This date in 1983 saw the first broadcast of Blackadder, historical comedy starring Rowan Atkinson. 10 facts about the show:
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The first series, The Black Adder, was a little different to the rest. Edmund Blackadder, in this series, was the dumb one, while Baldrick was highly intelligent. The opposite was true in subsequent series. Series One was written by Richard Curtis and Atkinson, while subsequent series were written by Curtis and Ben Elton. Also, the first series had a higher budget.
There nearly weren’t any Blackadders after series one at all, since the controller of The BBC at the time, Michael Grade, didn’t think it was funny and deemed it too expensive to make. He was eventually persuaded to make more Blackadder if it became a much lower budget studio sitcom, which explains the long gap between series one and series two.
Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis came up with the idea of a historical sitcom while working together on Not the Nine O'Clock News a few years earlier. Making it historical meant it was less likely to be compared with other sitcoms, such as Fawlty Towers.
As history progresses, Edmund Blackadder’s position in society decreases. He starts off as a prince in the first series, is a lord in the second, a royal attendant in Blackadder the Third, and finally an army Captain in Blackadder Goes Forth.
The theme tune was composed by Howard Goodall. The melody remains the same throughout but it’s arranged to suit the historical period for each season: trumpets and timpani in The Black Adder; recorder, string quartet and electric guitar in Blackadder II; oboe, cello and harpsichord (in the style of a minuet) for Blackadder the Third; by The Band of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment in Blackadder Goes Forth; sung by carol singers in the special Blackadder's Christmas Carol. At the end of Blackadder Goes Forth, the tune is played on Piano in an empty gymnasium to give it a haunting echo.
Blackadder is an actual surname in the UK, dating back to the 15th century and thought to be mostly Scottish in origin, although “adder” refers to water rather than the snake. Baldrick is also a real surname of Germanic origin, dating back to Norman times. Tim McInnerny's character Captain Darling was originally going to be called Captain Cartwright, but Stephen Fry suggested Darling after an old classmate of his.
Blackadder is usually portrayed as a self-serving, cynical opportunist concerned solely with increasing his own influence, status and wealth. He’s based on Edmund, the antagonist in William Shakespeare's King Lear: a scheming illegitimate son of a king who plots to take the crown for himself. That he is named for the only venomous snake in the UK is no coincidence. That said, the character in the Christmas special, Blackadder's Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Blackadder, is by contrast the nicest man in Victorian England, who gets taken advantage of by the cynical opportunists around him. The twist is that when the ghosts appear to him, and show him the previous Blackadders, he learns that if he becomes like them his descendants will rule the universe, if not they will end up as Baldrick's slaves. So his character shifts in the opposite direction to the Ebenezer in Charles Dickens’s story.
Various one-off specials have introduced other Blackadders throughout history including the Puritan Whiteadders, the Highland clan of MacAdder, the Roman Centurion Blaccadicus, and a Grand Admiral Blackadder who becomes ruler of the universe in the distant future.
Will there ever be a series 5? It has been talked about, although since series 4 has been voted one of the greatest comedy shows of all time, and is deemed an impossible act to follow by many. But you never know.
Royal Mail issued a set of special stamps celebrating Blackadder in May 2023.
Beta
(Combat Team Series #2)
Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?
Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.
Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream.
Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.
Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.
Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.
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