List of minor Blackadder characters
Encyclopedia
Anon
A guard at the Royal Palace, along with Soft. ("Witchsmeller PursuivantWitchsmeller Pursuivant
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is the fifth episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1495, the Black Plague is ravaging Europe, and infects King Richard, rendering him more deranged than usual; when Edmund comes to visit, the King nearly stabs him to...
", "The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
Tally Applebottom
(Jane Freeman) A peasantPeasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
with an apparent inability to stop laughing madly, she very nearly committed bigamy
Bigamy
In cultures that practice marital monogamy, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. Bigamy is a crime in most western countries, and when it occurs in this context often neither the first nor second spouse is aware of the other...
with Prince Edmund. ("The Queen of Spain's Beard
The Queen of Spain's Beard
"The Queen of Spain's Beard" was the fourth episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1492, Richard IV's court is in disarray. In order to secure Spain's allegiance in a war with France, the king tries to get Harry to marry the Spanish Infanta...
")
Thomas Applebottom
(Howard Lew LewisHoward Lew Lewis
Howard Lew Lewis is an English comedian and actor, best known for his roles in comedy series including Maid Marian and her Merry Men and Brush Strokes.-Biography:Lewis' grandmother Dame Ethel Gomer-Lewis was an opera singer...
) Tally Applebottom's husband. He wasn't terribly happy that Prince Edmund
Prince Edmund (Blackadder)
Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh is a fictional character in the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.-Character overview:...
was attempting to marry his wife. He also appears in the prologue of "Witchsmeller Persuivant" in which he dies of the Black Death. ("The Queen of Spain's Beard
The Queen of Spain's Beard
"The Queen of Spain's Beard" was the fourth episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1492, Richard IV's court is in disarray. In order to secure Spain's allegiance in a war with France, the king tries to get Harry to marry the Spanish Infanta...
", "Witchsmeller Pursuivant
Witchsmeller Pursuivant
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is the fifth episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1495, the Black Plague is ravaging Europe, and infects King Richard, rendering him more deranged than usual; when Edmund comes to visit, the King nearly stabs him to...
")
Tom the Balladeer
(Tony AitkenTony Aitken
Tony Aitken is an English actor, known for playing small parts in popular television programmes....
) A minstrel
Minstrel
A minstrel was a medieval European bard who performed songs whose lyrics told stories of distant places or of existing or imaginary historical events. Although minstrels created their own tales, often they would memorize and embellish the works of others. Frequently they were retained by royalty...
who sings songs about the continued failures of Lord Edmund Blackadder(Elizabethan). Other than a brief scene in "Money
Money (Blackadder)
"Money" is the fourth episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603.-Plot:...
", the minstrel appeared only in the closing credits to each episode of Blackadder II where he in the first episodes annoys Blackadder and gets hunted in the later episodes. In one episode, the minstrel appeared before Blackadder(coincidentally, the same one he had a brief appereance in). In the last episode, Blackadder caught the minstrel and possibly either drowned him or left him alive. (Blackadder II
Blackadder II
Blackadder II is the second series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986...
)
Beadle and the Enormous Orphans
Beadle, an orphan master (Denis LillDenis Lill
Denis Lill is a New Zealand-born British actor.Some of his many film and television roles include Fall of Eagles , Edward the Seventh , Survivors , The Scarlet Pimpernel , as William Knox d-Arcy, the Australian oil pioneer in Persia, in Reilly: Ace of Spies , Rumpole of the Bailey , Mapp &...
) and his enormous orphans (David Barber
David Barber
David Barber is a British television actor, known for his numerous roles in ChuckleVision.- Filmography :*ChuckleVision*Steel River Blues*Merseybeat*The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc *Harry Enfield and Chums...
, Erkan Mustafa
Erkan Mustafa
Erkan Mustafa is a British actor and television presenter of Turkish descent, most noted for the part of Roland Browning in Grange Hill...
and David Nunn) appear in the Christmas special Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth , and is narrated by Hugh Laurie...
. Despite claiming to be poor, all three of the orphans are actually morbidly obese. They are, in fact, so fat that they must push and shove each other in order to all fit into a room, with Blackadder remarking that he is always afraid of "bursting one of them and getting showered in two dozen semi-digested pies." They arrive early on to visit, and ask him for some nuts (with Beadle having to physically restrain the orphans from helping themselves). They arrive later on, after Blackadder's epiphany, to present Blackadder with a small Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding
Christmas pudding is a pudding traditionally served on Christmas Day . It has its origins in medieval England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding or plum duff, though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving dried fruit.-Basics:Many households have their own recipe for...
and sing to him. Blackadder, however, now no longer has time or his former kindness, and promptly slams the door in their face, after taking the pudding.
Friar Bellows
(Paul BrookePaul Brooke
Paul Brooke is an English actor of film, television, and radio. He is the father of actor Tom Brooke.He and Ernie Fosselius played Malakili the Rancor Keeper in Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. He played British Conservative politician Ian Gow in the 2004 BBC series The Alan Clark Diaries...
) A member of The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
and the clergy
Clergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
, Friar Bellows' godliness was somewhat less than complete given his fondness for fornication
Fornication
Fornication typically refers to consensual sexual intercourse between two people not married to each other. For many people, the term carries a moral or religious association, but the significance of sexual acts to which the term is applied varies between religions, societies and cultures. The...
and murder. ("The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
Ivor "Jest Ye Not Madam" Biggun
Ivor "Jest Ye Not Madam" Biggun (Geoffrey McGivernGeoffrey McGivern
Geoffrey McGivern is an English actor in film, radio, stage and television. He was born in Balham, South London and grew up in York. There he attended Archbishop Holgate's School, where he was made Head Boy...
) was a politician who participated in the Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election in Dish and Dishonesty, standing for the Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party (an early frivolous party and possibly a parody of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Official Monster Raving Loony Party
The Official Monster Raving Loony Party is a registered political party established in the United Kingdom in 1983 by musician and politician David Sutch , better known as Screaming Lord Sutch.-History:...
).
Biggun loses the seat to Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
, but, unlike the others, takes his defeat jovially, saying that: "if you can't laugh, what can you do?". His party's policies included: "the compulsory serving of asparagus
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennialplant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and...
at breakfast, free corset
Corset
A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
s for the under-fives, and the abolition of slavery
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
", the latter of which was apparently added "for a joke".
Brigadier-General Horace Bolsom
Brigadier GeneralBrigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
Horace Bolsom (actor unknown) was a candidate for the Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election in Dish and Dishonesty, standing for the Keep Royalty White, Rat Catching and Safe Sewage Residents Party.
Bolsom is the first candidate to be mentioned in the by-election, in which he receives no votes. On hearing this news, he promptly storms out of the building, pushing Mr. E. Blackadder
Mr. E. Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Esq. is the main character in the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. He was played by Rowan Atkinson.The series was set in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom . The character is in keeping with the trend of the series Blackadder is lower in rank in this series,...
out of his way as he does so.
Philip of Burgundy aka "The HawkHawkThe term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
/ThrushThrush (bird)The thrushes, family Turdidae, are a group of passerine birds that occur worldwide.-Characteristics:Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feed on the ground or eat small fruit. The smallest thrush may be the Forest Rock-thrush, at and...
"
(Patrick AllenPatrick Allen
John Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
) The deadly childhood rival of Prince Edmund, he was known to his enemies as "The Hawk" (or, when a child, "The Thrush"). Philip managed to wrest control of The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
away from Edmund, leading to Edmund's hideously violent but amusing death on a bizarre torture device, the "amusing" part coming from the feathers used to tickle Edmund under "what's left of [his] arms". Philip was poisoned by Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
and Percy
Lord Percy Percy
Lord Percy Percy is the name given to a pair of related fictional characters, played by Tim McInnerny, in the first two series of the popular British sitcom Blackadder. The Lord Percy of Blackadder II is the descendant of that seen in The Black Adder...
along with the members of The Black Seal. ("The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
Sir Talbot Buxomly
Sir Talbot Buxomly MP (Denis LillDenis Lill
Denis Lill is a New Zealand-born British actor.Some of his many film and television roles include Fall of Eagles , Edward the Seventh , Survivors , The Scarlet Pimpernel , as William Knox d-Arcy, the Australian oil pioneer in Persia, in Reilly: Ace of Spies , Rumpole of the Bailey , Mapp &...
) was a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the village of Dunny-on-the-Wold in Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, who was recruited by Mr. E. Blackadder
Mr. E. Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Esq. is the main character in the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. He was played by Rowan Atkinson.The series was set in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom . The character is in keeping with the trend of the series Blackadder is lower in rank in this series,...
and the Prince Regent
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
in the Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987....
episode Dish and Dishonesty to prevent the Prince Regent from being removed from the Civil List in the House of Commons, but soon died as he sat on a chair while meeting the Prince, and left his seat open for a by-election in Dunny-on-the-Wold.
According to Mr. E. Blackadder
Mr. E. Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Esq. is the main character in the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. He was played by Rowan Atkinson.The series was set in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom . The character is in keeping with the trend of the series Blackadder is lower in rank in this series,...
, Sir Talbot's constituency was a rotten borough, but despite his power, only ever attended the Houses of Parliament once, during which time: "he passed water
Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, weeing, pissing, and more rarely, emiction, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans the process of urination is under voluntary control...
in the Great Hall, and then passed out in the Speaker's Chair". His policies included "flogging servants, shooting poor people, and the extension of slavery to anyone who hasn't got a knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
hood". He was said to be a "violent, bigoted, mindless old fool," which Prince George placed as "a bit overqualified" for the appointment of High Court judge
High Court judge
A High Court judge is a judge of the High Court of Justice, and represents the third highest level of judge in the courts of England and Wales. High Court judges are referred to as puisne judges...
.
Cain & Abel
(Bert ParnabyBert Parnaby
Bert Parnaby was a British actor who was notable for a string of TV and Film roles from the 1960s through the 1980s. His TV roles included performances in Blackadder, By the Sword Divided, Juliet Bravo, Inspector Morse and Last of the Summer Wine. In 1988, he appeared as Father Christmas in the BBC...
& Roy Evans
Roy Evans (actor)
Roy Evans is an actor who has appeared in British Television from 1960s onwards appearing in a wide range of productions including Doctor Who , Blake's 7 and Porterhouse Blue .-External links:...
) A pair of peasants with a great admiration for a faceful of manure
Manure
Manure is organic matter used as organic fertilizer in agriculture. Manures contribute to the fertility of the soil by adding organic matter and nutrients, such as nitrogen, that are trapped by bacteria in the soil...
. ("The Archbishop", "Witchsmeller Pursuivant
Witchsmeller Pursuivant
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is the fifth episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1495, the Black Plague is ravaging Europe, and infects King Richard, rendering him more deranged than usual; when Edmund comes to visit, the King nearly stabs him to...
", "The Black Seal")
Lord Chiswick
Lord Chiswick was a fictional characterFictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the first series of the British sitcom Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
. The character was played by Stephen Tate
Stephen Tate
-Television credits:He is possibly best known for his recurring role as Alan in the 1970s television drama Survivors.His other credits include: Z-Cars, The Onedin Line, Blake's 7, Yes Minister, The Black Adder, Boon, The Bill, Minder, Cardiac Arrest, Silent Witness and Emmerdale.-Musical...
.
Lord Chiswick was a courtier to King Richard IV of England
King Richard IV of England
King Richard IV of England / XII of Scotland / I of Flanders is a fictional character in the BBC comedy series Blackadder , played by Brian Blessed...
. His most significant function appeared to be keeping the King supplied with fresh horses, although he did occasionally curb his master's fiery temper.
Cordelia
(Gretchen FranklinGretchen Franklin
Gretchen Franklin was an English actress with a career in showbusiness that spanned over eighty years.She was born in Covent Garden, west London, a cousin of the actor Clive Dunn. She was best known for playing the character of Ethel Skinner in the long running BBC One, soap opera, EastEnders...
) One of a triad of three haggard witches. Named Goneril, Regan and Cordelia after King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
's daughters, they foretell that Edmund shall become king, despite him referring to them as "hideous crones", "loathsome drabs" and "snaggle-toothed vultures". It is only after he leaves that they realise they've mixed him up with Henry Tudor
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
(i.e. the genuine Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
). They appear to make this mistake frequently. The witches appeared in the episode, The Foretelling
The Foretelling
"The Foretelling" was the first episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder . It introduces Edmund Blackadder , and opens with a narrative dispelling the popular depiction of King Richard III of England as a scheming murderer...
.
Guy de GlastonburyGlastonburyGlastonbury is a small town in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,784 in the 2001 census...
(Patrick MalahidePatrick Malahide
Patrick Malahide is a British actor, who has played many major film and television roles.-Personal life:Malahide, real name Patrick Gerald Duggan, was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of Irish immigrants, a cook mother and a school secretary father...
) A member of The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
. ("The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
Sir Justin de Boinod
(Bill WallisBill Wallis
Bill Wallis is a British character actor and comedian who has appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre....
) An English knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
descent freshly returned from the Crusades, he and his drunken colleague Sir George de Boeuf attempted to murder Edmund Plantagenet
Prince Edmund (Blackadder)
Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh is a fictional character in the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.-Character overview:...
, Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
after misunderstanding the King. Fortunately for Edmund, they failed to fully replicate the murder of Thomas a Becket and Edmund was merely excommunicated. ("The Archbishop")
Sir George de Boeuf
(David Delve) One of the two knights involved in the failed assassinationAssassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of Prince Edmund during his tenure as Archbishop of Canterbury. ("The Archbishop")
Maria Escalosa, Infanta of Spain
(Miriam MargolyesMiriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...
) Infanta of Spain, Maria Escalosa was briefly engaged to Prince Edmund following an arranged marriage
Arranged marriage
An arranged marriage is a practice in which someone other than the couple getting married makes the selection of the persons to be wed, meanwhile curtailing or avoiding the process of courtship. Such marriages had deep roots in royal and aristocratic families around the world...
by the King for his own political gains. Expecting a ravishing Royal princess, Edmund was rather disappointed to discover she didn't quite accord with his mental picture, being short and fat.
Dismayed, Edmund attempts to weasel out of the wedding every way he can, first by pretending to be "like the Earl of Doncaster
Duke of Buccleuch
The title Duke of Buccleuch , formerly also spelt Duke of Buccleugh, was created in the Peerage of Scotland on 20 April 1663 for the Duke of Monmouth, who was the eldest illegitimate son of Charles II of Scotland, England, and Ireland and who had married Anne Scott, 4th Countess of Buccleuch.Anne...
" (i.e. gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
). The Infanta thinks he is merely dressing up as a Spanish man in order to delight her.
Edmund realises he can't get married if he's already married. He attempts to marry the first woman he finds, Tally Applebottom, a local peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
. This plan is derailed by "Father of the Bride" Thomas Applebottom interrupting the wedding by pointing out his being in fact the husband of the bride.
Edmund then coerces Baldrick into "deflowering" the Infanta: she is already not a virgin, and the King asserts it doesn't matter anyway, as only one of them needs to be a virgin.
The wedding between Edmund and the Infanta goes ahead, Edmund finally grimly resigned to his fate - but he is saved in the last possible moment on political grounds (The Swiss and French made sudden peace with each other at a mountain pass rendezvous, then forged a clandestine alliance with Spain, thus leaving the English without friends in Europe unless by chance they make an immediate pact with Hungary!), and finds himself married to the eight-year-old Princess Leia of Hungary instead.
Nurse Mary Fletcher-Brown
Nurse Mary Fletcher-Brown, played by Miranda RichardsonMiranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
, appears in the Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth is the fourth and final series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC One....
episode "General Hospital". Like Amy Hardwood in Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987....
she has a "fluffy bunny act", (her bedside manner), but is really a highly intelligent cynic. Though Prince George was originally disgusted by Amy's stupid act, his descendant Lieutenant George thinks Nurse Mary is "an absolute peach," and appears to be regressing to the nursery under her care.
She had a brief fling with Captain Blackadder
Captain Blackadder
Captain Edmund Blackadder is the main fictional character in the fourth and final series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder, Blackadder Goes Forth...
, but this time it was he who was leading her on, suspecting her of being a German spy
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and eventually exposing her (calling her "Nurse Fleischer-Baum") with three few supposed facts: first, she spoke German and helped George by translating the words of his letters into that language; second, she confirmed Blackadder's suspicions by "probing him expertly on tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
movements"; third, she didn't spot that out of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, and Hull
University of Hull
The University of Hull, known informally as Hull University, is an English university, founded in 1927, located in Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
, only two of those are great universities (to which General Melchett replied smugly "That's right. Oxford's a complete dump"). She was sent to be executed by firing squad, but when Blackadder learns that the real source of information being leaked to the Germans was an unwitting Lieutenant George, he rushes after her, and it is unclear as to whether or not she survives.
Le Comte de Frou Frou
Le Comte de Frou Frou appeared in Blackadder the ThirdBlackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987....
. He was presumably a fop
Fop
Fop became a pejorative term for a foolish man over-concerned with his appearance and clothes in 17th century England. Some of the very many similar alternative terms are: "coxcomb", fribble, "popinjay" , fashion-monger, and "ninny"...
pish, disgruntled, homesick French aristocrat
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
, played by Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
. The character was forced to flee his home country for England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in order to escape the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. He was later revealed to be a disguise adopted by Prince George's friend Lord Topper, alias one half of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
.
The name of the character first appeared in an early-1980s Not The Nine O'clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
sketch, where, as the Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
Chargé d'Affaires, (played by Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Sebastian Atkinson is a British actor, comedian, and screenwriter. He is most famous for his work on the satirical sketch comedy show Not The Nine O'Clock News, and the sitcoms Blackadder, Mr. Bean and The Thin Blue Line...
), he attempted to explain to Mel Smith
Mel Smith
Melvin Kenneth "Mel" Smith is an English comedian, writer, film director, producer, and actor. He is most famous for his work on the sketch comedy shows Not the Nine O'Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones along with his comedy partner Griff Rhys Jones.- Early life :Smith's father, Kenneth, was born...
the finer points of Belgian table manners.
Mad Gerald
(Rik MayallRik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
, although originally credited as "himself") A one-time cellmate of Prince Edmund whilst the latter was waiting to be eaten alive by snails, he had two friends: Mr Rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
and, fortunately for Edmund, Mr Key, which Gerald made from his own teeth. Actor Rik Mayall would later return as Lord Flashheart
Lord Flashheart
Lord Flashheart is the name of two fictional characters who appeared in two episodes of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder. They are both played by Rik Mayall....
in Blackadder II
Blackadder II
Blackadder II is the second series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986...
s "Bells
Bells (Blackadder)
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode...
", Blackadder Goes Forth's
Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth is the fourth and final series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC One....
Private Plane as Squadron Commander The Lord Flashheart
Lord Flashheart
Lord Flashheart is the name of two fictional characters who appeared in two episodes of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder. They are both played by Rik Mayall....
and in Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth is a 1999 short film based on the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder that marks the end of the Blackadder saga...
as Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
. ("The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
Goneril
(Kathleen St John) One of a triad of three haggard witches, modelled on the witches from MacbethThree Witches
The Three Witches or Weird Sisters are characters in William Shakespeare's play Macbeth . Their origin lies in Holinshed's Chronicles , a history of England, Scotland and Ireland...
. Named Goneril, Regan and Cordelia after King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
's daughters, they foretell that Edmund shall become king, despite him referring to them as "hideous crones", "loathsome drabs" and "snaggle-toothed vultures". It is only after he leaves that they realise they've mixed him up with Henry Tudor (i.e. the genuine Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
). They appear to make this mistake frequently. The witches appeared in the episode, The Foretelling
The Foretelling
"The Foretelling" was the first episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder . It introduces Edmund Blackadder , and opens with a narrative dispelling the popular depiction of King Richard III of England as a scheming murderer...
.
Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig
(Geoffrey PalmerGeoffrey Palmer (actor)
Geoffrey Dyson Palmer, OBE is an English actor, best known for his roles in sitcoms such as Butterflies and As Time Goes By.-Career:...
) (Goodbyeee)
The hard nosed leader of the British Army during the First World War whose best advice for Blackadder to escape the final push was to stick two pencils up his nose and his underpants on his head so that he would be classed as insane and sent home, a plan which Blackadder had already tried... "The phrase rhymes with clucking bell. (fucking hell)"
Haig is somewhat similar to Melchett as a war leader. As he is talking to Blackadder on the phone, he is seen to be arranging a group of soldiers in a scale map. He then knocks them down with a stick and casually sweeps them into a waste basket.
Amy Hardwood
Amy Hardwood appeared in the third series episode "Amy and Amiability", and was played by Miranda RichardsonMiranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
.
Amy was chosen by Mr. E. Blackadder
Mr. E. Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Esq. is the main character in the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. He was played by Rowan Atkinson.The series was set in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom . The character is in keeping with the trend of the series Blackadder is lower in rank in this series,...
to be the bride of his master, the Prince Regent, due to his belief that her father, a moronic industrialist with a Northern accent, was extremely rich. However, upon the discovery that Mr. Hardwood wished his daughter to marry the Prince for his money, Blackadder called it off, realising the Hardwoods were impoverished.
Amy, with a strange foreign accent, appeared to be an extremely soppy and child-like person, somewhat like Queenie
Queenie
"Queenie" is a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC historical sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England...
, though without the ruthlessness. When first introduced, a doll can be seen in her hands. Like Queenie she was proud of her nose, believing it to be "so wee I sometimes think the pixie
Pixie
Pixies are mythical creatures of folklore, considered to be particularly concentrated in the areas around Devon and Cornwall, suggesting some Celtic origin for the belief and name.They are usually depicted with pointed ears, and often wearing a green outfit and pointed...
s must have given it to me".
It transpired that this was a front, and she was, in fact, the highly ruthless and practical (although squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
-phobic) highwayman
Highwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
, the Shadow, as well as a master of vocal impersonations. Blackadder learned this after taking up highway robbery himself, and believing she was attracted to him as a fellow criminal. However, their plan to rob the Prince of everything he had, then go to Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
, was modified by Amy who revealed that she intended to kill Blackadder and go to Barbados on her own. However, Baldrick cut Blackadder loose before Amy returned; the two went off to bring back soldiers to arrest her and to receive the reward for the Shadow's capture. The Prince later read in the paper, to his dismay, that Amy was hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
, without anyone learning of Blackadder's involvement.
Sean the Irish Bastard
(Ron CookRon Cook
Ron Cook is an English actor who has been active in the theatre, film and television since the 1970s. He is from South Shields, Co Durham, England and is a graduate of Rose Bruford College.- Stage appearances :...
) An Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
member of The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
who steals from beggars. Amusingly, he survives the first dose of poisoned wine that Baldrick and Percy serve but, foolishly, chooses to take another one, saying that "It's got a bit of a sting in its tail." ("The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
The Jumping JewsJewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
of Jerusalem
An unentertaining act hired by Prince EdmundPrince Edmund (Blackadder)
Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh is a fictional character in the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.-Character overview:...
for the St Leonard's Day celebrations at the Royal court due to his inability to book any proper entertainments. It consisted solely of several Jewish males jumping for several minutes. The lead Jew was played by Angus Deayton
Angus Deayton
Gordon Angus Deayton is an English actor, writer, musician, comedian and broadcaster. He is best known for his role as Victor Meldrew's long-suffering neighbour Patrick Trench in the comedy series One Foot in the Grave...
, most famous for presenting the topical news quiz
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
. ("Born to be King
Born to be King
"Born to Be King" is the second episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In autumn 1486, King Richard IV departs on a Crusade...
")
Keanrick and Mossop
David Keanrick and Enoch Mossop (Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Connor) are two actors who run a local theatre that Prince George frequents. Despite their flamboyant, over the top and unconvincing style of acting, George loves their performances, although he can never tell that they aren't real. His butler, Mr. E. BlackadderMr. E. Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Esq. is the main character in the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. He was played by Rowan Atkinson.The series was set in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom . The character is in keeping with the trend of the series Blackadder is lower in rank in this series,...
is not as interested in their performances. Against Blackadder's advice, Prince George decides to hire the two actors to give him elocution lessons for an upcoming speech. Blackadder takes an instant dislike to them, because of their pompousness and constant mockery of his lower social status, and takes great delight in exploiting their belief that the real name of The Scottish Play
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
is bad luck. However, due to their encouragement, the Prince begins insulting his butler for his social status as well, leading Blackadder to quit his job. After an excruciating dinner with the Prince, they decide to rehearse a play they are writing, entitled "The Bloody Murder of the Foul Prince Romero and His Enormous-Bosomed Wife," which consists mostly of very gory Shakespearean-style dialogue. However, Baldrick overhears them and, believing it to be a plot to kill the Prince, runs to warn him. Blackadder (who had decided to take Baldrick up on a bet that the Prince "wouldn't last five minutes here without me"), goes and investigates. Upon being insulted further, he lies and says that they are traitors, and they are promptly "arrested, brutally tortured and executed forthwith."
Kate's Father
(Edward JewesburyEdward Jewesbury
Edward Jewesbury was a British actor, notable for his film, stage and television work and as a member of the Renaissance Theatre Company. In his later years he appeared in such television comedies as Yes Minister and Blackadder II.His son Ian was a senior civil servant at the UK Department of...
) The father of "Bob
Bob (Blackadder character)
Bob is a pseudonym used by two characters in the sitcom Blackadder, both female and played by Gabrielle Glaister.-Blackadder II:Kate, who goes by the pseudonym "Bob", is one of the first characters to appear in Blackadder II...
", or rather Kate. As he had grown too old to support himself and his daughter, he was in favour of the idea of Kate becoming a prostitute. Instead, she decided to go to London, disguise herself as a boy
Cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...
, and seek her fortune. ("Bells
Bells (Blackadder)
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode...
")
Jack Large
(Big MickBig Mick (actor)
Mick Walter , often referred to by the stage name Big Mick, is a British actor, noted for his dwarfism. He is known for appearing on television comedies, first appearing as Jack Large in Blackadder...
) Also known as Unspeakably Violent Jack, the Bull
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
-Buggering
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
Beast-Killer
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of No Fixed Abode, his fearsome reputation was somewhat undermined by his being somewhat less than five foot tall. Jack was a member of The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
and died after being poisoned by Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
and Percy
Lord Percy Percy
Lord Percy Percy is the name given to a pair of related fictional characters, played by Tim McInnerny, in the first two series of the popular British sitcom Blackadder. The Lord Percy of Blackadder II is the descendant of that seen in The Black Adder...
. ("The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
Dr. Leech
(John GrilloJohn Grillo
John Grillo is a British actor and playwright who has appeared in many film and television productions....
) A doctor
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
(or quack
Quack
A quack is a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to have skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess.Quack may also refer to:* Quack , an independent-comics series published by Star Reach in the 1970s...
, according to Blackadder) who, like all doctors of his age, prescribes a course of leeches for practically every complaint. ("Bells
Bells (Blackadder)
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode...
")
Princess Leia of Hungary
Princess Leia of Hungary was a fictional characterFictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the first series of the British sitcom Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
. The character was played by Natasha King.
In 1492, at the age of eight, she married the show's central character, Prince Edmund
Prince Edmund (Blackadder)
Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh is a fictional character in the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.-Character overview:...
, although she was originally betrothed to his brother, Prince Harry. A last-minute complication had changed matters, and Edmund was married to Leia instead of his original fiancée, Maria Escalosa, the Spanish Infanta (played by Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...
).
Three years later, Leia seemed uncomprehending or unconcerned at the prospect of her husband being burned
Execution by burning
Death by burning is death brought about by combustion. As a form of capital punishment, burning has a long history as a method in crimes such as treason, heresy, and witchcraft....
as a witch.
Nothing is known of her life after this point; she was fourteen when Edmund died, which leaves the question open if the Blackadder line continued on legitimately.
The name and hairstyle of Leia is a reference to the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
character Princess Leia Organa
Princess Leia Organa
Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe...
.
Reverend Lloyd
(John Rapley) The priest who nearly bigamously married Prince Edmund to Tally Applebottom via rather violent persuasion by BaldrickBaldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
. Fortunately, Tally Applebottom's husband Thomas made a well-timed interruption of the ceremony, accompanied by a large scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
. ("The Queen of Spain's Beard
The Queen of Spain's Beard
"The Queen of Spain's Beard" was the fourth episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1492, Richard IV's court is in disarray. In order to secure Spain's allegiance in a war with France, the king tries to get Harry to marry the Spanish Infanta...
")
MacAdder
(Rowan Atkinson) The nearly identical—though red-haired—Scottish cousin of Mr. E. Blackadder. He is known as being the "most dangerous man ever to wear a skirt in Europe". He believes he is rightful king of England and plans to incite rebellion, meaning his cousin hates him. He is apparently a skilled swordsman, but also a kipper salesman and married to a woman named Morag back in Scotland though he initiates in an affair with Mrs. Miggins. He had two children, a boy named Jamie and girl Angus. Edmund Blackadder wants him to take his place in the duel with the Iron Duke of Wellington to which MacAdder replies: "Why don't I take the place of the Duke of Wellington and kill the Prince?" Edmund Blackadder tells MacAdder that if he does this he will incur the wrath of the bailiffs. MacAdder thereby declines and leaves for Scotland with Miggins, foiling Blackadder's plan.Dougal MacAngus
Dougal MacAngus, 4th Duke of Argyll is a fictional characterFictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the first series of the British sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
. The character was played by Alex Norton
Alex Norton
Alexander Hugh "Alex" Norton is a Scottish actor. He is probably best known for his roles as DCI Matt Burke in Taggart, and Eddie in the Renford Rejects....
.
The character appears in the episode "Born to be King
Born to be King
"Born to Be King" is the second episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In autumn 1486, King Richard IV departs on a Crusade...
". He is Supreme Commander
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the King's Army
New Model Army
The New Model Army of England was formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, and was disbanded in 1660 after the Restoration...
and the Fourth Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland...
. Upon his return from a crusade against the Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, he is rewarded for his bravery with Prince Edmund
Prince Edmund (Blackadder)
Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh is a fictional character in the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.-Character overview:...
's Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
lands. Enraged, Edmund schemes to have him stabbed on stage during the entertainment.
He changes his mind about the assassination attempt after MacAngus shows him documents that MacAngus at first suggests show Edmund's brother, Harry
Harry, Prince of Wales (Blackadder)
Prince Henry "Harry" Plantagenet, Earl of March was a fictional character played by Robert East in the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder ....
, is illegitimate; he claims his father Donald, the 3rd Duke, had a liaison with Queen Gertrude of Flanders
Gertrude of Flanders
Gertrude of Flanders is a fictional character in the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder . She was played by Elspet Gray.In the series, she is the Queen of Flanders in her own right and the wife of King Richard of England and Scotland and mother of Princes Harry and Edmund.In attitude, Gertrude mainly...
nine months before Harry's birth. Unfortunately for Edmund, the documents prove the Queen's adultery took place nine months before Edmund's birth, not Harry's, showing that MacAngus knew all along that he was Edmund's possible half-brother and intended to humiliate him but in the unaired episode that this episode was loosely based on, MacAngus was just as surprised as Edmund when he found out that it was Edmund and not Harry who was conceived through his mother's affairs. Edmund destroys the evidence and persuades MacAngus to inspect a cannon, which then "accidentally" fires.
Millicent
Millicent (Nicola BryantNicola Bryant
-External links:** at shillpages.com/dw *...
) is Blackadder's rich, spoilt-rotten goddaughter in the Christmas special Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth , and is narrated by Hugh Laurie...
. She wears a ridiculously large bonnet
Bonnet (headgear)
Bonnets are a variety of headgear for both sexes, which have in common only the absence of a brim. Bonnet derives from the same word in French, where it originally indicated a type of material...
with a feather and has a piercing cackle of a laugh that forces Blackadder to wear a pair of earmuffs. In the beginning of the episode, she visits Blackadder with the sole purpose of collecting her Christmas present from him. Because of his poverty, Blackadder has bought her only a hat, but, oblivious to his poverty, she believes that Blackadder's scarf and Baldrick's gloves are all her presents as well, and takes them. She turns up later on for lunch, expecting two large turkeys, with her rich fiancee, Ralph (Ramsay Gilderdale
Ramsay Gilderdale
Ramsay Gilderdale is an English actor, who played Guy of Gisbourne in BBC comedy Maid Marian and Her Merry Men. He also appeared in Rumpole of the Bailey and Blackadder's Christmas Carol....
). As Blackadder has turned away from his former kindness, he is much more scathing to her, describing her as having "a head that's as empty as a hermit's address book" and mocking Ralph for his fish face. He then lifts a lot of money from Ralph and orders them to leave, causing Millicent to storm out, replacing her piercing laugh for a piercing sob.
William Pitt the Even Younger
Master William Pitt the Even Younger was the fictional younger brother of William Pitt the YoungerWilliam Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
who took part in the Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election in Dish and Dishonesty, as a representative of the Whigs.
Pitt the Even Younger was put up as a candidate against Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
by his older brother, Pitt the Younger, but the announcement was welcomed with only sarcasm, and Mr. E. Blackadder
Mr. E. Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Esq. is the main character in the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. He was played by Rowan Atkinson.The series was set in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom . The character is in keeping with the trend of the series Blackadder is lower in rank in this series,...
began to ask the name of the candidate, including names such as: Pitt the Toddler, Pitt the Embryo, and Pitt the Glint in the Milkman's Eye, poking fun at Pitt the Younger's adolescence
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
.
Pitt the Even Younger ultimately lost the by-election, which had been rigged in Baldrick's
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
favour, despite Pitt the Even Younger's smear campaign, bribing of the press and threats against the electorate if he lost the election.
Sir Dominic Prique of Stratford
(Martin ClarkeMartin Clarke
Martin 'Marty' Clarke is a Gaelic footballer from Cranfield Point, County Down, Northern Ireland. He is also an Australian rules footballer for Collingwood in the Australian Football League.- Underage :...
) The leader of a "Thespian
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
ic troupe" who put on the deathless The Death of the Scotsman (changed by Edmund from The Death of the Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
) during the St Leonard
Leonard of Noblac
Leonard of Noblac or of Limoges or de Noblet , is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, in Haute-Vienne, in the Limousin of France.-Traditional biography:According to the romance that...
's Day celebrations at the Royal court. ("Born to be King
Born to be King
"Born to Be King" is the second episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In autumn 1486, King Richard IV departs on a Crusade...
")
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
Queen Victoria (Miriam MargolyesMiriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...
) and Prince Albert (Jim Broadbent
Jim Broadbent
James "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
) are two main characters in the Christmas special Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth , and is narrated by Hugh Laurie...
. Victoria, while portrayed as being quite small and fat, with Blackadder remarking that she is "the winner of "the round Britain's shortest, fattest, dumpiest woman" competition," is not portrayed in a similar way to Queenie
Queenie
"Queenie" is a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC historical sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England...
, being portrayed instead as kind hearted and pleasant, with her favourite Christmas habit being going out posing as common folk with Albert to determine and reward the virtuous. Albert, meanwhile, is portrayed as somewhat dim-witted, being unable to keep secrets, thus causing him to inadvertently reveal his wife's surprise presents, and having a thick German accent.
Victoria and Albert, embarking on their aforementioned Christmas habit, discover Ebenezer Blackadder
Ebenezer Blackadder
Ebenezer Blackadder is one of the many Blackadder descendants from the BBC sitcom of the name. Unlike his ancestors, however, he is the only member of the Blackadder family whose name is not Edmund to feature in the television shows.-Overview:...
is the kindest man in his local area, and test him by asking him for his Christmas turkey, the last thing he has to celebrate Christmas. Upon hearing Albert's accent, he asks him about it, and Albert claims to be from Scotland. Blackadder responds by saying "I love the Gorbals
Gorbals
The Gorbals is an area on the south bank of the River Clyde in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. By the late 19th century, it had become over-populated and adversely affected by local industrialisation. Many people lived here because their jobs provided this home and they could not afford their own...
," which confuses Albert, who assumes the Gorbals to be a family living in Scotland, and responds accordingly. The turn up after Blackadder's epiphany, bearing a hefty reward for his former kindness, including £50,000 and the title of "Baron Blackadder." However, Blackadder does not recognise them and insults them, before turning his insults to the Queen and Prince, unaware he is insulting them further. Enraged by his insults, Victoria and Albert leave, vowing never to return.
Blackadder later remarks that he was particularly satisfied with the insults he dealt on the pair, only to discover that they were the real Queen and Prince after Baldrick shows him the Royal Seal they had given him.
King Richard III
King Richard III of England is a fictionalised version of the real Richard III of EnglandRichard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
in the first series of the British sitcom
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
. The character was played by Peter Cook
Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
.
The series' first episode, "The Foretelling
The Foretelling
"The Foretelling" was the first episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder . It introduces Edmund Blackadder , and opens with a narrative dispelling the popular depiction of King Richard III of England as a scheming murderer...
", explains that King Richard III was actually a kind, benevolent ruler who doted on his nephews
Princes in the Tower
The Princes in the Tower is a term which refers to Edward V of England and Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York. The two brothers were the only sons of Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville alive at the time of their father's death...
, and that his popular image as a murderous usurper is based on lies spread by his rival, Henry Tudor
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
. In the episode, Richard wins the Battle of Bosworth Field
Battle of Bosworth Field
The Battle of Bosworth Field was the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians...
, but he loses his horse. He calls out cheerfully, in a parodied version to the play of his name
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
, "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" He doesn't have a very good relationship with his great-nephew, Lord Edmund Plantagenet
Prince Edmund (Blackadder)
Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh is a fictional character in the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.-Character overview:...
, as he refers to Edmund as a "little turd", "horrid little scabby reptile", "loathsome little fairy maggot" and "smelly little dog's pizzle". Later, Edmund accidentally kills him; (Richard takes Edmund's horse, which he thinks is a stray; not recognizing the king, Edmund thinks Richard is one of the enemy attempting to steal his horse, and cuts his head off). The late King's nephew, Richard, Duke of York, Edmund's father, is then crowned as Richard IV.
During the celebration dinner, Richard's ghost returns to haunt Edmund (parodying Banquo
Banquo
Banquo is a character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally to Macbeth and they are together when they meet the Three Witches. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his...
in Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
).
Captain Redbeard Rum
(Tom BakerTom Baker
Thomas Stewart "Tom" Baker is a British actor. He is best known for playing the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a role he played from 1974 to 1981.-Early life:...
) A deranged seafarer who claims to have had his legs "sliced clean off by a falling sail
Sail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...
, and swept into the sea before [my] very eyes" and possesses "a beard you could lose a badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
in".
Rum is quite possibly the worst mariner in history, given that he doesn't seem to feel a crew is required to sail an Elizabethan galleon
Galleon
A galleon was a large, multi-decked sailing ship used primarily by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries. Whether used for war or commerce, they were generally armed with the demi-culverin type of cannon.-Etymology:...
and doesn't know the way from Tilbury
Tilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
to France let alone the Cape of Good Hope
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
.
Rum is the sole captain with, according to Sir Walter Raleigh, few enough marbles to aid Blackadder in the his trip around the Cape of Good Hope, and hence captains Blackadder's voyage of discovery - a trip that was intended to be little more than to France and back, but somehow ends up in Australia.
Unlike the average seafarer, Rum actually seem to prefer drinking his own urine
Urine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
to water. Percy
Lord Percy Percy
Lord Percy Percy is the name given to a pair of related fictional characters, played by Tim McInnerny, in the first two series of the popular British sitcom Blackadder. The Lord Percy of Blackadder II is the descendant of that seen in The Black Adder...
notes that Rum began doing so before the water ran out...
Rum proposed to Nursie
Nursie
Nursie is a fictional character in the second series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder II. She was played by Patsy Byrne and appeared in all six episodes. She also appeared in two of the Blackadder specials; Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Blackadder: Back & Forth...
before Blackadder's remarkably successful trip of discovery to Australia, and she accepted. However, due to Rum ending up as a "third-rate sailor, but a first-rate second course" for some hungry natives, Nursie was left only with his beard as a memento - which she wore in remembrance of him.
Mrs. Scratchit
Mrs. Scratchit (Pauline MelvillePauline Melville
Pauline Melville is a Guyanese-born writer and actress. Her mother was English, and her father Guyanese. Her first book, Shape-Shifter , a collection of short stories, won the 1991 Commonwealth Writers' Prize , and the Guardian Fiction Prize.The book consists of a number of short stories dealing...
) is a woman who appears in Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol
Blackadder's Christmas Carol is a one-off episode of Blackadder, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth , and is narrated by Hugh Laurie...
. While seemingly a weak and sweet-natured woman, she is actually a very greedy con artist who has a "crippled" son called Tiny Tom, who is, in fact, morbidly obese (weighing fifteen stone and is "built like a brick privy".) She starts off swindling £17 off Blackadder in return for 17 matchsticks, claiming it is needed to feed herself and her family, claiming they are too poor to afford any meals, apart from "what Grandfather can scrape from under his big toenail." She returns later on, after Blackadder's epiphany, in the hope of swindling him further, asking if he has a present for her, or has "found me a little fowl for Tiny Tom's Christmas." She is stunned when Blackadder coldly responds "I've always found you foul, Mrs. Scratchit, and more than a little." He also reveals that Tiny Tom is feigning his "disability", saying that "occasionally saying "phew, my leg hurts" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick" (although Baldrick remarks that "it did, actually"). He then takes back the money she took from him in return for a pail of manure, and suggests she use Tiny Tom as a houseboat, sending her out, crying. She is no doubt based on the character of Mrs. Cratchit, the wife of Bob Cratchit
Bob Cratchit
Robert "Bob" Cratchit is a fictional character who is the abused, underpaid clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol...
in A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
, although much more conniving and malicious.
Lord Smedley
(Nigel PlanerNigel Planer
Nigel George Planer is an English actor, comedian, novelist and playwright.Planer is perhaps best known for his role as Neil Pye in the cult BBC comedy The Young Ones. He has appeared in many West End musicals, including Evita, Chicago, We Will Rock You, Wicked and Hairspray...
) An extremely annoying friend of George and one half of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
, the other half being his friend Lord Topper. He is killed by a suicide pill given to him by Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
when he is disguised as Madame Guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
in order to rescue him and Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
. ("Nob and Nobility")
Brigadier Sir Bernard Proudfoot Smith
(Bill WallisBill Wallis
Bill Wallis is a British character actor and comedian who has appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre....
) A patient with thick German accent at the hospital in the fourth series
Blackadder Goes Forth
Blackadder Goes Forth is the fourth and final series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 28 September to 2 November 1989 on BBC One....
episode "General Hospital
General Hospital (Blackadder)
"General Hospital" is the fifth episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.-Plot:The episode opens with George and Baldrick playing "I spy", to Blackadder's great annoyance and boredom...
." Captain Darling
Kevin Darling
Darling is the name of several fictional characters played by Tim McInnerny in the British mock-historical sitcom Blackadder. Introduced in its fourth iteration, Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Kevin Darling is main character Captain Edmund Blackadder 's intellectual peer and bitter rival; while...
thinks he is the German spy, but he is revealed at the end of the episode to be the finest spy in British Army, who picked up "a teensy-veensy bit" of an accent while working undercover in Germany.
At one point, during their stay in the hospital, Lieutenant George asks Smith if he knows any suspicious characters who might be German spies. Smith answers "Nein" and an astonished George misinterprets it as nine suspects, speculating that Blackadder has "got his work cut out for him."
Soft
(Stephen FrostStephen Frost
Stephen Frost , also known as Steve Frost, is an English comedian.Frost is known for his work in the 1980s with Mark Arden as part of the double act The Oblivion Boys on Saturday Live...
) A guard at the Royal Palace, along with Anon. ("Witchsmeller Pursuivant
Witchsmeller Pursuivant
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is the fifth episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1495, the Black Plague is ravaging Europe, and infects King Richard, rendering him more deranged than usual; when Edmund comes to visit, the King nearly stabs him to...
", "The Black Seal
The Black Seal
"The Black Seal" is the final of six episodes of the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder .- Plot :On Saint Juniper's Day, 29 January 1498, King Richard IV snubs Prince Edmund, taking away his Duchy and leaving him with the sole dignity of Lord Warden of the Royal Privies, while awarding...
")
Don Speekingleesh
(Jim BroadbentJim Broadbent
James "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
) The Infanta Maria Escalosa's incredibly annoying interpreter. Don Speekingleesh accompanied the Infanta at all times whilst in the Royal palace, and translates practically everything she says - even when she was making love to Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
(in the guise of Prince Edmund). Don Speekingleesh was played by Jim Broadbent
Jim Broadbent
James "Jim" Broadbent is an English theatre, film, and television actor. He is known for his roles in Iris, Moulin Rouge!, Topsy-Turvy, Hot Fuzz, and Bridget Jones' Diary...
. ("The Queen of Spain's Beard
The Queen of Spain's Beard
"The Queen of Spain's Beard" was the fourth episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1492, Richard IV's court is in disarray. In order to secure Spain's allegiance in a war with France, the king tries to get Harry to marry the Spanish Infanta...
")
Lord Topper
(Tim McInnernyTim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny is an English actor. He is known for his role as Percy in Blackadder and Blackadder II, and as Captain Darling in Blackadder Goes Forth...
) An extremely irritating friend of George he is offered the chance to go and rescue a French aristocrat by Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
but he refuses. He then disguises himself as Le Comte de Frou Frou and is 'rescued' by Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
and Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
. After being captured by an evil revolutionary (Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie
Chris Barrie is a British actor. He first achieved success as a vocal impressionist, notably in the ITV sketch show Spitting Image...
) and escaping, he reveals himself to be Topper and, coincidently, one half of the Scarlet Pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel
Scarlet pimpernel is a low-growing annual plant found in Europe, Asia and North America...
, the other half being his friend, Lord Smedley, who had already been killed by a suicide pill given to him by Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
. When he is about to tell George the truth about his 'rescue', he is also killed the same way as Smedley, Blackadder slipping a suicide pill into his wine. ("Nob and Nobility")
Lord and Lady Whiteadder
Lord Nathaniel (Daniel Thorndike) and Lady Whiteadder (Miriam MargolyesMiriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes, OBE is an English actress and voice artist. Her earliest roles were in theatre and after several supporting roles in film and television she won a BAFTA Award for her role in The Age of Innocence .-Early life:...
) are Blackadder's Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
ical aunt and uncle in the episode Beer
Beer (Blackadder)
"Beer" is the fifth episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. In the episode, an embarrassing incident with a turnip, an ostrich feather and a fanatically Puritan aunt leads to a right royal to-do in the...
. Blackadder
Lord Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Lord Blackadder is the main character in the second series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder. He is played by Rowan Atkinson.The second series is set in Elizabethan England, and Edmund is a courtier to Queen Elizabeth I...
describes them as "the most fanatical Puritans in England" and is pleased to get a message that they are coming to his house to discuss their "whopping great inheritance." Unfortunately, Blackadder's meeting with them coincides with a drinking competition Melchett and some friends have challenged him to. He is, therefore, forced to hold the two dinners in separate rooms.
The two, mostly Lady Whiteadder, are comically revealed to be very devout, dressing in white clothing with helmets crowned with crosses, and wearing four large crosses each. Both are exceedingly condescending, with Lady Whiteadder denouncing almost every homely comfort as works of Beelzebub
Beelzebub
Beelzebub -Religious meaning:Ba‘al Zəbûb is variously understood to mean "lord of flies", or "lord of the dwelling". Originally the name of a Philistine god, Beelzebub is also identified in the New Testament as Satan, the "prince of the demons". In Arabic the name is retained as Ba‘al dhubaab /...
, from chairs (at home, Nathaniel sits on a spike, while she sits on him), the mashing of turnips (for she claims Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
mashes them out of envy) and heating (because "cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics!"). Despite these maniacal beliefs, she is strangely delighted after Baldrick presents her with a phallus
Phallus
A phallus is an erect penis, a penis-shaped object such as a dildo, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. Any object that symbolically resembles a penis may also be referred to as a phallus; however, such objects are more often referred to as being phallic...
-shaped turnip. To make matters worse, Nathaniel has (reluctantly) taken a vow of silence
Vow of silence
A vow of silence is a religious vow, usually taken in a monastic context, to maintain silence. Known as Mauna in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, the practice is integral to Christian and Islamic traditions as well...
, meaning Lady Whiteadder dominates the conversation, and repeatedly slaps Edmund across the face whenever he brings up a subject she disapproves of. Eventually, they discover Blackadder's drinking party and leave (though not before Lord Whiteadder renounces his vow of silence and thanks Blackadder), only to run into the party in the main hall. Eventually, they join in on the party and, by morning, are as hungover as everyone at the party. After hearing the word "luck," Lady Whiteadder emerges from beneath a drunken Queenie's skirt, laughs loudly and drunkenly proclaims that the word sounds rude because "it sounds almost exactly like fu-".
The Wise Woman
(Barbara Miller) A "deranged druidDruid
A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....
" (according to Blackadder) who Baldrick habitually used to cure medical complaints. Out of desperation, Blackadder decided to brave the swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
y wilderness of Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
and seek her counsel to cure him of his "homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
" when he found himself attracted to "Bob
Bob (Blackadder character)
Bob is a pseudonym used by two characters in the sitcom Blackadder, both female and played by Gabrielle Glaister.-Blackadder II:Kate, who goes by the pseudonym "Bob", is one of the first characters to appear in Blackadder II...
". She recommends Blackadder sleep with "him", as that's what she tends to do with people she's attracted to - although she has to drug them first, due to her being "so old and warty". Her subsequent alternative solutions are met with equal disdain; Blackadder vehemently refuses to kill 'Bob', declines the suggestion to kill himself, and treats the solution of killing everybody in the whole world- thus preventing anyone from learning his secret- with disdain. ("Bells
Bells (Blackadder)
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode...
")
The Witches
A triad of three haggard witches, they foretell that Edmund shall become king, despite him referring to them as "hideous crones", "loathsome drabs" and "snaggle-toothed vultures". It is only after he leaves that they realise they've mixed him up with someone else (i.e. Henry Tudor, who had passed by moments before). They appear to make this mistake frequently. The witches appeared in the episode, The ForetellingThe Foretelling
"The Foretelling" was the first episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder . It introduces Edmund Blackadder , and opens with a narrative dispelling the popular depiction of King Richard III of England as a scheming murderer...
.
The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
(Frank FinlayFrank Finlay
Francis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
) During the episode Witchsmeller Pursuivant
Witchsmeller Pursuivant
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is the fifth episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC One sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :In 1495, the Black Plague is ravaging Europe, and infects King Richard, rendering him more deranged than usual; when Edmund comes to visit, the King nearly stabs him to...
, plague breaks out and reports of strange and unexplained phenomena, such as "two women claiming to have been raped by a fish", abound. The council of Lords recommends that "The Witchsmeller Pursuivant" be sent for, in order to track down and eliminate the presumed cause of the ill omens. After Edmund mocks the Witchsmeller by referring to him as "Old Big-nose", the Witchsmeller tricks Edmund into incriminating himself as a witch. During the ensuing trial, Edmund, Percy and Baldrick are found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to be burned at the stake. However, the Queen provides Edmund with an apparent voodoo dummy of the Witchsmeller, which falls into the fire when Edmund is about to be burned, resulting in the Witchsmeller dying himself and Edmund being apparently cleared.
The Young Crone
(Sadie Shimmin) A resident of PutneyPutney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
and something of a receptionist
Receptionist
A receptionist is an employee taking an office/administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting area such as a lobby or front office desk of an organization or business...
for The Wise Woman. ("Bells
Bells (Blackadder)
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode...
")