Black Adder Marathon

Black Adder is a show I don’t remember where I discovered it originally. I probably found it on late night PBS viewings of Doctor Who back in the 80’s. When I first discovered it, they hadnt’ finished the series – at that point there was just the first two series, so I got to see Series 3 & 4 new. Well, relatively new given how long it took to get new BBC stuff to the US in the 80’s.

It’s a historical sitcom about well, basically a conniving moron named Edmund Blackadder. It’s kind of hard to describe what makes it funny – it’s just one of those shows you have to watch to get it. On the surface it doesn’t seem like it would work, because Black Adder himself is a major jerk – especially in the first two series. That mellows a bit as time goes on, but early on he’s very unlikable.

There are four main series of the show, each set in a different time frame. The core characters of Black Adder & Baldrick are in the entire run of the show, and a lot of the actors who play the secondary cast are in a lot, but not all of them are in all four series. They come and go over the 24 episodes that make up the overall series. There’s also a handful of specials produced during the run of the show, and one reunion episode about a decade later after the primary series ends. I’ll touch on all that stuff below.

The primary cast are Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder, Tony Robinson as Baldrick, Hugh Laurie as George, Stephen Fry as Melchet, & Tim McInnerny as a couple of characters. The thing is they vary. only Blackadder and Baldrick are in all the series. Hugh Laurie is a regular in Series 3 & 4, but appears in just one episode of Series 2. The great Brian Blessed is a regular in Series 1 only. Stephen Fry is a regular in Series 2 & 4 with a token appearance in Season 3. Tim McInnerny isn’t in Season 3. As I said, it’s all over the place – a lot of that to do with the change in settings. There aren’t any on screen reasons given for the changes in time, they’re just “there” when they get to a new series.

The Black Adder

Series 1 is officially called “The Black Adder”. It comprises of 6 episodes that aired from 15 Jun to 20 Jul 1983.

It has a radically different feel than the other series. Most lists of favorite Black Adder serials list this at the bottom. Which is a shame as it has Brian Blessed in every episode. The base setting is in 1485 at the end of the British Middle ages. It is an alternate history where Richard III won the Battle of Bosworth field and was later assassinated and succeeded by Richard IV (Brian Blessed). Blessed’s son is “Prince Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh”, who calls himself “The Black Adder”. Black Adder is far more weasley (and bumbling) than he is in subsequent series, and Baldrick isn’t a complete moron like he is in subsequent series. These two things alone give the series a radically different flavor than the others. It was also the only series not to be written by Richard Curtis & Ben Elton (who wrote the other three). This one was written by Curtis and Rowan Atkinson.

Some of the guests in this series are Peter Cook, William Russell, Miriam Margolyes, Valentine Dyall, Stephen Frost, & Rik Mayall.

Black Adder II

Series 2 is officially called “Black Adder II”. It comprises of 6 episodes that aired from 9 Jan – 20 Feb 1986.

This is what a lot of people who like Black Adder feel is the best series, although I personally don’t feel that way. This is probably the most “complete” of the secondary characters – it’s more tightly wound than the first series. Meaning that the recurring characters in the first series had a lesser role in some of the plots. In this one the secondary characters are there for all of them. Brian Blessed does not return from the first series, but Tim McInnerny & Tony Robinson do. We also have Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, & Patsy Byrne as regulars. Amusingly, a lot of the time these characters are all in the same room! This series is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (from 1557-1603). It is said that the Black Adder in this series is the great grandson of the Black Adder from the original series.

This series has Ben Elton replace Rowan Atkinson as one of the series co-writers, an arrangement that will continue through the rest go the series.

Some of the guests in this series are Tom Baker (yes, that one), Miriam Margolyes, Hugh Laurie, Rik Mayall, & Gabrielle Glaister.

Black Adder The Third

Series 3 is officially called “Black Adder The Third”. It comprises of 6 episodes that aired from 17 Sep to 22 Oct 1987.

This is my favorite of the three series, and contains my favorite individual episode of the series as a whole. The third series is set in something called “The Regency” – a period in the late 1800 and early 1900s – but the specific time this series takes place is not divulged. This time around Edmund Blackadder is a butler to the Price Regent (now series regular Hugh Laurie). Baldrick is his “dogsbody” (person who does all the menial, boring, or unpleasant jobs that nobody else wants to do). That’s it for the primary cast, as the overall cast has been greatly reduced. Other actors from Series II make appearances here in other/guest roles. This includes Tim McInnerny, Stephen Fry, & Miranda Richardson (all regulars in Series II). There is also another regular – Helen Atkinson-Wood as “Mrs. Miggins”, the proprietor of a local watering hole.

Blackadder himself is far more intelligent than he was in the first two series, and sees himself as the real power behind the Prince, who is a complete moron. He exploits this from time to time, and some of his insults are nothing more than a stare – and some of his insults use sequences of some of the longest words you’ve ever seen. It’s my favorite performance of the various versions of Black Adder there have been.

Some of the guest stars (beyond former series cast members) in this series are Robbie Coltrane, Chris Barrie, Simon Osborne, Nigel Planner, Kenneth Connor, & Hugh Paddick.

Blackadder Goes Forth

Series 4 is officially called “Black Adder Goes Forth”. It comprises of 6 episodes that aired from 28 Sep to 2 Nov 1989. It remains to date the final full series of Black Adder.

When this was new (I remember seeing it new), I felt it was a let down over the third series, probably because I loved the third when it was new. However, my feelings towards it changed over the years, and I now like it better than the second series. This one is set in 1917 (the only one I believe with a definitive year) during World War I. It’s set in the British trenches. Atkinson this time is “Captain Edmund Blackadder”. Under his command are “Private S. Baldrick” & “Lt George” (Tony Robinson & Hugh Laurie respectively). The cast this series is larger than the third, as we also have Stephen Fry and Tim McInnerny as regulars in the whole series (General Melchett & Capt Kevin Darling respectively). The overall tone of the series is a bit darker than the others, but that’s not to say it’s not a comedy – it most certainly is. But what drives the comedy is a bit darker in tone – this is borne out in the last scene of the whole series which remains one of the more poignant and touching scenes I’ve ever seen in any sitcom.

Guest stars in this series include some former cast members, including Stephen Frost, Miranda Richardson, Gabrielle Glaister, Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, & Geoffrey Palmer.

Specials

While there were only four formal series of Black Adder, there were several specials produced over time. Some during the series, and some after. I’ll cover them as well, but I wanted to list them in order of chronological appearance.

Pilot Episode (32 minutes) – This was the first thing filmed for Series I – in 1982. It was never broadcast on television until 15 Jun 2023, during a larger special about said pilot. The main differences are that Baldrick is not played by Tony Robinson (but instead Philip Fox). The King is not Brian Blessed, it’s John Savident. Also, Blackadder is more like the version in Series II and onwards, not the version we got in Series I. Plot wise it was similar to the Series I episode “Born to be King“.
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (15 minutes) – This aired as part of the first Comic Relief Red Nose Day on 5 Feb 1988. It’s a short 15 min segment produced after the third series had been made, but set in-between the second and third (during the English Civil War in 1648). It has Blackadder, Baldrick, & King Charles (Stephen Fry). It is mentioned that Blackadder is the last remaining descendant of the original Black Adders (which would be Series I & II at this point).
Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (45 minutes) – This was a Christmas special episode (airing on 23 Dec 1988) based around the plot of “A Christmas Carol”. The twist here is that Blackadder is the nicest man in England. He’s visited by a ghost showing him the past, the present, and future – which turns him bad. This was unique as they recreated new scenes from Series II & III (not just reused footage, newly filmed bits in those series), plus an unseen future variant (Star Adder). It contains many cast members and people from Doctor Who in it and is easily my favorite of the specials.
Blackadder: Back & Forth (35 minutes) – This was the big Black Adder reunion, made 10 years after the end of the series. It was made in 1999, set on 31 Dec 1999. It was originally shown in the Millennium Dome, then later on BBC1 in 2002. Its plot is based around the totally ludicrous premise that Baldrick has invented a working time machine, and they use it to visit various places in history, causing problems.
The Big Night In (5 mins) – This was pretty much just Stephen Fry as Melchet talking via a video call with the real life Prince William, where they talk about raising children. It is also said that Melchet and Blackadder (who is isolating with him) are descendants of their First World War counterparts, a connection to Series IV
Red Nose Day 2023 (5 mins). This is a loose connection, but the most recent usage of any of the Black Adder characters. It has Tony Robinson as Baldrick reading a children bedtime story – as only Baldrick could. There’s no mention (or appearances) of any other character or actor from Black Adder in this.

There were also a couple of live stage performances between 1998 and 2012, but I’m not going to cover those. (mostly because I’ve never seen them and the connection is tenuous at best). You can read a little about them on the Wikipedia page for Black Adder here.

There’s been much speculation over the decades of there being a fifth series of Black Adder. One of the better settings I saw was in the 1950’s with Blackadder as a rock and roll promoter. I thought we were going to get a new series a few times over the years, but nothing has ever cropped up again, despite all the primary cast still being alive in 2025.

As much as I’d love to see these guys again – it might be fun to do a “we’re all old variant”, this is probably it, and to be honest, it’s a good run, perhaps we don’t really need any more.