49 Fun Facts About Blackadder

Who played Blackadder's servant Baldrick in every series and special?

Tony Robinson was knighted in 2013 for public and political service, while Rowan Atkinson received a CBE in the same honours list, so the servant ended up outranking his master.

Blackadder Goes Forth is set during which conflict?

First World War: the series sits on the Western Front in 1917, where Captain Blackadder spends six episodes scheming to get out of his dugout before the next 'big push'.

Which catchphrase is Blackadder's servant Baldrick best known for?

'I have a cunning plan' usually heralds an idea Blackadder shreds on the spot, yet in the first series it was Baldrick who was the clever one and his master the fool.

Which root vegetable is Baldrick obsessed with?

Turnip: made a lord in Blackadder the Third, Baldrick blows his £400,000 on one enormous 'dream turnip', which Blackadder promptly crushes over his head.

Who played the buffoonish Prince Regent in Blackadder the Third?

Hugh Laurie's prince ends the series dead, shot while disguised as his own butler, which leaves Blackadder to live on as Prince Regent in his place.

Which actor played Melchett in Blackadder II and Blackadder Goes Forth?

Stephen Fry played Lord Melchett as a mild-mannered adviser at the Tudor court, then turned his descendant into a loud, domineering general who orders attacks from far behind the lines.

Who played Queenie, the spoilt, childish monarch of Blackadder II?

Miranda Richardson played Queenie as a spoilt child with absolute power, ordering executions on a whim simply to cure her own boredom.

In The Black Adder, which king wins the Battle of Bosworth?

Richard III wins the battle in the show's secret history but is beheaded by mistake soon afterwards; the narrator blames Henry Tudor for later rewriting history to hide the reign that followed.

Blackadder II is set during the reign of which English monarch?

Elizabeth I: moving to her court let the makers swap the first series' costly location filming for a handful of small studio sets after the BBC demanded a severe budget cut.

What is the first name of Blackadder's nemesis, Captain Darling?

Kevin: in the final episode General Melchett, thinking it a treat, packs his terrified aide Kevin Darling off to the front line to join the dawn attack.

What is the title of the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth?

Goodbyeee takes its title from a popular wartime song, breaking the run of rank puns such as 'Major Star' and 'General Hospital' for the episode in which the men finally attack.

The episode titles of Blackadder the Third are puns on the novels of which author?

Jane Austen published her novels in the Regency years the series lampoons, so each title apes Sense and Sensibility: 'Dish and Dishonesty', 'Ink and Incapability', 'Duel and Duality'.

Rik Mayall played which swaggering, womanising hero in Blackadder II and Blackadder Goes Forth?

Lord Flashheart crashes through the roof as best man at Blackadder's wedding, charms everyone in the room and promptly runs off with the bride.

Which writer joined Richard Curtis from Blackadder II onwards, replacing Rowan Atkinson as co-writer?

Ben Elton, then a stand-up comic, took over from Atkinson as co-writer for the cheaper studio-bound second series and doubled as the warm-up act for its studio audiences.

Which QI creator produced all four Blackadder series?

John Lloyd had produced Not the Nine O'Clock News, the sketch show whose star Rowan Atkinson and writer Richard Curtis went on to devise the historical sitcom.

Which composer, also behind the Red Dwarf and Mr. Bean themes, wrote the Blackadder theme tune?

Howard Goodall recast one melody for each era: trumpets and timpani for the Middle Ages, recorder and electric guitar for the Tudors, a harpsichord minuet for the Regency.

In Blackadder's Christmas Carol, what kind of shop does Ebenezer Blackadder run?

Moustaches: the shop earns Ebenezer almost nothing, because the kindest man in England hands his takings to every charity collector and con artist who knocks.

Who played the Spirit of Christmas in Blackadder's Christmas Carol?

Robbie Coltrane's Spirit drops in to praise Ebenezer's goodness, but his visions of scheming ancestors backfire: Ebenezer concludes that bad guys have all the fun.

In 'Corporal Punishment', what was Melchett's pet pigeon, shot by Blackadder, called?

Speckled Jim was the general's beloved carrier pigeon; Blackadder shoots and eats it, then faces a court-martial with Melchett himself as judge and a firing squad as the sentence.

Blackadder: Back & Forth was made for a purpose-built cinema at which London attraction?

The Millennium Dome's Sky-sponsored Skyscape cinema screened the film throughout 2000; Sky and the BBC had already squabbled over the TV rights, and Sky One showed it first.

Which supermodel cameoed as Maid Marian in Blackadder: Back & Forth?

Kate Moss's Maid Marian outlasts her Robin Hood: Blackadder talks the Merry Men into shooting him, and by the rewritten ending she is queen beside King Edmund III.

In the 2004 BBC poll for Britain's Best Sitcom, Blackadder finished second behind which show?

Only Fools and Horses won the final vote after ten Saturday-night films in which a celebrity advocate argued for each finalist; John Sergeant made the case for Blackadder.

In Blackadder Goes Forth, Blackadder feigns madness to dodge the big push with what stuck up his nose?

Pencils: the ruse collapses when he overhears General Melchett recall shooting a whole platoon in the Sudan for the very same trick, so he pretends he was only telling the story.

In Blackadder the Third, Baldrick speculates that his first name might be what?

Sodoff: when he played in the gutter and introduced himself, Baldrick explains, the other children always answered 'Sod off, Baldrick', so Blackadder writes down 'Mr. S. Baldrick'.

In Blackadder Goes Forth, Private Baldrick makes coffee from which unlikely ingredient?

Mud: the real coffee ran out thirteen months earlier, Baldrick admits, and since then the sugar has been dandruff and the milk his own saliva.

In 'Captain Cook', Blackadder guesses the generals' new plan is for the men to do what?

Walk very slowly toward the enemy: Melchett calls it brilliant because doing exactly what they have done eighteen times before is the last thing the other side will expect.

In 'Dish and Dishonesty', what does Blackadder rig so that Baldrick wins?

A by-election: Blackadder installs Baldrick as MP for the rotten borough of Dunny-on-the-Wold to protect the Prince's income, only for the new member to vote the wrong way.

The final shot of Blackadder Goes Forth fades from no man's land to a field of what?

Poppies: neither the slow motion nor the fade was in the script; both were added in the edit because the makers were unhappy with the ending as it had been filmed.

Which comedian played the king Edmund accidentally beheads in The Black Adder's first episode?

Peter Cook's king has just won his battle when Edmund, arriving late, takes him for a horse thief and lops off his head; the headless ghost then comes back to haunt him.

In The Black Adder, Brian Blessed played Edmund's father, who reigns under which regnal name?

Richard IV is the show's invention: the younger Prince in the Tower, grown up to reign from 1485 to 1498, though the real boy would have been about twelve at Bosworth.

Who played both the dim Lord Percy and the sneering Captain Darling in Blackadder?

Tim McInnerny went from Blackadder's hopelessly naive hanger-on in the first two series to his snivelling rival at headquarters in the last.

In the 1988 English Civil War Comic Relief special, Blackadder and Baldrick are the last men loyal to which king?

Charles I is doomed all the same: Baldrick, hired as executioner, plans to behead a pumpkin instead, so Blackadder pockets the fee and takes the job himself.

Which Dalziel and Pascoe star played Oliver Cromwell in Blackadder: The Cavalier Years?

Warren Clarke's Cromwell turns up at Blackadder Hall with his Roundheads while the master is out, and Baldrick promptly lets slip who is hiding there.

Much of The Black Adder was filmed at which Northumberland castle, later Hogwarts in two Harry Potter films?

Alnwick: the 1983 location shoot, with horses, crowds of extras and medieval costumes, pushed the six episodes to about a million pounds, and the BBC demanded a far cheaper second series.

In 'Duel and Duality', which war hero challenges the Prince Regent to a duel over his nieces?

The Duke of Wellington wants satisfaction after the prince seduces his two nieces; Blackadder stands in for his master and finds the duel is to be fought with cannon, not swords.

Which UK channel first broadcast the unaired 1982 Blackadder pilot, in 2023?

Gold aired it in June 2023 inside the documentary Blackadder: The Lost Pilot, fronted by the actor famous as Baldrick, who had not been cast in the pilot at all.

In Blackadder II's 'Bells', Blackadder falls for his new manservant, a girl in disguise calling herself what?

Bob is really Kate, who dresses as a boy to find work; Blackadder proposes once the truth is out, only to be jilted at the altar for his own best man.

In Blackadder II's 'Money', which baby-eating bishop demands that Blackadder repay £1,000?

The Bishop of Bath and Wells collects for the Bank of the Black Monks with the threat of a hot poker; Blackadder drugs him, has him painted in a compromising pose and blackmails his way out.

In Blackadder II, whose triumphant homecoming goads Blackadder into going to sea himself?

Sir Walter Raleigh comes home with potatoes and the Queen's adoration, so a jealous Blackadder hires Captain Rum, who turns out not to know the way to the Cape of Good Hope.

Which Doctor Who star played the legless sea captain Redbeard Rum in Blackadder II?

Tom Baker's Captain Rum gets the ship hopelessly lost for six months, by which time the crew are drinking their own urine, a habit he had taken up before the water ran out.

'Redadder', an unmade series idea Atkinson described in 2017, would have been set in which country?

Russia: Atkinson said Blackadder and Baldrick were to serve the Tsar in 1917 until the Revolution arrived, with Rik Mayall lined up to play Rasputin.

In Blackadder: Back & Forth, what wipes out the dinosaurs?

Baldrick's underpants: cornered by a Tyrannosaurus, the pair fend it off with his ancient pair, and Blackadder declares one of history's great mysteries solved.

In 'Duel and Duality', Atkinson also plays Blackadder's fierce swordsman cousin, who comes from which country?

Scotland: MacAdder, a kilted lunatic with a claymore, is meant to fight the duel in the prince's place, but he heads home instead and Blackadder has to face it himself.

Which dictionary-writer's manuscript does Baldrick burn in 'Ink and Incapability'?

Samuel Johnson's only copy apparently goes on Baldrick's fire, so Blackadder sits down that night to rewrite a dictionary that had taken its author ten years.

Which field marshal sweeps fallen toy soldiers into a dustpan during a phone call in Blackadder Goes Forth's final episode?

Douglas Haig owes Blackadder his life from an old colonial battle, yet when Blackadder phones to call in the favour, all he gets is one useless tip and an order never to ring again.

Adrian Edmondson guest-starred in Blackadder Goes Forth as which real German flying ace?

Baron von Richthofen captures Blackadder and Baldrick, then is shot dead in the middle of a speech about noble foes by the British ace who has come to rescue them.

Blackadder II's opening titles, with a snake slithering across a table, parody which 1970s BBC drama?

I, Claudius lent the ominous strings and the snake; Blackadder's would not behave for its handler, so each week it is taken away and replaced with an object matching the episode title.

Which actress guest-starred in Blackadder as both the Spanish Infanta and the puritan Lady Whiteadder?

Miriam Margolyes's Lady Whiteadder slaps her nephew at every turn and declares chairs an invention of Satan: at home, she says, her husband sits on a spike.

Who played Mrs. Miggins, the coffee-shop proprietress of Blackadder the Third?

Helen Atkinson-Wood gave a face to a running gag: in Blackadder II, Mrs Miggins and her pie shop were talked about constantly but never once seen.