Captain Edmund Blackadder and Private S Baldrick in 'Blackadder Goes Forth'


The Blackadder Series

The Blackadder Series consists of 4 TV series, filmed between 1983 and 1989. There have also been 2 TV specials, a special sketch written for Prince Charles' 50th Birthday, and a special short film produced for the Millennium Dome:


Blackadder (1485-1498)

The first series, Blackadder (also The Black Adder), was aired in 1983.  The series opens in 1485 with the Battle of Bosworth, and we are introduced to Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh, who soon becomes known as "The Black Adder".  (By the way, you do not need to know anything much about English history to understand the plot and the jokes, but it does help.)

CAST:

Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh (The Black Adder) - Rowan Atkinson
King Richard IV - Brian Blessed
Richard III - Peter Cook
Prince Harry, Prince of Wales - Robert East
Queen - Elspet Gray
Lord Percy, Duke of Northumberland - Tim McInnerny
Baldrick - Tony Robinson

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Blackadder II (1558-1603)

Lord Edmund Blackadder, Lord Percy Percy and Baldrick in 'Blackadder II'The second series, Blackadder II, was aired in 1986.  It is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and we are introduced to another member of the Blackadder dynasty, Lord Edmund Blackadder.

CAST:

Lord Edmund Blackadder - Rowan Atkinson
Lord Percy Percy - Tim McInnerny
Baldrick - Tony Robinson
Queen Elizabeth I - Miranda Richardson
Lord Melchett - Stephen Fry
Nursie (Bernard) - Patsy Byrne

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Blackadder the Third (1760-1815)

The third series, Blackadder the Third, was aired in 1987.  It is set in the Regency Period, and the next member of the Blackadder family, Edmund Blackadder, Esq, is a butler to the Prince Regent.

CAST:

Edmund Blackadder, Esq - Rowan Atkinson
S Baldrick - Tony Robinson
George, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent - Hugh Laurie
Mrs. Miggins - Helen Atkinson-Wood

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Blackadder Goes Forth (1917)

Captain Edmund Blackadder and Private S Baldrick again in 'Blackadder Goes Forth'The fourth series, Blackadder Goes Forth, was aired in 1989.  It is set in 1917, during the First World War.  Captain Edmund Blackadder is in the army at the front lines of the Western Front.

CAST:

Captain Edmund Blackadder - Rowan Atkinson
Private S Baldrick - Tony Robinson
General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett - Stephen Fry
Lieutenant the Honourable George Colhurst St. Barleigh - Hugh Laurie
Captain Kevin Darling - Tim McInnerny

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Blackadder: The Cavalier Years (1649)

The first TV special, Blackadder: The Cavalier Years, was aired in 1988.  It is set in the year 1649, during the English Civil War.  It is a fifteen minute sketch written for a Comic Relief telethon in the UK.

CAST:

Edmund Blackadder - Rowan Atkinson
Baldrick - Tony Robinson
King Charles - Stephen Fry
Oliver Cromwell - Warren Clarke

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Blackadder's Christmas Carol (Christmas 1850)

The second TV special, Blackadder's Christmas Carol, was aired in 1988.  It is set in the year 1850 in Victorian England, and is a twist on Dickens' classic book.

CAST:

Blackadders - Rowan Atkinson
Baldricks - Tony Robinson
Queen Elizabeth I/Asphyxia XIX - Miranda Richardson
Lord Melchett/Frondo - Stephen Fry
Prince Regent/Pigmot - Hugh Laurie
Spirit of Christmas - Robbie Coltrane
Queen Victoria - Miriam Margolyes
Prince Albert - Jim Broadbent
Nursie/Bernard - Patsy Byrne
Beadle - Dennis Lill
Mrs. Scratchit - Pauline Melville
Lord Nelson - Phillip Pope
Millicent - Nicola Bryant
Ralph - Ramsay Gilderdale
Enormous Orphan - David Barber

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Blackadder: The King's Birthday (1680)

The sketch written for Prince Charles' 50th Birthday, Blackadder: The King's Birthday, was aired in 1998 on ITV.  It is set sometimd during the reign of King Charles II.

CAST:

Lord Blackadder - Rowan Atkinson
King Charles II - Stephen Fry

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Blackadder Back and Forth (1999)

This special short film, Blackadder Back and Forth, was produced specially for the Millenium Dome.  It is showing throughout the year 2000 in Skyscape.  It has been shown once on SKY TV and it is also planned for it to be shown on BBC as well.  The present-day Blackadder and Baldrick travel through time in a time machine built by Baldrick, causing much havoc.

CAST:

Lord Edmund Blackadder/King Edmund III/Blackaddercus - Rowan Atkinson
Sodoff Baldrick/Baldrickus - Tony Robinson
Lady Elizabeth/Queen Elizabeth - Miranda Richardson
Archdeacon Darling/Duc de Darling/Duke of Darling - Tim McInnerny
Viscount George Bufton-Tufton/Georgius - Hugh Laurie
Bishop Flavius Melchett/Melchett/General Melchecus/Wellington - Stephen Fry
Robin Hood - Rik Mayall
William Shakespeare - Colin Firth
Maid Marian/Queen Marian - Kate Moss
Nursie - Patsy Byrne
Napoleon - Simon Russell Beale
News reporter - Jenny Bond
Friar Tuck - Crispin Harris

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