]] during the reign of [[List of Blackadder characters#Queenie|Queen Elizabeth I]] (1558–1603), often referred to as "Queenie", who is portrayed by [[Miranda Richardson]]. The principal character is [[Lord Blackadder|Edmund, Lord Blackadder]] (Rowan Atkinson), the great-grandson of the original Black Adder. During the series, he regularly deals with the [[British monarchy|Queen]], her obsequious [[Lord Chamberlain]] [[List of Blackadder characters#Melchett|Lord Melchett]] ([[Stephen Fry]]; his rival for the Queen's affections), his friend [[List of Blackadder characters#Lord Percy Percy|Lord Percy Percy]] (Tim McInnerny) and the Queen's demented former nanny [[List of Blackadder characters#Nursie|Nursie]] ([[Patsy Byrne]]). Tony Robinson returned as Blackadder's servant [[List of Blackadder characters#Baldrick|Baldrick]]. Guest appearances in the series include [[Tom Baker]] as Captain Redbeard Rum, [[Simon Jones (actor)|Simon Jones]] as [[Walter Raleigh|Sir Walter Raleigh]], [[Ronald Lacey]] as the [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]], and [[Miriam Margolyes|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 [[List of Blackadder characters#Flashheart|Lord Flashheart]], and the first appearance of [[Gabrielle Glaister]] as [[List of Blackadder characters#Bob|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.<ref name="Hxba" /> 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.

A quote from this series ranked number three in a list of the top 25 television "putdowns" of the last 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?"<ref>{{Cite news |date=2008-02-26 |title=TV's top 25 put-downs published |language=en-GB |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7264321.stm |access-date=2023-04-09}}</ref>

===Series 3: ''Blackadder the Third''===
{{Main|Blackadder the Third}}

''Blackadder the Third'', the third series of ''Blackadder'', originally aired on BBC1 from 17 September to 22 October 1987.<ref name="BaIII">{{cite web|title=BBC Programme Index - Blackadder the Third|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?filt=b006xxw7#top|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> The series is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the [[English Regency|Regency]]. In the series, [[Mr. E. Blackadder|Mr. Edmund Blackadder Esquire]] (Rowan Atkinson) is a butler to [[List of Blackadder characters#George|George IV]], who at this time is the 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 [[List of Blackadder characters#Balrick|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 [[List of Blackadder characters#Mrs. Miggins|Mrs. Miggins]]. The series features [[Samuel Johnson|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 (comedian)|Jim Sweeney]]); [[Percy Shelley|Shelley]] ([[Lee Cornes]]); [[George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron|Lord Byron]] ([[Steve Steen]]); Amy Hardwood (aka "The Shadow") (Miranda Richardson); and the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]] (Stephen Fry).

===Series 4: ''Blackadder Goes Forth''===
{{Main|Blackadder Goes Forth}}

''Blackadder Goes Forth'', the fourth and final series of ''Blackadder'', originally aired on BBC1 from 28 September to 2 November 1989.<ref name="BaIV">{{cite web|title=BBC Programme Index - Blackadder Goes Forth|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?filt=b00hxslf#top|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> This series is set in 1917, on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] of the First World War. Another "big push" is planned, and [[Captain Blackadder|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 (military)|batman]] [[List of Blackadder characters#Baldrick|Private S. Baldrick]] (Tony Robinson) and idealistic [[Edwardian period|Edwardian]] twit [[List of Blackadder characters#George|Lieutenant George]] (Hugh Laurie). [[List of Blackadder characters#Melchet|General Melchett]] (Stephen Fry) rallies his troops from a French [[château]] {{convert|35|mi}} from the front, where he is aided and abetted by his assistant, [[List of Blackadder characters#Kevin Darling|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 [[List of Blackadder characters#Bob|"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 Flashheart|Lord Flasheart]], [[Ade Edmondson|Adrian Edmondson]] as [[Baron Manfred von Richthofen]] (aka "The Red Baron"), and [[Geoffrey Palmer (actor)|Geoffrey Palmer]] as [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|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 "[[Trench warfare|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====
{{Main|The Black Adder (Blackadder)}}
A pilot episode of ''The Black Adder'' was shot in 1982, but was never broadcast on TV until 15 June 2023, when it was shown as part of an 80-minute [[UKTV]] [[Gold (British TV channel)|Gold]] documentary titled ''Blackadder: The Lost Pilot'', hosted by Sir Tony Robinson and featuring interviews with Ben Elton and Richard Curtis.<ref>{{Cite web |date=21 April 2023 |title=Blackadder pilot to be broadcast for the first time |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/7301/blackadder-pilot-to-be-broadcast/ |website=[[British Comedy Guide]]}}</ref> Prior to this, only brief clips had been seen in the 2008 25th anniversary documentary ''Blackadder Rides Again'', shown on BBC1. One notable difference in the pilot, as in many pilots, is the casting. Baldrick is played not by Tony Robinson, but by [[Philip Fox (actor)|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 buffoon of the original. Set in the year 1582, the script of the pilot is roughly the same as the episode "[[Born to Be King (Blackadder)|Born to Be King]]", albeit with some different jokes and some lines appearing in other episodes of the series.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackadderhall.com/?page_id=276 |title=The Pilot Episode |publisher=Blackadderhall.com |date=20 June 1982 |access-date=8 June 2014}}</ref>

====''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years''====
{{Main|Blackadder: The Cavalier Years}}
This special, set in the [[English Civil War]], was shown as part of [[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]]'s [[Comic Relief (charity)|Red Nose Day]] on Friday 5 February 1988.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Red Nose Day {{!}} Comic Relief |url=https://www.comicrelief.com/history-of-red-nose-day/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=www.comicrelief.com |language=en}}</ref> 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, naive character, with the voice and mannerisms of Charles I's namesake, the then Prince of Wales (now [[Charles III]]). However, owing 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 own standing.

====''Blackadder's Christmas Carol''====
{{Main|Blackadder's Christmas Carol}}
The second special was broadcast on Friday 23 December 1988.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC Programme Index - Blackadder's Christmas Carol|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/5c154fde986f67669bf2a780053dfbd7|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> 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''====
{{Main|Blackadder: Back & Forth}}
''Blackadder: Back & Forth'' was originally shown in the [[Millennium Dome]] in 1999, followed by a screening on [[Sky1|Sky One]] in 2000, and later on BBC1 in 2002. It is set on New Year’s Eve 1999, and features Lord Blackadder placing a bet with his friends&nbsp;– modern versions of Queenie (Miranda Richardson), Melchett (Stephen Fry), George (Hugh Laurie) and Darling (Tim McInnerny)&nbsp;– that he has built a working [[Time travel in fiction|time machine]]. While this is intended as a clever [[confidence trick|con trick]], the machine surprisingly works, sending Blackadder and Baldrick back to the [[Cretaceous period]], where they manage to cause [[Cretaceous extinction event|the extinction]] of the dinosaurs through the use of Baldrick's best-worst-and-only pair of underpants as a weapon against a hungry [[Tyrannosaurus|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 that must be corrected before the end. [[Rik Mayall]] appears as [[Robin Hood]], and the film also includes [[cameo appearance]]s from [[Kate Moss]] as [[Maid Marian]] and [[Colin Firth]] as [[William Shakespeare]].

====''The Big Night In''====

Broadcast in 2020 as part of [[Children in Need]] and [[Comic Relief]]'s joint special ''[[The Big Night In]]'' during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], Fry resumed the role of Lord Melchett (an intellectually-brilliant version), Head of the Royal Household, under lockdown at Melchett Manor, to help [[Prince William]] deal with educating his children via [[Zoom (software)|Zoom]] and discussing ''[[Tiger King]]'', before they both step outside to clap for the [[National Health Service]]. Melchett is said to be isolating with Lord Blackadder, both grandsons to their First World War counterparts.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/bbc-big-night-in-live-stream-channel-best-bits-peter-kay-little-britain-catch-up-watch-a9474766.html |title=BBC Big Night In: All the talking points, from Little Britain's controversial comeback to Prince William's comedy sketch |date=24 April 2020 |work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=24 April 2020}}</ref>

===Live stage performances===

In 1998, as part of [[Prince Charles]]' 50th Birthday Gala televised on ITV, Atkinson appeared as a [[Stuart Restoration|Restoration]] Blackadder reading aloud a letter to the Privy Council of [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]]. He colourfully refuses their invitation to stage a royal gala, calling such occasions "very, very, very dull" and asserting that there was "more musical talent on display when my servant Baldrick breaks wind."<ref name="Bapc" />

In 2000, on the BBC's annual [[Royal Variety Performance]], Atkinson portrayed Blackadder as a present-day officer in "Her Majesty's Royal Regiment of Shirkers" and delivered a monologue titled "Blackadder: The Army Years", proposing that Britain regain her former greatness by invading (or at least buying) France.<ref name="Baay">{{cite web|url=https://www.blackadderhall.com/?page_id=245|title=The Army Years on Blackadder Hall|date=12 October 2011 |accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

In 2012, as part of the [[Prince's Trust]] charity show ''We Are Most Amused'', Atkinson and Robinson reprised their roles as Blackadder and Baldrick in a comedy sketch featuring [[Miranda Hart]] as leader of a government inquiry into the recent banking crisis. Blackadder, chief executive of a fictional British bank, appearing with Baldrick as his gardener, convinces the panel to publicly blame the entire crisis on Baldrick, to the latter's consternation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Deacon|first=Michael|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9710828/Rowan-Atkinson-stars-in-new-Blackadder-sketch...-on-bankers.html|title=Rowan Atkinson stars in new Blackadder sketch... on bankers|date=29 November 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

===Red Nose Day 2023===
Baldrick (Tony Robinson) returned in 2023 for a [[Red Nose Day]] sketch for the BBC. There was no involvement of Rowan Atkinson or a subsequent reboot, amid speculation.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guide |first=British Comedy |date=2023-02-14 |title=Blackadder revival for Comic Relief |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/7195/comic-relief-blackadder-2023/ |access-date=2023-03-24 |website=British Comedy Guide |language=en}}</ref>

===Chronological order===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Title !! Type !! Production / air date !! Set in century
|-
| ''[[The Black Adder (pilot episode)|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
|-
| ''[[Blackadder: The Cavalier Years]]'' || [[Comic Relief]] Special || 1988 || 17th
|-
| ''[[Children in Need]]''<ref>J.F. Roberts, The True History of the Black Adder: The Unadulterated Tale of the Creation of a Comedy Legend (Preface publishing, 2000) 253–254.</ref> || Special || 1988 || Unclear (anachronistic)
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Rides Again|Clown Court]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackadderhall.com/?p=370 |title=Clown Court on Blackadder Hall|date=13 October 2011}}</ref> || Special || 1988 || Unclear (anachronistic)
|-
| ''[[Blackadder's Christmas Carol]]'' || Christmas Special || 1988 || 19th
|-
| ''[[Woman's Hour]] Invasion''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackadderhall.com/?page_id=261 |title=The ''Woman's Hour'' invasion on Blackadder Hall|date=12 October 2011}}</ref> || Radio || 1988 || 20th, Various
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]'' || Series || 1989 || 20th
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Rides Again|Blackadder and the King's Birthday]]''<ref name="Bapc">{{cite web|url=http://www.blackadderhall.com/?p=252 |title=The King's Birthday on Blackadder Hall|date=12 October 2011}}</ref> || Sketch || 1998 || 17th
|-
| ''[[Blackadder: Back & Forth]]'' || Millennium Special || 1999 || 20th, Various
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Rides Again|Blackadder: The Army Years]]''<ref name="Baay" /> || Theatre || 2000 || 21st
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Rides Again|The Royal Gardener/The Jubilee Girl]]'' (for the [[Party at the Palace]])|| Sketch || 2002 || 21st
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Rides Again|Blackadder Exclusive: The Whole Rotten Saga]]'' || Documentary || 2008 || n/a
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Rides Again]]'' || Documentary || 2008 || n/a
|-
| ''[[Blackadder Rides Again|CEO of Melchett, Melchett and Darling Inquiry]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackadderhall.com/?p=884 |title=The 2012 sketch on Blackadder Hall|date=29 November 2012}}</ref>
 || Theatre || 2012 || 21st
|-
| ''[[The Big Night In]]'' || Sketch || 2020 || 21st
|}

==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.<ref name="Interviews">''I Have a Cunning Plan – 20th Anniversary of Blackadder'', [[BBC Radio 4]] documentary broadcast 23 August 2003. Excerpts available at [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/interviews/ bbc.co.uk]. Retrieved 17 April 2008</ref><ref name="Curtis interview">[http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/richard_interview.html Interview] at Blackadder Hall. Retrieved 17 April 2008 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024255/http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/richard_interview.html |date=27 September 2011 }}</ref> A [[The Black Adder (unaired pilot)|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.<ref>[http://www.alnwickcastle.com/television.php Alnwick Castle official website]. Retrieved 2 June 2008 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228031113/http://www.alnwickcastle.com/television.php |date=28 December 2008 }}</ref> The series also used large casts of extras, horses and expensive medieval-style costumes. Atkinson has said about the making of the first series:

<blockquote>The first series was odd, it was very extravagant. It cost a million pounds for the six programmes&nbsp;... [which] was a lot of money to spend&nbsp;... It looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked.<ref name="Interviews"/></blockquote>

Owing to the high cost of the first series, the then-controller of programming of [[BBC1]], [[Michael Grade]], was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements to the show and drastic cost-cutting, leaving a gap of three years between the two series.<ref name="Lewisohn">Lewisohn, Mark, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050408071319/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/blackadderthe_7770760.shtml ''The Black Adder''] at the former [[BBC Guide to Comedy]]. Retrieved 17 April 2008</ref>

A chance meeting between Richard Curtis and comedian [[Ben Elton]] led to the decision to collaborate on a new series of ''Blackadder''. Recognising the main faults of the first series, Curtis and Elton agreed that ''Blackadder II'' would be a studio-only production (along with the inclusion of a live audience during recording, instead of showing the episodes to an audience after taping). Besides adding a greater comedy focus, 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.<ref name="Britain's Best Sitcom">''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/advocate_blackadder.shtml Britain's Best Sitcom – Blackadder]'', 2004 BBC Television documentary, presented by [[John Sergeant (journalist)|John Sergeant]]</ref>

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&nbsp;million, and was a joint venture between [[Tiger Aspect Productions|Tiger Aspect]], [[Sky UK|Sky Television]], the New Millennium Experience Company and the BBC, rather than the BBC alone.<ref>''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/419247.stm Blackadder's millennium duel]'', [[BBC News]], Friday, 13 August 1999</ref><ref>'[http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/skyview.html Black to the Future – Interview with Tony Robinson]' in ''Skyview'', January 2000 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024303/http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/skyview.html |date=27 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212579/trivia Trivia] at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 April 2008</ref>

===Casting===

{{Main|List of Blackadder characters}}
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.

====Recurring cast====
Various actors have appeared in more than one of the Blackadder series and/or specials. These are:

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! style="width:140px;"|
! style="width:120px;"|''[[The Black Adder]]''
! style="width:120px;"|''[[Blackadder II]]''
! style="width:120px;"|''[[Blackadder the Third]]''
! style="width:120px;"|''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]''
! style="width:120px;"|''[[Blackadder: The Cavalier Years]]''
! style="width:120px;"|''[[Blackadder's Christmas Carol]]''
! style="width:120px;"|''[[Blackadder: Back & Forth]]''
|-
| align=left|[[Rowan Atkinson]]
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Tony Robinson]]
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Tim McInnerny]]
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Hugh Laurie]]
|
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| 
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Stephen Fry]]
|
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Miranda Richardson]]
|
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Rik Mayall]]
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|
| {{ya}}
|
| 
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Miriam Margolyes]]
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|
|
|
| {{ya}}
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Gabrielle Glaister]]
| 
| {{ya}}
|
|{{ya}}
|
| 
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Bill Wallis]]
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|
| {{ya}}
|
| 
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Robbie Coltrane]]
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
|
| {{ya}}
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Jim Broadbent]]
| {{ya}}
| 
|
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Stephen Frost]]
| {{ya}}
| 
|
| {{ya}}
| 
| 
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Mark Arden]]
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Lee Cornes]]
| 
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
| 
| 
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Patsy Byrne]]
| 
| {{ya}}
|
| 
|
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|-
| align=left|[[Warren Clarke]]
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Philip Pope]]
| 
| {{ya}}
|
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
|-
| align=left|Barbara Miller
| {{ya}}
| {{ya}}
|
| 
| 
| 
| 
|-
| align=left|[[David Nunn (actor)|David Nunn]]
| {{ya}}
| 
|
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
|-
| align=left|[[Denis Lill]]
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
| 
| {{ya}}
| 
|}

====Main cast====
*[[Rowan Atkinson]] as [[Edmund Blackadder]], the series' protagonist. In ''The Black Adder'' he is [[Edmund Blackadder#Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh (Late Medieval England)|Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh]], nicknamed "The Black Adder". In ''Blackadder II'' he is [[Edmund Blackadder#Edmund, Lord Blackadder (Elizabethan England)|Edmund, Lord Blackadder]], a nobleman in the court of [[Queenie (Blackadder)#Blackadder II|Queen Elizabeth I]]. In ''Blackadder the Third'' he is [[Edmund Blackadder#Edmund Blackadder Esq. (Regency Britain)|Mr. Edmund Blackadder Esq.]], servant to the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|Prince Regent]]. In ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'' he is [[Edmund Blackadder#Ebenezer Blackadder|Ebenezer Blackadder]], the Victorian proprietor of a "moustache shop". In ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' he is [[Edmund Blackadder#Captain Edmund Blackadder (World War I)|Captain Edmund Blackadder]], serving in [[World War I]]. In ''Blackadder: Back & Forth'' he is [[Edmund Blackadder#Lord Edmund Blackadder / King Edmund III (Turn-of-the-Millennium)|Lord Edmund Blackadder]], a modern-day representative of the Blackadder dynasty.
*[[Tony Robinson]] as [[Baldrick|S. Baldrick]], Blackadder's servant, or [[Batman (military)|batman/orderly]] in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', who appears in all four series and all the specials.
*[[Tim McInnerny]] as [[Lord Percy Percy]], Blackadder's dimwitted sidekick in ''The Black Adder'' and ''Blackadder II''—initially the Duke of Northumberland in the former, then heir to the same title in the latter—and as Captain [[Kevin Darling]], Blackadder's antagonistic rival, in ''Blackadder Goes Forth''. He also appeared as [[The Scarlet Pimpernel]] (alias Lord Topper and [[Le Comte de Frou Frou]]) in the ''Blackadder the Third'' episode "Nob and Nobility", and reprised his role as Darling in ''Back & Forth''.
*[[Stephen Fry]] as Melchett in ''Blackadder II'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth''. In ''Blackadder II'' he is [[List of Blackadder characters#Melchett|Lord Melchett]], the sycophantic adviser to [[Queenie (Blackadder)|Queen Elizabeth I]]. Fry also played this incarnation of Melchet in ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol''. In ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' he is [[General Melchett]], a blustering buffoon and presumed descendant. Fry also appeared as [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]], the Duke of Wellington, in "Duel and Duality", the final episode of ''Blackadder the Third'', and as various characters in ''Back & Forth''.
*[[Hugh Laurie]] as [[George (Blackadder)|George]], first the [[George IV of the United Kingdom|Prince Regent]] in ''Blackadder the Third'', and later Lieutenant George in ''Blackadder Goes Forth''. Laurie also played the Prince Regent in ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol''. Prior to becoming a regular cast member, Laurie also appeared in two episodes of ''Blackadder II''; first as Simon "Farters Parters" Partridge or "Mr. Ostrich" in the episode "[[Beer (Blackadder)|Beer]]", and then as Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in "[[Chains (Blackadder)|Chains]]", the final episode of ''Blackadder II''. He reprised his role as George in ''Back & Forth''.
*[[Miranda Richardson]] was only a regular cast member for ''Blackadder II'', in which she played [[Queenie (Blackadder)#Blackadder II|Queen Elizabeth I]], reprising the role in ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'' and ''Back & Forth'', alongside additional characters. However, she also played significant one-off roles as [[Amy Hardwood]] (a.k.a. The Shadow) in "[[Amy and Amiability (Blackadder)|Amy and Amiability]]" from ''Blackadder the Third'', and Mary Fletcher-Brown, a dutiful nurse in "[[General Hospital (Blackadder)|General Hospital]]" from ''Blackadder Goes Forth''.

====Non-recurring cast====
*[[Brian Blessed]], [[Elspet Gray]] and [[Robert East (actor)|Robert East]] appeared in all six episodes of ''The Black Adder'' 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 ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'' and ''Back & Forth''.
*[[Helen Atkinson-Wood]] played the role of [[Mrs. Miggins]] in all six episodes of ''Blackadder the Third'', but did not appear again in the series, 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, from ''Blackadder II'' onwards, heralded the more frequent recruitment of comic actors from the [[alternative comedy]] era for guest appearances, including [[Robbie Coltrane]], [[Rik Mayall]] (who had appeared in the final episode of ''The Black Adder'' as "Mad Gerald"),<ref>{{cite web|title=The Black Adder, The Black Seal (TV Episode 1983) - Cast credits - IMDb|url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0526540/fullcredits/cast?ref_=m_ttfc_3|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> [[Adrian Edmondson]], [[Nigel Planer]], [[Mark Arden]], [[Stephen Frost]], [[Chris Barrie]], [[Jim Sweeney (comedian)|Jim Sweeney]], [[Steve Steen]] and [[Jeremy Hardy]].<ref name="Bacast" /> Elton himself played an anarchist in ''Blackadder the Third''.<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC One - Blackadder, Blackadder the Third, Sense and Senility|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0078wqx|publisher=BBC|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

[[Gabrielle Glaister]] played [[Bob (Blackadder character)|Bob]], an attractive girl who poses as a man, in both ''Blackadder II'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', where in the latter her official title is Driver Parkhurst.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gabrielle Glaister - British Comedy Guide|website=[[British Comedy Guide]] |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/gabrielle_glaister/|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> One episode each of ''Blackadder II'' and ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' feature [[Rik Mayall]] as [[Lord Flashheart]], a vulgar friend in his first appearance and then a successful rival of Blackadder in his second. He also played a decidedly Flashheart-like [[Robin Hood]] in ''Back & Forth''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rik Mayall - British Comedy Guide| website=[[British Comedy Guide]] |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/rik_mayall/?medium=tv&role=#creditsTab|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> [[Lee Cornes]] appeared in one episode each of the Curtis/Elton-written series; as a guard in the ''Blackadder II'' episode "Chains"; as the poet [[Percy Bysshe Shelley|Shelley]] in the ''Blackadder the Third'' episode "Ink and Incapability"; and as firing squad soldier [[Private (rank)|Private]] Fraser in the ''Blackadder Goes Forth'' episode "Corporal Punishment".<ref>{{cite web|title=Lee Cornes - British Comedy Guide| website=[[British Comedy Guide]] |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/lee_cornes/?medium=tv&role=1#creditsTab|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

More established actors, some at the veteran stage of their careers, were also recruited for roles. These included [[Peter Cook]], [[Alex Norton]], [[Jim Broadbent]], [[Frank Finlay]], [[Valentine Dyall]], [[John Grillo]], [[Simon Jones (actor)|Simon Jones]], [[Tom Baker]], [[Ronald Lacey]], Roger Blake, [[Denis Lill]], [[Hugh Paddick]], [[Kenneth Connor]], [[Warren Clarke]] and [[Geoffrey Palmer (actor)|Geoffrey Palmer]], who played [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig]] in "[[Goodbyeee]]", the final episode of ''Blackadder Goes Forth''. [[Bill Wallis]] and [[Miriam Margolyes]] each played three different guest roles: Wallis played Sir Justin de Boinod in "[[The Archbishop]]" (''The Black Adder''), Mr. Ploppy in "[[Head (Blackadder)|Head]]" (''Blackadder II''), and  Brigadier Sir Bernard Proudfoot Smith in "[[General Hospital (Blackadder)|General Hospital]]" (''Blackadder Goes Forth''), while Margolyes played The Spanish Infanta in "[[The Queen of Spain's Beard (Blackadder)|The Queen of Spain's Beard]]" (''The Black Adder''), Lady Whiteadder in "[[Beer (Blackadder)|Beer]]" (''Blackadder II''), and [[Queen Victoria]] in ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol''.<ref name="Bacast">{{cite web|title=Full Blackadder cast and crew credits - British Comedy Guide|website=[[British Comedy Guide]] |url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/tv/blackadder/cast_crew/full/|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> [[Patrick Allen (actor)|Patrick Allen]] provided narration for all six episodes of ''The Black Adder'', and appeared as "The Hawk" in the last episode, "[[The Black Seal]]". Two episodes of ''The Black Adder'' feature Natasha King as Princess Leia of Hungary, while the second episode, "[[Born to Be King (Blackadder)|Born to Be King]]", features a brief, early screen appearance of [[Angus Deayton]].

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 ''Blackadder the Third'' episode "[[Dish and Dishonesty (Blackadder)|Dish and Dishonesty]]".<ref>{{cite web|title=BBC One - Blackadder, Blackadder the Third, Dish and Dishonesty|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0078w78|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|last=Butler|first=Mark|title=When Blackadder turned election farce into inspired comedy|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/blackadder-election-episode-dish-and-dishonesty-69440?srsltid=AfmBOoq0gpjVkW7HTNrdntJt0_Zjt_L4LlqL-LSTCnmUpACHTbQgGLmW|date=5 June 2017|newspaper=The i Paper|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

===Theme tune===
[[Howard Goodall]]'s [[theme music|theme tune]] has the same [[melody]] throughout all the series, but is played in roughly the [[History of music|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 (musical instrument)|recorder]], [[string quartet]] and electric guitar in ''Blackadder II'' (the end theme, with different lyrics each time reflecting on the episode's events, was sung by a [[countertenor]]); on [[oboe]], cello and [[harpsichord]] (in the style of a [[minuet]]) for ''Blackadder the Third''; by The Band of the [[3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment]] in ''Blackadder Goes Forth''; sung by [[Carol (music)|carol singers]] in ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol''; and by an orchestra in ''Blackadder: The Cavalier Years'' and ''Blackadder: Back & Forth''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.howardgoodall.co.uk/works/tv-and-film/blackadder |title=List of Musicians and Singers who Played or Sang on Blackadder and Red Dwarf Themes |publisher=Howardgoodall.co.uk |access-date=8 June 2014}}</ref>

==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]].<ref name="Babfi" /> In 2004, a BBC TV poll for "[[Britain's Best Sitcom]]", ''Blackadder'' was voted the second best British sitcom of all time, topped by ''[[Only Fools and Horses]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Final Top 10 Sitcoms|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/winner.shtml|publisher=BBC|date=March 2004}}</ref> It was also ranked as the 20th Best TV Show of All Time by ''[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine.<ref name="empire"/>

==Future==
Despite regular statements denying any plans for a fifth series, cast members are regularly asked about the possibility of a new series.

In January 2005, Tony Robinson told [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]]'s ''[[This Morning (TV programme)|This Morning]]'' that Rowan Atkinson was more keen than he has been in the past to do a fifth series, set in the 1960s (centred on a rock band called the "Black Adder Five", with [[Baldrick]]&nbsp;– a.k.a. 'Bald Rick'&nbsp;– as the drummer). In the documentary ''Blackadder Rides Again'', Robinson stated that the series would present Blackadder as the bastard son of Queen Elizabeth II and running a Beatles-like rock band. Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny and Miranda Richardson would have reprised their roles, and reportedly, Brian Blessed, Elspet Gray and Robert East would have returned from the first series to play Blackadder's biological family. Robinson in a stage performance 1 June 2007, again mentioned this idea, but in the context of a film.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rowan Atkinson reveals details of "Redadder" - the Russian Revolution-themed Blackadder that never was |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/rowan-atkinson-reveals-details-of-redadder-the-russian-revolution-themed-blackadder-that-never-was/ |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=Radio Times}}</ref>

One idea mentioned by Curtis was that it was Baldrick who had accidentally [[John F. Kennedy assassination|assassinated]] [[John F. Kennedy]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3178382/Richard-Curtis-Blackadder-was-lined-up-to-be-Sixties-entrepreneur.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015022348/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/3178382/Richard-Curtis-Blackadder-was-lined-up-to-be-Sixties-entrepreneur.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 October 2008|title=Richard Curtis: Blackadder was lined up to be Sixties entrepreneur|work=[[The Sunday Telegraph]]|date=12 October 2008|access-date=12 October 2008}}</ref> However, aside from a brief mention in June 2005,<ref name="bbc-faces">{{cite news
 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4606743.stm
 | title = Faces of the week: Richard Curtis
 | publisher=BBC News
 | date = 3 June 2005
| access-date = 6 February 2008
| quote =...&nbsp;Rowan Atkinson, whose collaborations with Curtis include television and cinema's Mr Bean and TV's Blackadder, which is to enjoy a fifth series next year.
}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Citation|last=theoldonearethebest|title=Blackadder Rides Again Documentary pt 6 6|date=5 September 2011|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjOoncjwXgg&list=PL398BAFDB3C5E2009&index=7| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117202847/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjOoncjwXgg| archive-date=2018-01-17 | url-status=dead|access-date=18 January 2017}}</ref>

There were a couple of ideas that had previously floated for the fifth series. ''Batadder'' was intended to be a parody of ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' with Baldrick as the counterpart of [[Robin (comics)|Robin]] (suggested by [[John Lloyd (producer)|John Lloyd]]). This idea eventually came to surface as part of the ''[[Comic Relief (charity)|Comic Relief]]'' sketch "[[Spider-Plant Man]]" in 2005, with Atkinson as [[Spider-Man|the title hero]], Robinson as Robin, [[Jim Broadbent]] as Batman and [[Rachel Stevens]] as [[Mary Jane Watson|Mary Jane]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Greatest Red Nose Day sketches – Part 1|url=https://adoseofdavidmitchell.wordpress.com/2019/02/27/the-greatest-red-nose-day-sketches-part-1/|last1=Evans|first1=Rhianna|date=27 February 2019|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref> ''Star Adder'' was to be set in space in the future (suggested by Atkinson).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://filmtv.eserver.org/black-adder.txt |title=Black Adder Program Guide |access-date=29 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121120155502/http://filmtv.eserver.org/black-adder.txt |archive-date=20 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 10 April 2007, ''[[Hello! (magazine)|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."<ref name="Hello-Colditz">{{cite magazine
 | url = http://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/2007/04/10/blackadder-return/
 | title = Rowan toys with idea of 'Blackadder' return
 | magazine=Hello Magazine
 | date = 10 April 2007
| access-date = 6 February 2008
}}</ref>

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.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120529151802/http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/060620k.php "Atkinson Developing "Black Adder" Film"], Darkhorizons.com</ref>

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 (TV series)|House]]'' may make that difficult.<ref>{{cite web|title=DVD Review: Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out|url=https://blogcritics.org/dvd-review-tony-robinsons-cunning-night/|last1=Bennett|first1=Barbara|date=7 February 2008|publisher=Blogcritics|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

On 28 November 2012, Rowan Atkinson reprised the role at the "We are most amused" comedy gala for the [[Prince's Trust]] at the Royal Albert Hall. He was joined by Tony Robinson as Baldrick. The sketch involved Blackadder as CEO of Melchett, Melchett and Darling bank facing an enquiry over the banking crisis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/nov/29/we-are-most-amused-review|title=We Are Most Amused – review|last=Logan|first=Brian|date=29 November 2012|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=29 September 2018}}</ref>

In August 2015, Tony Robinson said in an interview "I do think a new series of Blackadder is on the cards. I have spoken to virtually all the cast about this now. The only problem is Hugh [Laurie]'s fee. He's a huge star now."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/aug/23/blackadder-new-series-on-the-cards-tony-robinson|title=Blackadder new series on the cards, says Tony Robinson|newspaper=The Guardian|date=24 August 2015}}</ref> However, in October 2018, Richard Curtis "dashed hopes" that the show would return for a fifth series.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/herald/curtis-reveals-why-blackadder-will-not-return/37419169.html|title=Curtis reveals why Blackadder will not return|date=16 October 2018}}</ref>

In April 2017 at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival, Atkinson stated "There are no plans to do anything" and revealed a potential [[Russian Revolution]] themed series that never materialised:

<blockquote>"There was a plan twenty years ago that got nowhere which was called ''Redadder'' which I quite liked. It was set in Russia in 1917 and ''Blackadder'' and Baldrick were working for the Tsar. They had blue stripes around their caps and then the Revolution happened and Rik Mayall unsurprisingly was playing Rasputin."<ref>{{cite web|title=Rowan Atkinson reveals details of Redadder Russian Revolution Blackadder at the Radio Times Festival|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/rowan-atkinson-reveals-details-of-redadder-the-russian-revolution-themed-blackadder-that-never-was/|last1=Dowell|first1=Ben|date=7 April 2017|publisher=Radio Times|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref></blockquote>

In December 2020, Rowan Atkinson told the ''Radio Times'':

<blockquote>"I don't actually like the process of making anything – with the possible exception of ''Blackadder''. Because the responsibility for making that series funny was on many shoulders, not just mine. ''Blackadder'' represented the creative energy we all had in the '80s. To try to replicate that 30 years on wouldn't be easy."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Ramachandran |first=Naman |date=2021-01-05 |title='Mr. Bean' Actor Rowan Atkinson Weighs in on 'Cancel Culture,' Teases New Film |url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/global/mr-bean-rowan-atkinson-cancel-culture-1234878676/ |access-date=2025-01-09 |magazine=Variety Magazine}}</ref></blockquote>

Most recently, in December 2024, Ben Elton poured doubt on a fifth series of ''Blackadder'':

<blockquote>"But there will not be a fifth series of ''Blackadder'', I think that’s pretty much a certainty. I have no interest in doing it. I don’t think any of us do, with the possible exception of Tony [Robinson]. But if we did, the world would be our oyster. We could have fun with any period."<ref>{{cite news|last=Butt|first=Maria|date=16 December 2024|title=Ben Elton shares disappointing update on Blackadder reunion series|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/ben-elton-blackadder-reunion-b2665028.html|newspaper=Independent|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref></blockquote>

==Home media==

All series and many of the specials are available on VHS tapes, DVDs & Blu-rays. Many are also available on BBC audio cassette. As of 2008, a "Best of BBC" edition box set is available containing all four series together with ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'' and ''Back & Forth''. All four series and the Christmas special are also available for download on [[iTunes]].

===VHS releases===
On 5 February 1990, BBC Enterprises Ltd released the first series on two single VHS tapes.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
|-
!VHS video title
!Date of release
!Episodes
!BBFC rating
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''The Blackadder: The Foretelling'' (BBCV 4300)
||5 February 1990
||The Foretelling, Born to Be King, the Archbishop
||PG
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''The Blackadder: The Queen of Spain's Beard'' (BBCV 4301)
||5 February 1990
||The Queen of Spain's Beard, Witchsmeller Pursuivant, The Black Seal
||15
|}

On 2 October 1989, BBC Enterprises Ltd released the second series on two single VHS tapes.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
|-
!VHS video title
!Date of release
!Episodes
!BBFC rating
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder II: Parte the Firste'' (BBCV 4288)
||2 October 1989
||Bells, Head, Potato
||PG
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder II: Parte the Seconde'' (BBCV 4289)
||2 October 1989
||Money, Beer, Chains
||15
|}

On 6 June 1988, 7 November 1988, and 6 February 1989, BBC Enterprises Ltd released the third series on two single VHS tapes.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
|-
!VHS video title
!Date of release
!Episodes
!BBFC rating
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder The Third: Sense and Senility'' (BBCV 4135)
||6 June 1988
||Sense and Senility, Amy and Amibility, Duel and Duality
||15
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder The Third: Dish and Dishonesty'' (BBCV 4176)
||7 November 1988, and 6 February 1989
||Dish and Dishonesty, Ink and Incapability, Nob and Nobility
||PG
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder The Third: Sense and Senility'' (BBCV 4177)
||7 November 1988, and 6 February 1989
||Sense and Senility, Amy and Amibility, Duel and Duality
||15
|}

On 10 September 1990, BBC Enterprises Ltd released the fourth and final series on two single VHS tapes.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
|-
!VHS video title
!Date of release
!Episodes
!BBFC rating
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder Goes Forth: Captain Cook'' (BBCV 4349)
||10 September 1990
||Captain Cook, Corporal Punishment, Major Star
||PG
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder Goes Forth: Private Plane'' (BBCV 4350)
||10 September 1990
||Private Plane, General Hospital, Goodbyeee
||15
|}

On 7 September 1992, all eight single Blackadder VHS tapes were re-released as four double VHS sets. These four double sets were re-released as single VHS tapes on 2 October 1995 and again as double sets on 2 November 1998.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
|-
!VHS video title
!Date of release/Cat No. (Double VHS)
!Date of release/Cat No. (Single VHS)
!Episodes
!BBFC rating

|- style="text-align:center;"
||''The Blackadder – The Complete Entire Historic First Series''
||7 September 1992 and 2 November 1998 (both BBCV 4782)
||2 October 1995 (BBCV 5711)
||The Foretelling, Born to Be King, the Archbishop, The Queen of Spain's Beard, Witchsmeller Pursuivant, The Black Seal
||15
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder II – The Complete Entire Historic Second Series''
||7 September 1992 and 2 November 1998 (both BBCV 4785)
||2 October 1995 (BBCV 5712)
||Bells, Head, Potato, Money, Beer, Chains
||15
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder the Third – The Complete Entire Historic Third Series''
||7 September 1992 and 2 November 1998 (both BBCV 4786)
||2 October 1995 (BBCV 5713)
||Dish and Dishonesty, Ink and Incapability, Nob and Nobility, Sense and Senility, Amy and Amibility, Duel and Duality
||15
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''Blackadder Goes Forth – The Complete Entire Historic Fourth Series''
||7 September 1992 and 2 November 1998 (both BBCV 4787)
||2 October 1995 (BBCV 5714)
||Captain Cook, Corporal Punishment, Major Star, Private Plane, General Hospital, Goodbyeee
||15
|}

On 5 January 1998, five episodes of the first two series were released on a 15-rated VHS tape by BBC Worldwide Ltd.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:99%;"
|-
!VHS video title
!Date of release
!Episodes
|- style="text-align:center;"
||''The Very Best of Blackadder'' (BBCV 6360)
||5 January 1998
||The Archbishop, The Queen of Spain's Beard, Bells, Head, Chains
|}

On 4 November 1991, ''Blackadder's Christmas Carol'' was released on a single VHS tape release rated PG (Cat. No. BBCV 4646).

===Single DVD releases===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:80%;text-align:center;"
|-
!DVD title !! Region 1 !! Region 2 !! Region 4
|-
|style="text-align:left"|Series 1: ''[[The Black Adder]]''|| 26 June 2001 || 1 November 1999 || 29 November 1999
|-
|style="text-align:left"|Series 2: ''[[Blackadder II]]''|| 26 June 2001 || 6 November 2000 || 11 July 2001
|-
|style="text-align:left"|Series 3: ''[[Blackadder the Third]]''|| 26 June 2001 || 5 February 2001 || 3 October 2001
|-
|style="text-align:left"|Series 4: ''[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]''|| 26 June 2001 || 22 October 2001 || 28 February 2002
|-
|style="text-align:left"|''[[Blackadder's Christmas Carol]]''|| 26 June 2001 || 18 November 2002 || 4 November 2002
|-
|style="text-align:left"|''[[Blackadder: Back & Forth]]''|| 26 June 2001 || 15 September 2003 || 11 November 2004
|}

===Box set DVD releases===
{| class="wikitable" style="width:90%;"
|-
!DVD title !! DVD content !! Region 1 !! Region 2 !! Region 4
|-
| The Complete Blackadder – All Four Series ||[[The Black Adder]]<br />[[Blackadder II]]<br />[[Blackadder the Third]]<br />[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]<br />|| {{n/a}} || 12 November 2001 || 3 October 2002
|-
| Blackadder – The Complete Collection ||[[The Black Adder]]<br />[[Blackadder II]]<br />[[Blackadder the Third]]<br />[[Blackadder Goes Forth]]<br />[[Blackadder's Christmas Carol]]<br />[[Blackadder: Back & Forth]]<br />[[Blackadder: The Cavalier Years]]<br />|| 26 June 2001 || 3 October 2005 || {{n/a}}
|-
| Blackadder Remastered – The Ultimate Edition ||[[The Black Adder]] (Remastered)<br />[[Blackadder II]] (Remastered)<br />[[Blackadder the Third]] (Remastered)<br />[[Blackadder Goes Forth]] (Remastered)<br />[[Blackadder's Christmas Carol]] (Remastered)<br />[[Blackadder: Back & Forth]] (Remastered)<br />[[Blackadder: The Cavalier Years]] (Remastered)<br />Blackadder Rides Again (Documentary)<br />+Audio Commentaries<br />+Interviews<br />|| 20 October 2009 || 15 June 2009 || 1 October 2009
|}

==LP box set==
On 19 October 2022 there was an announcement that there will be a LP box set release and collects the Blackadder soundtracks on vinyl for the first time.
The deluxe 12-disc LP collection with the title ''Blackadder's Historical Record'' was pressed on gold-coloured 140g vinyl, and released on 10 February 2023 by [[Demon Records]]. It also includes a frameable print of Baldrick, each hand signed by Sir Tony Robinson himself and a comprehensive full-colour booklet detailing the comedy series, the "leather-look rigid box"

==Stamps==
[[Royal Mail]] issued a set of special stamps celebrating ''Blackadder'' on 17 May 2023.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-65560306|title=Blackadder's 40th anniversary celebrated with new stamps| publisher=BBC News. 12 May 2023 | accessdate=3 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.collectgbstamps.co.uk/explore/issues/?issue=23129|title=Blackadder| publisher=CollectGBStamps.| accessdate=3 February 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Literature==
* Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, and Rowan Atkinson, ''Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485–1917'' (Michael Joseph, 1998). {{ISBN|0-7181-4372-8}}. Being the – almost – complete scripts of the four regular series.
* Chris Howarth, and Steve Lyons, ''Cunning: The Blackadder Programme Guide'' (Virgin Publishing, 2002). {{ISBN|0-7535-0447-2}}. A cheap unofficial episode guide.
* Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, ''Blackadder: Back & Forth'' (Penguin Books, 2000). {{ISBN|0-14-029135-0}}. A script book with copious photographs from the most recent outing, and additional material from Kevin Cecil & Andy Riley.
* J.F. Roberts, ''The True History of the Black Adder: The Unadulterated Tale of the Creation of a Comedy Legend'' (Preface publishing, 2012). {{ISBN|978-1-84809-346-1}}. A 420-page officially endorsed full history of the Blackadder episodes and characters, as well as its birth, its writers and actors, and all the specials – plus Curtis' script for unproduced Christmas special 'Blackadder In Bethlehem'.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
*{{BBC programme}}
*{{British Comedy Guide|tv|blackadder}}

{{Blackadder}}
{{Richard Curtis}}
{{Rowan Atkinson}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1980s British multi-camera sitcoms]]
[[Category:1983 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1989 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1980s British black comedy television series]]
[[Category:Alternate history television series]]
[[Category:BBC black comedy television shows]]
[[Category:BBC television sitcoms]]
[[Category:Blackadder| ]]
[[Category:British parody television series]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Historical television series]]
[[Category:Television series by BBC Studios]]
[[Category:Television series created by Rowan Atkinson]]
[[Category:Television series created by Richard Curtis]]