Blackadder II
Title screen ofBlackadder II
Written by	Richard Curtis Ben Elton
Directed by	Mandie Fletcher
Starring	Rowan Atkinson Tim McInnerny Tony Robinson Miranda Richardson Stephen Fry Patsy Byrne
Theme music composer	Howard Goodall
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	6
Production
Producer	John Lloyd
Camera setup	Multiple
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	9 January (1986-1-9) – 20 February 1986 (1986-2-20)
Related
The Black Adder Blackadder the Third

Blackadder II^[a] is the second series of theBBCsitcomBlackadder, written byRichard Curtis andBen Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986.^[1] The series is set in England during the reign ofQueen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and sees the principal character,Edmund, Lord Blackadder, as aTudor courtier attempting to win the favour of the Queen while avoidingexecution by decapitation, a fate that befell many of her suitors.

The series is the successor toThe Black Adder, and differed significantly from its predecessor, notably with Ben Elton replacing Rowan Atkinson as the second writer, filming instudio sets, rather than on location, the introduction of aMachiavellian Blackadder and a less intelligent Baldrick.^[2]

A third series,Blackadder the Third, aired in 1987.

The series is set during theElizabethan era (1558–1603). The principal character,Edmund, Lord Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson), is the great-grandson of theoriginal Black Adder and is now a member of the London aristocracy. Unlike his forefather, he is both dashing and intelligent, although he is still scheming and cynical in his outlook. The series follows his attempts to win the favour of the childishQueen Elizabeth I (Miranda Richardson). As before, he is aided, and often hindered, by two less-than-intelligent sidekicks, his servantBaldrick (Tony Robinson), andLord Percy Percy (Tim McInnerny), heir to theDuchy of Northumberland, with whom Blackadder has a grudging friendship.

Throughout the series, Blackadder's chief rival isLord Melchett (Stephen Fry), the Queen's pretentious and grovellingLord Chamberlain. Melchett fears upsetting the Queen, and thus attempts to outdo Blackadder by supporting the Queen in whatever current fad she is interested in.Comic relief in the Court is provided by the Queen's demented formernanny,Nursie (Patsy Byrne) who often reveals embarrassing stories about Queenie's past.

The series finale episode, "Chains" sees Blackadder and Melchett being kidnapped by two guards working for Prince Ludwig the Indestructible (Hugh Laurie) who holds them prisoner in a dungeon, Ludwig demanding a ransom be paid in exchange for having one of them released but after receiving a message informing them Queenie has decided to ignore saving them in favour of holding a big party, which later becomes a costume party, the two men, whose original death sentences are later changed to life imprisonment, work together to successfully outwit Ludwig's guards and return to England, arriving at the palace in time to stop Ludwig from killing Queenie and fulfilling his goal of becoming King of England, which was revealed to have been brought on the fact that as a child, he had dirty hair, spots and was forced to wear shorts by his mother, earning him ridicule from his classmates who also gave him the nickname, "Shorty Greasy Spot-Spot" which Ludwig despises so much so that he flies into a rage if it is mentioned in his presence. Upon being exposed, Ludwig attempts to flee while vowing he will return and get his revenge, but is presumably killed or wounded off-screen by a dagger that Blackadder throws at him, ending his threat. However, after the end credits have been shown, Ludwig is revealed to have survived the attack, returning to murder the original Queenie and after stealing her identity, also gone on to kill Blackadder, Melchett, Nursie, Baldrick and Percy, Ludwig presumably going on to rule England for many years, disguised as Queenie.

Baldrick, who in the first series was the most intelligent of the main trio, became more stupid, an idea proposed byBen Elton to make him "the stupidest person in the history of...human beings", and to act as a foil to Blackadder's new-found intelligence.^[3] The series was also the originator of Baldrick's obsession with theturnip, although this apparently arose from abotanical error on the part of Elton, who confused the vegetable with the "amusingly shaped"parsnip.^[4]

Lord Percy remained similar in character to the original series, as a foolish sidekick in Blackadder's plots and predicaments. In this respect, McInnerny said the character resembledSir Andrew Aguecheek inShakespeare'sTwelfth Night.^[4] As withThe Black Adder, the series featured manytongue-in-cheek references toShakespeare's plays; Shakespeare is mentioned as a contemporary Elizabethan, and his famous quotations are twisted for comic effect.^[4] The first episode "Bells", follows a similar plot toTwelfth Night.^[5]

The series aired for six episodes broadcast on Thursdays onBBC1 at 9.30pm between 9 January 1986 and 20 February 1986.^[1]

"Head" was originally intended to be the first episode and was first to be filmed.^[6] This resulted in the smallcontinuity error of Lord Percy still having a beard in "Head" which he shaves off in "Bells". In addition, during the early scenes of "Head", the principal characters are introduced to the audience with Baldrick's stupidity highlighted.^{[citation needed]}

Due to the high cost of the first series,Michael Grade (the then controller of programming of BBC1) was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements and cost-cutting, leaving a gap of three years between the two series.^[2]

Rowan Atkinson did not wish to continue writing for the second series, so writer andstand-up comedianBen Elton was chosen to replace him. According to producerJohn Lloyd, Ben Elton was particularly keen on the choice of the Elizabethan age for the series, because it was "a sexy age that the kids can relate to."^[4] As a stand-up comic, Elton often acted as the studiowarm-up comic to amuse the audience before filming began.^[11] The scripts were also tightened up during principal rehearsals with the actors; according to Richard Curtis, an entire script for amurder mystery-style episode was dropped because the writers felt it did not work.^[11]

To make the show more cost-effective, it was principally filmed on specially designed small sets atBBC Television Centre created by designer Tony Thorpe. The sets were de-constructed and rebuilt during the period of studio filming, as was normal for studio series then.^[4] In particular, the Queen'sthrone room and Blackadder's front room were featured in every episode, with only two further unique sets per episode, including an execution chamber in "Head" and a Spanishdungeon in "Chains".^[2] Only one outside location shoot was used in the whole series, which took place before principal filming on Thursday 30 May 1985 atWilton House,Wiltshire. These outdoor scenes were Blackadder's courting scene in "Bells" and the end title sequences.^[6] Studio recordings shot in front of a live audience began on Sunday 9 June 1985 with the recording of "Head". Subsequent episodes were filmed on a weekly basis in the sequence "Bells", "Potato", "Money", "Beer" and "Chains".^[6] DirectorMandie Fletcher was keen for the action to be shot spontaneously and was averse to complex costume changes or special effects which required recording to be halted. She is reputed to have said filming it was "a bit like doing Shakespeare in front of an audience – it's not at all like doing sitcom."^[6]

The size of the principal cast was reduced compared to the previous series, with a fixed number of characters appearing in every episode. Richard Curtis has been quoted as saying that due to the familiar cast, the series was the happiest for him to work on, comparing it to a "friendly bunch of school chums".^[3]

• Rowan Atkinson asLord Edmund Blackadder
• Tim McInnerny asLord Percy Percy, Heir to theDuchy of Northumberland
• Tony Robinson asBaldrick
• Miranda Richardson asQueen Elizabeth I of England
• Stephen Fry asLord Melchett, the Lord Chamberlain
• Patsy Byrne asNursie

The series also featured at least one significantcameo role per episode. Notable appearances includeRik Mayall as the debonairLord Flashheart in "Bells";Tom Baker andSimon Jones as Captain Redbeard Rum and Sir Walter Raleigh respectively, in "Potato";Ronald Lacey as the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells in "Money";Miriam Margolyes, who had appeared in the previous series, as the puritanical Lady Whiteadder in "Beer"; and Stephen Fry'scomedy partnerHugh Laurie, who appears twice, first as the drunken Simon Partridge in "Beer" and in the final episode as the evil Prince Ludwig. Laurie was later given a larger role asPrince George in the next two series. AlsoBob, played byGabrielle Glaister, a former classmate of Ben Elton's, made her first appearance.^[11] Several of the characters were seen in similar guises in later series.

The opening titles are accompanied by a mock-Elizabethan arrangement ofHoward Goodall'sBlackadder theme played on arecorder and anelectric guitar, and feature a black snake slithering about on amarble table. The snake, non-compliant to the wishes of its handler, is eventually removed and replaced with something related to the episode title, which in this series is always a single noun. The opening ominousstringcrescendo and imagery are a parody of the opening credits ofI, Claudius, the 1976 BBC television adaptation ofRobert Graves'novel of the same name.^[12]

The closing titles use a different arrangement of the theme, sung by countertenorJeremy Jackman,^[13] with lyrics (usually insulting Blackadder) that reflect the events of the preceding episode. The song is played over a shot of Blackadder strolling through aformal garden and being annoyed by thelute-wieldingminstrel (Tony Aitken). This sequence was incorporated as a separatesubplot, with Blackadder constantly attempting to apprehend the musician each time with limited success. At the end of the final episode, Blackadder catches the minstrel and repeatedly dunks him in a fountain.^{[citation needed]}

The complete series ofBlackadder II is available as aRegion 2DVD fromBBC Worldwide, as well as in a complete box-set with the other series, most recently as a remastered edition including a commentary on selected episodes. An earlierVHS release of the series was also produced in 1996. The series is also available in Region 1 DVD in a box-set of the complete series. In addition, anaudio recording taken from the television episodes is available oncassette andcompact disc.

• In about October 1989, BBC Enterprises Ltd released all six episodes ofBlackadder II on two single videos; they were re-released on 7 September 1992 in 'Complete', a double-VHS box set. All six episodes were re-released on a single video on 2 October 1995.

Blackadder II was released on a doubleLaserDisc set by Encore Entertainment in 1996., the episodes spread over three of the four sides.

Notes

Citations

Wikiquote has quotations related toBlackadder II.

• Blackadder II (1986) atIMDb
• Blackadder II at the former BBC Guide to Comedy (archive)

• 1980s British sitcoms
• 1986 British television series debuts
• 1986 British television series endings
• Alternate history television series
• BBC black comedy television shows
• BBC television sitcoms
• Blackadder
• Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I
• British parody television series
• British English-language television shows
• Television series set in 16th-century Tudor England
• Television shows set in London

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