Source: EADT<\/p>\n
A SPECIAL TV documentary this week celebrates a 1980s comedy classic: Blackadder. Steven Russell hatched a cunning plan and paid a nostalgic visit to Mrs Miggins\u2019s pie shop with actress Helen Atkinson Wood.<\/p>\n
SOMEWHERE in Essex (we won\u2019t blow his cover) is a real Laughing Policeman – an officer obsessed with the comedy classic Blackadder. We know this because he\u2019s a friend of the sister-in-law of Helen Atkinson Wood, who \u201clarked around in a mad wig\u201d in the third series.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe simply knows every single script and, every time I see him, he tells me reams of it. It\u2019s fantastic to hear it back,\u201d chuckles the actress who played pie shop owner Mrs Miggins, complete with wooden teeth, beauty spot and ringlets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are, and I would call him one, complete anoraks who know lots of that sort of thing. It\u2019s one of those \u2018anorak sports\u2019 – the trainspotting of the comedy world!\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 25 years since Britain was first repulsed and fascinated by Edmund Blackadder in equal measure. Then, he was trying to seize the throne of Britain, aided by dim manservant Baldrick (Tony Robinson) – famous for his \u201ccunning plans\u201d that are in reality complete gibberish. Three more series followed during the1980s, with Blackadder taking different historical identities (but possessing similar Machiavellian character traits) as the action moved from 1485 to 1917.<\/p>\n
It all came about after Rowan Atkinson, one of the stars of the satirical show Not the Nine O\u2019Clock News, and producer John Lloyd toyed with the idea of making an historical comedy. With writer Richard Curtis (who like Helen Atkinson Wood has a home on the Suffolk coast) they dreamed up the character of The Black Adder.<\/p>\n
In 1987 the actress got a call from John Lloyd, asking her to join the fun for the six-episode third series. Helen\u2019s list of credits included The Young Ones, The Lenny Henry Show, Girls on Top, and a Comic Strip Presents episode alongside Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders.<\/p>\n
And did she bite his hand off? \u201cI think I probably said \u2018yes please\u2019 before he actually got to the end of the sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n
As well as joining an established TV hit, it offered the chance of a reunion with chums she\u2019d known for years. Rowan Atkinson, Richard Curtis and actor Tim McInnerny were contemporaries at Oxford, where they\u2019d enjoyed studenty meals together: \u201c20 different ways of preparing pasta or baked potatoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Elton she\u2019d met in an airing cupboard during a game of sardines at the Edinburgh fringe, where she was part of the Radio Active roadshow – a parody of local radio stations, with co-conspirators such as Angus Deayton – and he was doing a stand-up set with Comic Strip japesters like Rik Mayall.<\/p>\n
Entering the BBC rehearsal rooms at White City brought \u201cthat Christmas-morning feeling in your tummy. Comedy and laughter, we all feel better for it, so it is a great thing to be around. It\u2019s not like you\u2019re going in to rehearse Ibsen; you\u2019re going in to have the time of your life\u201d.<\/p>\n
With all that talent on show, there was oodles of creative fizz.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the sort of production where people would pile in with ideas,\u201d Helen confirms. \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about having Stephen Fry (the Duke of Wellington) in a rehearsal room, you\u2019re not looking at somebody who is just going to walk onto a set, having learned their lines, and just say them. They\u2019re going to come in with lots of suggestions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a very thrilling thing to be part of. Every rehearsal was full of your favourite people or those you admired. It drew together, I suppose, the cream of all the comedy talent at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe list is endless. You go through the cast lists . . . people like Chris Barrie, who was there fleetingly; Tony Robinson – always scrubbing around, trying to get his teeth into a turnip; Hugh Laurie; Robbie Coltrane. And there were lots of great guest players, such as Tim McInnerny playing the Scarlet Pimpernel; and Miranda Richardson was a highwaywoman, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cParts for women were so thin on the ground that it was tremendous to be one of the few. There was (in the second series) Miranda Richardson as Queenie, and Nursie . . . and then who? The women brought a different texture to Blackadder. Mrs Miggins was a very warm-hearted character: different from Blackadder, who was so oily, and different from Baldrick, who was . . . well . . . fiddling with his turnips; and different from the Prince Regent, who was so barking!<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was also a no-nonsense, Northern character – which of course fitted me like a glove.\u201d (The actress divides her time between north London and a Suffolk home near Walberswick, but grew up in Cheshire.)<\/p>\n
With the key players knowing each other so well, there was the opportunity to have a few giggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think when Richard and Ben were creating the character, the fact a horse\u2019s willy got mentioned is no accident, me being the keen horsewoman that I am\u201d – Miss East Cheshire Pony Club, no less – \u201calthough, of course, you won\u2019t commit that to the pages of your paper! (Oh yes we will.) The willy reference was about a suspiciously-shaped sausage that arrived for the Scarlet Pimpernel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why does she think the show\u2019s popularity has endured over a quarter of a century?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the long and the short of it is that it is literally packed with jokes. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s any more sophisticated a reason than that. At the heart of Blackadder is just an endless stream of funny, funny, funny ideas and well-drawn comedy characters and non-stop jokes. That\u2019s why it and things like Dad\u2019s Army still have appeal – and it\u2019s quite rare.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes people really enjoy sitting back and not having to be politically challenged by their comedy or dip into surreal, grotesque things, like Little Britain and The League of Gentlemen – which I\u2019m not saying will not stand the test of time, I\u2019m not saying that for a moment, but that\u2019s the beauty of Blackadder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mrs Miggins made her final bow in the last episode of the series, on October 22, 1987. She fell for Blackadder\u2019s cousin, McAdder – \u201cthe most dangerous man ever to wear a skirt in Europe\u201d – and followed him to the Highlands.<\/p>\n
Not long afterwards, Helen took over from Dawn French in a West End play called Silly Cow, written and directed by Ben Elton. Bewigged theatrical roles followed – Madame Arcarti in Blithe Spirit, for example, and Viola in Twelfth Night – and a part in the TV drama Your Cheatin\u2019 Heart (where, while we\u2019re on matters tonsorial, she cut and bleached her own hair, and cultivated a Glaswegian accent).<\/p>\n
She\u2019s added a TV-presenting string to her bow since then, and appeared on shows such as Call My Bluff, Have I Got News For You and QI.<\/p>\n
Blackadder had one more outing before the 1980s ended. The fourth series had an edge of pathos that highlighted the futility of war. The last scene saw Blackadder and his men go over the top into no-man\u2019s-land and likely death. The final image showed the field many years later, full of poppies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think anybody could watch the last episode and not be affected by it,\u201d reflects Helen. \u201cIt showed that not only did you care about the characters, after all that time, there was a kind of political poignancy to it, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
– Blackadder: The Whole Rotten Saga is on G.O.L.D. (formerly UKTV Gold) at 9pm on Thursday, October 9.<\/p>\n
It tells the behind-the-scenes story of the show and features interviews with key players, including Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson, Helen Atkinson Wood, Tim McInnerny and Jim Broadbent. There is also rare footage of rehearsals.<\/p>\n
MRS MIGGINS ON PAL ROWAN:-<\/strong><\/p>\n BLACKADDER had a cast of stars, but Rowan Atkinson was undoubtedly the fulcrum. As well as being in at the birth, he co-wrote the first series and was, throughout, the leading man.<\/p>\n Helen Atkinson Wood (no relation, by the way) has known him all her adult life. They met during university days at Oxford and went off to the Edinburgh fringe. She remembers how, at the start of his comedy career, the way he ate a packet of cream crackers would have an audience helpless with laughter.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a consummate professional. He knows what he wants and does it brilliantly. He\u2019s exacting and studied. He understands natural clowning, but is a person who takes his comedy seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n The actor is a very private person, controlled in his behaviour, but that doesn\u2019t rule out laughs.<\/p>\n \u201cFunnily enough, not many of the people involved were the type to be rolling around on the floor. It\u2019s more to do with wit, a different sort of comedy. They don\u2019t exactly go around stony-faced, but everyone is pretty dry and ironic with their humour.\u201d<\/p>\n First series (screened on the BBC in 1983): Set in the 15th Century. Edmund Plantagenet, one of King Richard IV\u2019s sons, opts for a tough new image by adopting the title The Black Adder (after rejecting another possible moniker: The Black Vegetable).<\/p>\n In the last episode he dreams up a plot to seize the crown for himself, but swallows a fatal dose of poisoned wine and rules for just half a minute.<\/p>\n Written by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis, it won an International Emmy award, but clinched a second series only after a tighter budget was set, including studio recordings instead of location shoots.<\/p>\n Blackadder II (1986): Set in Elizabethan England. Edmund, the bastard great-great-grandson of the series I Blackadder, was a schemer par excellence.<\/p>\n Tony Robinson was back as Baldrick. A great cast included Miranda Richardson as the capricious Elizabeth I and Stephen Fry as the Lord Chamberlain. Rowan Atkinson concentrated on acting and Ben Elton shared writing duties with Richard Curtis.<\/p>\n Blackadder the Third (1987): Set during the reign of George III.<\/p>\n Blackadder Goes Forth (1989): Set during the First World War, with Blackadder and gang in the trenches<\/p>\n SUFFOLK\u2019S BLACKADDER CONNECTION:-<\/strong><\/p>\n SUFFOLK got a mention – of sorts – in Blackadder the Third:<\/p>\n Prince Regent: Erm, so what is a robber button?<\/p>\n Edmund: A rotten borough, sir, is a constituency where the owner of the land corruptly controls both the voters and the MP.<\/p>\n Prince Regent: Good, yes . . . and a robber button is . . . ?<\/p>\n Edmund: Could we leave that for a moment? Dunny-on-the-Wold is a tuppenny-ha\u2019penny place. Half an acre of sodden marshland in the Suffolk fens with an empty town hall on it. Population: three rather mangy cows, a dachshund named Colin, and a small hen in its late 40s.<\/p>\n Prince Regent: So, no people at all, then, apart from Colin?<\/p>\n Edmund: Colin is a dog, sir.<\/p>\n BLACKADDER IN ESSEX:-<\/strong><\/p>\n BLACKADDER came to Essex in the autumn of 1989 when Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson filmed at Colchester Garrison for the fourth and final series.<\/p>\n Soldiers of the 3rd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment joined the comedy starts to recreate a 1914 parade ground at Cavalry Barracks. The regimental band dressed in scarlet tunics to play a new adaptation of the Blackadder theme, and then 50 whistling soldiers in First World War battle-dress took up the tune to play over the opening credits.<\/p>\n The soldiers who volunteered to march for the cameras had to have their hair cut shorter and don an old-style uniform. Corporal Steven Neville said the filming was enjoyable, but said of the old-style uniforms: \u201cThey are wool, so they itch a lot, and they\u2019d be impossible in the cold and wet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Source: EADT A SPECIAL TV documentary this week celebrates a 1980s comedy classic: Blackadder. Steven Russell hatched a cunning plan and paid a nostalgic visit to Mrs Miggins\u2019s pie shop with actress Helen Atkinson Wood. SOMEWHERE in Essex (we won\u2019t blow his cover) is a real Laughing Policeman – an officer obsessed with the comedy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cast-crew"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p54TBn-7k","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":525,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=525","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":0},"title":"Actress with a love of art","author":"admin","date":"13 October 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Lowestoft Journal AS a character in one of the most popular comedy series ever, you would never expect Helen Atkinson Wood to be sitting on the beach at Walberswick capturing the scene with a set of watercolours. But for the former Blackadder actress, it is the inspiration of north\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":422,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=422","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":1},"title":"Rowan Atkinson to revisit Blackadder","author":"admin","date":"24 November 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to long-standing, much respected Blackadder Hall visitor, nay part-of-the-furniture, John D. for spotting this gem. Rowan Atkinson has granted his first in-depth interview about his iconic Blackadder role in Tiger Aspect\u2019s second documentary on the classic BBC sitcom. Atkinson will describe his personal experience of his involvement in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":641,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=641","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":2},"title":"Blackadder – The Movie official?","author":"admin","date":"29 July 1997","format":false,"excerpt":"Evening Standard (West End final ed.)- 29th July 1997 Blackadder set for film role in the millennium By Tim Cooper Rowan Atkinson is set to follow his Mr. Bean film by bringing Blackadder to the big screen in a special new \u201cmovie for the millennium\u201d. The comedy star, whose Bean\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Specials"","block_context":{"text":"Specials","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":958,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=958","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":3},"title":"Rowan takes the comedy proud crown","author":"admin","date":"11 December 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A new survey by British broadband supplier Plusnet has revealed that 44% of us Brits are most proud of Mr. Blackadder himself Rowan Atkinson (when polled against other great British comedic greats). When asked to name the comedian they were most proud of, Rowan came out tops, followed by Python\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":415,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=415","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":4},"title":"Blackadder Goes Forth to the West End","author":"admin","date":"28 December 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"A week in the life of Rowan Atkinson. On Christmas Day, he and his wife Sunetra slipped quietly into a school in Kennington, south London, to bring some cheer to 2,000 troubled children brought together by the charity Kids Company. The comedian\u2019s eyes welled up with tears, said one witness.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":499,"url":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?p=499","url_meta":{"origin":454,"position":5},"title":"Atkinson signs Up For Blackadder Set in Future","author":"admin","date":"1 April 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Another series of BBC comedy \u2018Blackadder\u2019 is set to begin filming in June and it will be set in a future London of 2145. The BBC say it is \u2018excited\u2019 about the project. \u201cWe are happy to announce that a 5th series of the show will air on BBC 1\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cast & Crew"","block_context":{"text":"Cast & Crew","link":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.blackadderhall.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFACTFILE: BLACKADDER BASICS:-<\/strong><\/p>\n