''Blackadder II'' is the second series of the BBC

sitcom A sitcom, a Portmanteau, portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troup ...

Blackadder ''Blackadder'' is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC One from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony R ...

'', written by

Richard Curtis Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis (born 8 November 1956) is a New Zealand-born British screenwriter, producer and film director. One of Britain's most successful comedy screenwriters, he is known primarily for romantic comedy films, among them '' ...

and

Ben Elton Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Bl ...

, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986. The series is set in England during the reign of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

(1558–1603), and sees the principal character,

Edmund, Lord Blackadder Edmund Blackadder is the single name given to a collection of fictional characters who appear in the BBC mock-historical comedy series ''Blackadder'', each played by Rowan Atkinson. Although each series is set within a different period of Britis ...

, as a Tudor courtier attempting to win the favour of the Queen while avoiding execution by decapitation, a fate that befell many of her suitors. The series differed markedly from '' The Black Adder'', notably with Ben Elton replacing Rowan Atkinson as the second writer, filming in studio sets, rather than on location, the introduction of a Machiavellian ''"Blackadder"'' character and a less intelligent Baldrick.Lewisohn, Mark
''Blackadder II''
at the former BBC Guide to Comedy. Retrieved 17 March 2007

Plot

The series is set during the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female person ...

(1558–1603). The principal character,

(

Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms ''Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and '' Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series '' Johnny English'' (2003–20 ...

), is the great-grandson of the original Black Adder, and is now a member of the London aristocracy. Unlike his forefather, he is both dashing and intelligent, although he is still scheming and cynical in his outlook. The series follows his attempts to win the favour of the childish

(

Miranda Richardson Miranda Jane Richardson (born 3 March 1958) is an English actress. She made her film debut playing Ruth Ellis in '' Dance with a Stranger'' (1985) and went on to receive Academy Award nominations for '' Damage'' (1992) and '' Tom & Viv'' (1994). ...

). As before, he is aided, and often hindered, by two less-than-intelligent sidekicks, his servant Baldrick (

Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...

), and

Lord Percy Percy This article lists the characters in the four series and three special episodes of the British sitcom ''Blackadder''. ''Blackadder'' was notable for featuring actors playing many repeating characters across different eras of history, with Rowa ...

( Tim McInnerny), heir to the Duchy of Northumberland, with whom Blackadder has a grudging friendship. Throughout the series, Blackadder's chief rival is Lord Melchett (

Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starrin ...

), the Queen's pretentious and grovelling

Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...

. Melchett fears upsetting the Queen, and thus attempts to outdo Blackadder by supporting the Queen in whatever current fad she is interested in.

Comic relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic epis ...

in the Court is provided by the Queen's demented former

nanny A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...

Nursie This article lists the characters in the four series and three special episodes of the British sitcom ''Blackadder''. ''Blackadder'' was notable for featuring actors playing many repeating characters across different eras of history, with Rowa ...

( Patsy Byrne). Baldrick, who in the first series was the most intelligent of the main trio, became more stupid, an idea proposed by

to make him "the stupidest person in the history of...human beings", and to act as a foil to Blackadder's new-found intelligence.''I Have a Cunning Plan – 20th Anniversary of Blackadder'',

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...

documentary broadcast 23 August 2003. Excerpts available a
bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/interviews/
/ref> The series was also the originator of Baldrick's obsession with the

turnip The turnip or white turnip (''Brassica rapa'' subsp. ''rapa'') is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, fleshy taproot. The word ''turnip'' is a compound (linguistics), compound of ''turn'' as in turned/r ...

, although this apparently arose from a botanical error on the part of Elton, who confused the vegetable with the " amusingly shaped"

parsnip The parsnip (''Pastinaca sativa'') is a root vegetable closely related to carrot and parsley, all belonging to the flowering plant family Apiaceae. It is a biennial plant usually grown as an annual. Its long taproot has cream-colored skin ...

. Lord Percy remained similar in character to the original series, as a foolish sidekick in Blackadder's plots and predicaments. In this respect, McInnerny said the character resembled Sir Andrew Aguecheek in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...

''. As with ''The Black Adder'', the series featured many

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...

references to

Shakespeare's plays Shakespeare's plays are a canon of approximately 39 dramatic works written by English poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare. The exact number of plays—as well as their classifications as tragedy, history, comedy, or otherwise—is a ...

; Shakespeare is mentioned as a contemporary Elizabethan, and his famous quotations are twisted for comic effect.
Britain's Best Sitcom – Blackadder
', 2004 BBC Television documentary, presented by John Sergeant The first episode " Bells", follows a similar plot to ''

''.

Episodes

The series aired for six episodes broadcast on Thursdays on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

at 9.30pm between 9 January 1986 and 20 February 1986. "Head" was originally intended to be the first episode and was first to be filmed. This resulted in the small continuity error of Lord Percy still having a beard in "Head" which he shaves off in "Bells". In addition, during the early scenes of "Head", the principal characters are introduced to the audience with Baldrick's stupidity highlighted.

Production

Development

Due to the high cost of the first series, Michael Grade (the then controller of programming of

) was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements and cost-cutting, leaving a gap of three years between the two series. Rowan Atkinson did not wish to continue writing for the second series, so writer and stand-up comedian

was chosen to replace him. According to producer

John Lloyd John Lloyd may refer to: Artists, writers, and entertainers *John J. Lloyd (1922–2014), American art director and production designer *John Lloyd (graphic designer) (born 1944), co-founder of design consultancy Lloyd Northover *John Lloyd (journa ...

, Ben Elton was particularly keen on the choice of the Elizabethan age for the series, because it was "a sexy age that ''the kids'' can relate to." As a stand-up comic, Elton often acted as the studio warm-up comic to amuse the audience before filming began.Trivia
at UKTV Gold.co.uk, retrieved 2 April 2007 The scripts were also tightened up during principal rehearsals with the actors; according to Richard Curtis, an entire script for a

murder mystery Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

-style episode was dropped because the writers felt it did not work.

Filming

To make the show more cost-effective, it was principally filmed on specially designed small sets at BBC Television Centre created by designer Tony Thorpe. The sets were de-constructed and rebuilt during the period of studio filming, as was normal for studio series then. In particular, the Queen's

throne room A throne room or throne hall is the room, often rather a hall, in the official residence of the crown, either a palace or a fortified castle, where the throne of a senior figure (usually a monarch) is set up with elaborate pomp—usually raised, ...

and Blackadder's front room were featured in every episode, with only two further unique sets per episode, including an execution chamber in "Head" and a Spanish

dungeon A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from ...

in "Chains". Only one outside location shoot was used in the whole series, which took place before principal filming on Thursday 30 May 1985 at

Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

. These outdoor scenes were Blackadder's courting scene in "Bells" and the end title sequences.Blackadder Hall
co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2008 Studio recordings shot in front of a live audience began on Sunday 9 June 1985 with the recording of "Head". Subsequent episodes were filmed on a weekly basis in the sequence "Bells", "Potato", "Money", "Beer" and "Chains". Director Mandie Fletcher was keen for the action to be shot spontaneously and was averse to complex costume changes or special effects which required recording to be halted. She is reputed to have said filming it was "a bit like doing Shakespeare in front of an audience – it's not at all like doing sitcom."

Cast

The size of the principal cast was reduced compared to the previous series, with a fixed number of characters appearing in every episode. Richard Curtis has been quoted as saying that due to the familiar cast, the series was the happiest for him to work on, comparing it to a "friendly bunch of school chums". *

as Lord Edmund Blackadder * Tim McInnerny as

, Heir to the Duchy of Northumberland *

as Baldrick *

Queen Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eliz ...

as Lord Melchett, the Lord Chamberlain * Patsy Byrne as

The series also featured at least one significant

cameo role A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

per episode. Notable appearances include Rik Mayall as the debonair Lord Flashheart in "Bells";

Tom Baker Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' from 1974 to 1981.Scott, Danny. ( ...

and Simon Jones as Captain Redbeard Rum and Sir Walter Raleigh, respectively, in "Potato"; Ronald Lacey as the Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells in "Money";

Miriam Margolyes Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus. The To ...

, who had appeared in the previous series, as the puritanical Lady Whiteadder in "Beer"; and Stephen Fry's comedy partner

Hugh Laurie James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...

, who appears twice, first as the drunken Simon Partridge in "Beer" and in the final episode as the evil Prince Ludwig. Laurie was later given a larger role as George in the next two series. Also Bob, played by

Gabrielle Glaister Gabrielle Glaister is an English actress, best known for her role as Patricia Farnham in British soap opera '' Brookside'' and Trish Wallace in '' Family Affairs''. She is notable also for her portrayal of Bob/Kate/Bobbie Parkhurst in several ep ...

, a former classmate of Ben Elton's, made her first appearance. Several of the characters were seen in similar guises in later series.

Music and titles

The opening titles are accompanied by a mock-Elizabethan arrangement of

Howard Goodall Howard Lindsay Goodall (; born 26 May 1958) is an English composer of musicals, choral music and music for television. He also presents music-based programmes for television and radio, for which he has won many awards. In May 2008, he was n ...

's ''Blackadder'' theme played on a recorder and an

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

, and feature a black snake slithering about on a

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorpho ...

table. The snake, non-compliant to the wishes of its handler, is eventually removed and replaced with something related to the episode title, which in this series is always a single noun. The opening ominous

string String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece is the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings still require interpretation by the performer depend ...

and imagery are a parody of the opening credits of ''

I, Claudius ''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the R ...

'', the 1976 BBC television adaptation of Robert Graves' novel of the same name.Trivia
at IMDb.com. Retrieved 17 March 2007 The closing titles use a different arrangement of the theme, sung by countertenor Jeremy Jackman, with lyrics (usually insulting Blackadder) that reflect the events of the preceding episode. The song is played over a shot of Blackadder strolling through a

formal garden A formal garden is a garden with a clear structure, geometric shapes and in most cases a symmetrical layout. Its origin goes back to the gardens which are located in the desert areas of Western Asia and are protected by walls. The style of a forma ...

and being annoyed by the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...

-wielding

minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer w ...

( Tony Aitken). This sequence was incorporated as a separate

subplot In fiction, a subplot is a secondary strand of the Plot (narrative), plot that is a supporting side story for any story or for the main plot. Subplots may connect to main plots, in either time and place or thematic significance. Subplots often invo ...

, with Blackadder constantly attempting to apprehend the musician each time with limited success. At the end of the final episode, Blackadder catches the minstrel and repeatedly dunks him in a fountain.Credits
at IMDb.com. Retrieved 17 March 2007

Releases

The complete series of ''Blackadder II'' is available as a Region 2 DVD from

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetises BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadca ...

, as well as in a complete box-set with the other series, most recently as a remastered edition including a commentary on selected episodes. An earlier VHS release of the series was also produced in 1996. The series is also available in Region 1 DVD in a box-set of the complete series. In addition, an

audio recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording ...

taken from the television episodes is available on cassette and

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

VHS releases

* In about October 1989, BBC Enterprises Ltd released all six episodes of ''Blackadder II'' on two single videos; they were re-released on 7 September 1992 in 'Complete', a double-VHS box set. All six episodes were re-released on a single video on 2 October 1995.

DVD releases

References

Notes Citations

External links

*
''Blackadder II''
at the former BBC Guide to Comedy (archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackadder Ii 1980s British sitcoms 1986 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings Alternate history television series BBC black comedy television shows BBC television sitcoms Blackadder Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I British parody television series English-language television shows Television set in Tudor England Television series set in the 16th century Television shows set in London Works set in castles