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Black-Adder II was held back for the New Year season on BBC1 in 1986, and again Atkinson promoted his new show quite heavily. Appearing on Wogan a few hours before the first broadcast, the star declared that what viewers would be seeing tonight was "significantly improved" on the first season, and was a lot faster. In the Radio Times he explained that Black-Adder II "has wider appeal. It's more zappy and anarchic." In Time Out, the star commented "My future credibility with the BBC probably rests with the success or failure of this series."
With no running themes from episode to episode, the programmes could be arranged into any order. Very late in the day it was decided to transpose the first two instalments (even previews in the week of broadcast still referred to Mayall's appearance being in the second episode). As such, Bells went out first and out of sequence. Because of this, Percy shaves off his beard during Bells, has grown it again by Head and is then clean-shaven for the remaining episodes.
Black-Adder II ran at 9.30pm on Thursday nights from 9th January to 20th February 1986, pre-empted on 30th January by an edition of Crimewatch. The critics hailed the early episodes as 'promising' and 'a great improvement' ... and by the time Chains concluded the run in a finale which the Radio Times assured readers comprised everyone getting 'horribly murdered at the end again', the tighter scripts of Elton and Curtis with the cunning plans and prickly sarcasm had secured a strong following and consolidated the shaky position of Edmund's great grandfather three years earlier...
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