Tony Robinson returns as Edmund Blackadder’s general dogsbody to tell the age old tale of Balderella – a reimagining of the classic Cinderella.
Here for your enjoyment is the full-length story that was broadcast on BBC1 in the UK as part of Comic Relief 2023.
Fans of the classic British sitcom Blackadder were thrilled to learn that one of the show’s most beloved characters, Baldrick, will be making a return for this year’s Comic Relief. Sir Tony Robinson, who played the bumbling servant in all four seasons of the show, has confirmed that he will be donning the iconic ragged clothes once again to raise money for charity.
The announcement has caused quite a stir on social media, with fans expressing their excitement at the prospect of seeing Baldrick back on screen. For many, the character is an essential part of the Blackadder canon, and his return will be a welcome dose of nostalgia for those who grew up watching the show.
So, what can we expect from Baldrick’s return? Details are currently scarce, but Robinson has hinted that the character will be involved in a skit that will be shown during the Comic Relief telethon. He has also suggested that the sketch may involve other members of the Blackadder cast, although he has not revealed who these might be.
For fans of the show, the prospect of seeing Baldrick back in action is a tantalising one. The character was a constant source of comic relief throughout the show’s run, with his hare-brained schemes and endless optimism providing a perfect foil to the witticisms of the more erudite characters. From his famous “cunning plan” catchphrase to his memorable turn as a war poet in the final season, Baldrick was always a highlight of the show.
Of course, the return of Baldrick is not just a chance for fans to relive their favourite moments from Blackadder. It is also an opportunity to raise money for a good cause. Comic Relief is a UK-based charity that aims to tackle poverty and social injustice in the UK and around the world. Since its inception in 1985, it has raised over £1 billion for various charitable causes, making it one of the most successful fundraising initiatives in history.
Robinson has been a vocal supporter of Comic Relief for many years, and his decision to bring back Baldrick is just the latest in a long line of efforts to raise money for the charity. In the past, he has taken part in various fundraising activities, including a celebrity version of the TV quiz show Mastermind, and a charity bike ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End.
For fans of Blackadder, the return of Baldrick is a chance to relive some of the show’s most memorable moments and see one of their favourite characters back on screen. But more than that, it is an opportunity to contribute to a worthy cause and make a difference to people’s lives. As the Comic Relief telethon approaches, fans of the show will no doubt be eagerly anticipating the return of their favourite servant and the chance to make a donation to a charity that has been changing lives for over 30 years. Red Nose day returns on Friday March 17th 2023 and is broadcast on BBC One from 7pm.
To find out more about the fantastic work that Comic Relief does and to grab yourself a fundraising pack, head on over to here!
The Sun is reporting that four of the cast members recently met up in London to discuss the idea of doing a Blackadder (series or special not confirmed) set in a modern University. The idea of Blackadder being a grumpy old uni lecturer has been mentioned in the past, but this recent meet up (if indeed there was a meet up) does add some weight to the story that Blackadder may be coming back once more.
In the coming days, weeks etc. expect more and more news stories proclaiming that the Blackadder gang are getting back together. Until it is officially announced, please file this under ‘rumour and speculation’. I’ve reached out to two of those at the ‘meeting’ for confirmation and I’ll update the post if/when I receive a reply.
Original Source: The Sun
ROWAN Atkinson has told pals he is “extremely excited” about a planned return of cult comedy Blackadder.
Atkinson, 64, is set to team up again with co-stars including Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
It had been reported they would consider a one-off show but sources said a full fifth series was being considered.
The BBC show ran for four seasons from 1983 to 1989, with each set in a different period of history. The new instalment would be set in the modern era.
Edmund Blackadder — accompanied again by dogsbody Baldrick, played by Robinson, 72 — would be a university lecturer.
We can reveal the stars agreed on a return after a meeting at London members’ club Soho House.
A source said: “They were all having a great laugh and they are all old friends. So they just said, ‘Yes, let’s do it’. It is being written now.
Rowan has been saying he is extremely excited.”
When World War One-themed Blackadder Goes Forth ended in 1989, co-writers Richard Curtis and Ben Elton said there would be no more.
But since then there has been a Comic Relief skit and a Christmas special.
Blackadder co-creator and bloody good egg Richard Curtis is currently doing the press tour for his latest movie Yesterday (which he wrote) – it’s about a guy from East Enders who sings songs by The Beatles (I know, I’m really selling it). I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve been told it’s very good and will be popping along to my local multi-screen cinemaplex soon. Anyhoo, as is usual when anyone remotely linked to Blackadder is interviewed, talk often if not always digresses to Blackadder and whether or not there will be another series etc. Richard said he was keen to see Rowan and Tony do one more, even if it was for a ten minute skit (we’ve had a few of them over the years). As per usual, these kind of things should be taken with a grain of salt; they have in the past amounted to nothing.
Original source: Radio Times
Richard Curtis tickled our nostalgia when he briefly brought back Love Actually and Four Weddings – and now he has plans to do the same for Blackadder.
The filmmaker is keen to see the “gorgeous” reunion of Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson, who played Edmund Blackadder and Baldrick, respectively, in the pseudo-historical comedy.
Curtis revealed plans to Radio Times, saying he would love to see an older Blackadder hating on young people.
“The thing about Blackadder was, it was a young man’s show criticising older people, saying how stupid those in authority were,” he told the publication.
“So I did once think: ‘If we ever did anything again, it should be Blackadder as a teacher in a university, about how much we hate young people!’”
Teasing plans for a live show, he said: “I’m always hoping Rowan and I will do one last live show and bring on Blackadder for a 10-minute bit.
“Getting Rowan and Tony Robinson on stage together again would be gorgeous.”
Written by Curtis and Atkinson, Blackadder ran for four series on the BBC from 1983 to 1989, plotting through history from the reign of Richard III to the First World War.
The show, which came second in a BBC poll of the best British sitcoms, spawned a handful of other spin-offs including a Comic Relief special in 1988 and comedy film Blackadder: Back and Forth in 2000.
While, most people would love for the gang to get back together for one last hurrah, Captain Darling actor Tim McInnerny, believes the show shouldn’t be revived and that it should remain the classic that is; without a fifth series that could tarnish its classic status. The ending to a series doesn’t get any better than the emotional finale to Blackadder Goes Forth so why poo-poo on it.
Original Source: Express Website
BLACKADDER’S Captain Darling believes any cunning plan to bring back the much-loved sitcom would flop because the cast are too old.
Tim McInnerny, 62, said the viewing public “don’t want to see those characters being 30 years older”. The actor has revealed he’s not a fan of reuniting the famous Blackadder team of Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Ben Elton, Richard Curtis, Stephen Fry and Sir Tony Robinson. Captain Darling and Fry’s General Melchett shared some of the funniest scenes in the show which ran for four series, together within main characters Baldrick and Blackadder.
He said: “One of the things that is interesting is that people think they want it to come back – the general viewing public – but if we all came back now in our 50s and 60s, they wouldn’t like it. I’m serious.
“It reminds you too much of your own mortality and you don’t want that in a sitcom. You don’t want to see those characters being 30 years older.”
He added: “You wouldn’t get us all together again. Everyone’s doing other things. There comes a point when you should leave it alone.”
But he acknowledged the continuing popularity of the hilarious series.
“Every five years,” he said, “I start getting more fan mail from another generation of 12-year-olds who have been introduced to it by their parents. It’s just extraordinary.
“The writing was extraordinary. There was an awful lot of luck with the chemistry of people working together, writer and actors. We all worked in completely different ways and it just gelled. Especially in the final series, where everybody is together. It’s kind of remarkable.”
He said the final episode of the final series is almost seen as a factual account of First World War trenches rather than a comedy.
“The last episode of the last series is the most famous. As I remember it was a kind of joint decision that we decided in the end that the First World War wasn’t funny. We can’t leave it as a joke.”
The RedAdder, or Red Adder storyline is nothing new to those of us who have been fans of the series for longer than we can remember; It’s been mentioned on here in the 20+ years I’ve been running the website. But it’s always interesting when one of the cast/crew mention it in interviews. Recently, Rowan discuss the idea once more at the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival. Original story below.
Original source: BBC Radio Times.
A treatment was once written for the much-loved BBC comedy Blackadder set in the Russian Revolution entitled “Redadder”, Rowan Atkinson revealed at the opening session of the BFI & Radio Times Television Festival.
“There was a plan twenty years ago that got nowhere which was called Redadder which I quite liked. It was set in Russia in 1917 and Blackadder and Baldrick were working for the Tsar. They had blue stripes around their caps and then the Revolution happened and Rik Mayall unsurprisingly was playing Rasputin.
“And after the Revolution they are in exactly the same office and they have red caps. And it was quite a good idea and it was filmic in scale.”
The Maigret and Mr Bean star, who played the title role in Blackadder, went on to say the idea never got beyond a treatment “for all sorts of complicated reasons.”
He said he was “extremely nervous” about speculating on Blackadder films because they are taken out of context and offered this bad news for fans: “There are no plans to do anything.”
In a wide ranging talk hosted by Mark Lawson he discussed his ITV role of Maigret and the challenge of not physically conforming to a character who is written as big and stocky and speaks in a “flat way”.
He revealed that the character’s constant pipe smoking could be troublesome on set and that he often “had a bottle of Listerine close by” to take away the smell.
He added that he wouldn’t be averse to playing Mr Bean in another project and continues to voice the animated series.
However he said that he believed that in terms of a comeback “I think maybe his time is passed but I still find him funny, his natural born anarchy. He is a child trapped in a man’s body and it’s fun to be childish.”
The BFI & Radio Times Television Festival is taking place between Friday 7th and Sunday 9th April at the BFi Southbank in London.
Source: Telegraph
“It was a great lesson in vanity and egotism,” says veteran producerJohn Lloyd, looking back on The Black Adder, the first series of what became simply Blackadder. June 15, 2013, brings the 30th anniversary of the first episode’s broadcast on BBC One. History, the fabric of which Blackadder draws from, however tongue-in-cheekily, has started to weave the show into its own tapestry.
And yet it’s worth remembering how narrowly Blackadder avoided being trampled underfoot in the onward march of televisual endeavour. Lloyd – one of Britain’s most successful producers of comedy on radio andtelevision, responsible for Spitting Image and QI, among much else – has previously admitted to the angst, setbacks and accidental saving graces that went into the programme’s DNA.
Yet when I catch up with him, he’s more than usually emphatic about how deficient those early episodes were: “Richard [Curtis], Rowan [Atkinson] and I had come off Not the Nine O’Clock News, which was a triumph – we’d won two Baftas for the last series,” he recalls. “We were young, we thought ‘We’re brilliant, we can do anything,’ and we bit off more than we could chew.”
In the documentary trip down memory lane conducted to mark the 25th anniversary, Blackadder Rides Again, Atkinson and Lloyd retrod their steps around Alnwick Castle, Northumberland – the location for the first series’ mock-authentic version of late-medieval history, in which Brian Blessed’s Richard, Duke of York, father to Atkinson’s Edmund (“The Black Adder”), gained the English throne at the Battle of Bosworth.
Filming was a logistical nightmare and Lloyd shudders at the memory. “I was standing there in the freezing cold, looking at the dogs and the horses, surrounded by snow, thinking ‘What on Earth have we done?’ Richard and I used to stay up all night writing the scripts. We weren’t ready.”
The big joke about The Black Adder back at Television Centre was that it was the show that looked like a million dollars – and cost a million pounds (these being the days when the pound had clout). “It took months to edit,” Lloyd says. “I think one of the actors died, we took so long to edit it. We had to do retakes the whole time.” Although a second series was commissioned – despite mixed reviews – the arrival of Michael Grade as BBC One controller in 1984 spelt the bloody axe. He took one look at the cost and the ratings (not great), and cancelled the show.
The cavalry had arrived, though, in the shape of Ben Elton – nephew, it’s worth noting, of the venerated Tudor historian GR Elton. Taking over as joint scriptwriter, his whizzo idea was to get out of the boggy, lice-ridden misery of the Middle Ages and cut a sexier, punkier dash in the Elizabethan era.
It was a decision that, at a stroke, unlocked the show’s full potential for rapier wit, silly costumes, light-of-touch satire and richly detailed characterisation built around the intricacies and hypocrisies of class and power. One frantic weekend spent lopping off anything in the scripts that would require more than a minimal budget, one concerted plea for a reprieve, and the rest is the stuff of golden memories, reissued DVDs and repeats until doomsday.
Blackadder II begat Blackadder the Third – set in the Regency period – which begat Blackadder Goes Forth, bringing things from the mire and gore of the Middle Ages to the mud and blood of the First World War trenches. Lavish location shoots had given way to a studio set-up, with the scripts all the tighter and better for it. Having started out trying to subvert the traditional sitcom, the team – the talent of which no subsequent generation has yet matched – produced comedy’s answer to a cathedral, robust and built to last.
In explaining Blackadder’s enduring power, aside from the fashion-proof nature of its historical settings, we should point to its unique combination of guile and guilelessness, of perfectionism and on-the-fly invention. In artistic terms, it’s Edmund and Baldrick rolled into one.
In a neat final twist of behind-the-scenes irony, the most hallowed moment of the series came about by accident rather than design. The haunting last scene of the final series shows Blackadder and his not so merry men – Tony Robinson’s hangdog Private Baldrick, Hugh Laurie’s asinine but suddenly anxious Lieutenant George and Tim McInnerny’s ever-twitchy Captain Darling – getting felled by machine-gun fire as they go over the top.
Time itself seems to slow to a standstill – and past laughter turns into a silent act of remembrance punctuated only by birdsong. Having begun on a parodic Shakespearean note in the very first episode – with a rewrite of Richard III, performed by Peter Cook – the magnum opus arrives at a place as poignant as anything in the Histories.
The series’s knowing send-up of a simplistic Ladybird view of English history grows organically into a humble indictment, in grim monochrome fading into the blood-red of a poppy field, of the supposedly educated few whose idiocy led to such senseless slaughter.
Those closing moments were the result of happenstance. The final take was a rushed, botched job, with no time or inclination for another go. It was only in the editing suite that the possibilities of snatching artistic victory from the jaws of a deadly shambles dawned. Having started out biting off more than they could chew, they reached the apotheosis of “less is more”.
“Suddenly we were all standing there in awe,” Lloyd remembers. “My only contribution was to say ‘We’ve touched something here. Quite by accident we’ve done something extraordinary. It would be impertinent to put credits on this. We will take them off.’” And that’s what they did.
This 3.32 minute clip of the most recent Blackadder outing has recently surfaced on the internet; thanks to Johan for bringing this to my attention.
Blackadder @ The Prince’s Trust from Henry Elliss on Vimeo.
You can watch the original clip (uploaded by Henry Elliss) here: http://vimeo.com/55153435
If you’ve not been keeping up to date with all things Blackadder, a Blackadder sketch written by Ben Elton and starring both Rowan Aktinson and Tony Robinson was performed on Nov 28th at a special charity gala event “We Are Most Amused” in aid of the Prince’s Trust. The 13 minute sketch was all about the banks, bankers and banking crisis.
Source: Coastal Scene 24
A signed 22-page draft for an unfilmed Blackadder Christmas special was a star attraction at a recent fundraising auction held at Bruisyard Hall, near Framlingham.
It was bought by the venue’s Paul Rous, who was delighted to have secured the manuscript.
“I have always thoroughly enjoyed the Blackadder series and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to own a piece of something I grew up with and have such fond memories of,” he said. “I feel the connection between Blackadder and Bruisyard Hall is a very relevant one given that one highlights the significant periods of British history since the 1400s and the other has lived through them.”
The script comes with a note from Mr Curtis, who has a home in Walberswick and is a great supporter of The Suffolk Foundation.
In it he says the draft was started in 1988 by himself and fellow writer Ben Elton but was abandoned because they feared it might cause too much offence and they had another idea about Blackadder’s Christmas Carol that they wanted to pursue instead. Mr Curtis describes the Christmas special that never was as a “strange mix between Fawlty Towers and the Life of Brian” and finishes by saying: “I hope you enjoy it a bit – but don’t get too excited – for one thing it just stops – it has no end at all.”
The auction – held at Bruisyard Hall as part of a masquerade ball and helmed by Steven Stockton of Bonhams – raised more than £4,000 for The Suffolk Foundation, which distributes grants to charities and community groups across the county.
Blackadder & Baldrick - image copyright The Princes Trust
Update: The Prince’s Trust charity have confirmed that this sketch will NOT be broadcast on television. I will endeavour to locate the full script and publish it here on Blackadder Hall.
A new Blackadder sketch written by Ben Elton and starring both Rowan Aktinson and Tony Robinson was performed last evening at a special charity gala event “We Are Most Amused” in aid of the Prince’s Trust. The 13 minute sketch was all about the banks, bankers and banking crisis.
In the sketch, Rowan played the role of Sir Edmund Blackadder, chief executive of the Melchett, Melchett & Darling bank. While Tony was Sodoff Baldrick, Blackadder’s gardener.
In the sketch, Sir Edmund was called before a parliamentary inquiry into the banking crisis. The woman chairing the inquiry was played by Miranda Hart (from Miranda and Call the Midwife), with her deputies played by Helen Lederer (Absolutely Fabulous) and Sanjeev Bhasker (The Khumars at No42).
Here’s a couple of short clips:
Below is a sample of the dialogue (Source: Telegraph.co.uk)
Blackadder: “The task of this inquiry is to identify those responsible and if necessary to apportion blame. To help I would like to call a witness to the inquiry. I would like to call my gardener… Mr Sodoff Baldrick.”
Enter Baldrick in grubby overalls.
Madam Chair [to Baldrick]: “I’m sorry, could you tell me your first name again?”
Baldrick: “Sodoff.”
Madam Chair: “Well, I was only asking. Your witness, Sir Edmund.”
Blackadder: “Thank you, Madam Chair. Before we begin, Baldrick, kindly assure the inquiry that you are here of your own volition.”
Baldrick: “I can’t do that, my lord.”
Blackadder: “Why not?”
Baldrick: “I don’t know what ‘volition’ means.”
Blackadder [long-sufferingly]: “Did you come here on your own initiative?”
Baldrick: “No, my lord. I came on my bike.”
Madam Chair: “Why is the witness calling you ‘my lord’, Sir Edmund?”
Blackadder: “Because I bought a peerage at the parliamentary gift shop on my way in. There’s a selection of honours for sale next to the Big Ben snow globes. So, Baldrick…”
Baldrick: “I wish to address the charwoman!”
Madam Chair: “I’m afraid she’s busy polishing the Speaker’s gavel.”
Female deputy chair: “Doesn’t Mrs Bercow normally do that?”
Madam Chair: “Yes, but not this morning. She’s got an FHM calendar shoot followed by a meeting of Attention-Seekers Anonymous with Mrs Mensch and that mad cow that went into the jungle. Don’t you follow Twitter?”
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