Blackadder II
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Blackadder II | |
|---|---|
 Rowan Atkinson as Lord Blackadder |
|
| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Creator(s) | Richard Curtis & Ben Elton |
| Starring | Rowan Atkinson Tony Robinson Tim McInnerny Miranda Richardson Stephen Fry Patsy Byrne |
| Theme music composer | Howard Goodall |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | John Lloyd |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original run | 9 January 1986 – 20 February 1986 |
| Links | |
| Official website | |
Blackadder II was 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.
The series was set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and saw the principal character, Edmund, Lord Blackadder, as a Tudor courtier attempting to win the favour of the Queen while avoiding the fate that befell many of her suitors.
The series saw a number of significant changes from the format of The Black Adder, notably Ben Elton replacing Rowan Atkinson as the second writer, filming in studio sets, rather than on location, and the introduction of the more familiar cynical "Blackadder" character.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Blackadder II is set in the Elizabethan period during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), played by Miranda Richardson. The principal character, Edmund, Lord Blackadder, is the great-grandson of the original Black Adder, and is now a member of the London Aristocracy. Unlike his forefather, he is both dashing and intelligent, although still scheming and cynical in his outlook. The series follows his attempts to win the favour (and avoid annoying) the Queen aided (although often hindered) by two less intelligent sidekicks, his servant, Baldrick, and Lord Percy Percy, heir to the Duchy of Northumberland, with whom Blackadder has a grudging friendship.
During the course of the series, Blackadder also has to deal with the sneering of the Queen's pretentious Lord Chamberlain Lord Melchett (Stephen Fry), who himself is in fear of upsetting the Queen, and her demented former nanny Nursie (Patsy Byrne).
The second series was the first to establish the familiar character of Blackadder: cunning, shrewd and witty, in sharp contrast with Prince Edmund of the first series. By comparison, the originally intelligent character of Baldrick became more stupid, an idea proposed by Ben 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.[2]
As with The Black Adder, the series featured many tongue-in-cheek references to the plays of William Shakespeare, who, in addition to being mentioned a number of times as a contemporary Elizabethan, has many famous quotations twisted for comic effect by the writers.[3] In particular the first episode "Bells", follows a similar plot to Twelfth Night.[4]
[edit] Episodes
The series aired for six episodes broadcast on Thursdays on BBC One at 9.30pm between January 9th 1986 and February 20th 1986.[1] The titles of the episodes are single words based on the implied theme of the episodes - Bells, Head, Potato, Money, Beer and Chains.
"Head" was originally intended to be the first episode, and was first to be filmed.[5] This resulted in a small continuity error of Lord Percy 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.[6]
| Title | Air date | Plot outline |
|---|---|---|
| Bells | 9 Jan 1986 | Blackadder employs a young man called 'Bob' (who is actually a woman) whom he finds himself attracted to, much to his dismay. Once he discovers 'Bob' is actually 'Kate' he plans to marry her, only to have her elope with his best man, Lord Flashheart.[7] |
| Head | 16 Jan 1986 | Blackadder is made Lord High Executioner and in an attempt to save time decides to change to execution schedule; unfortunately this brings him in to conflict with the Queen's wishes.[7] |
| Potato | 23 Jan 1986 | In the wake of Sir Walter Raleigh's triumphant return from America, and in an attempt to impress the Queen, Blackadder plans a voyage of his own.[7] |
| Money | 5 Feb 1986 | Blackadder is pursued by a mad Bishop over an unpaid loan and is forced to formulate ingenious ways to make money.[7] |
| Beer | 13 Feb 1986 | With the promise of a large inheritance, Blackadder attempts to impress his fanatically Puritanical aunt and uncle, while simultaneously attempting to win a drinking competition.[7] |
| Chains | 20 Feb 1986 | Blackadder and Melchett are kidnapped by the German Prince Ludwig and held for ransom.[7] |
[edit] Music and titles
The opening titles are accompanied by a version of the Blackadder theme played on a recorder and an electric guitar, and feature a black snake slithering about on a marble table. The snake is eventually removed and replaced with something related to the episode title, which in this series is always a single noun. The opening ominous violin music and imagery are a parody of the opening credits of the 1976 BBC television adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius.[6]
The closing titles use a different arrangement of the theme on various instruments, accompanied by a countertenor[8] who sings lyrics reflecting the events of the preceding episode, over a shot of Blackadder strolling through a formal garden and being annoyed by a lute-wielding minstrel played by Tony Aitken. This sequence was incorporated as a separate subplot, with Blackadder constantly attempting to apprehend the musician with mixed results. At the end of the final episode, Blackadder catches the minstrel and repeatedly dunks him in a fountain.[9]
[edit] Production
Due to the high cost of the first series, the then controller of programming of BBC One, Michael Grade was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements and cost cutting to be made to the show, leaving a gap of three years between the two series.[1]
Rowan Atkinson did not wish to continue writing for the second series, so writer and stand-up comedian Ben Elton was chosen to replace him. According to producer John Lloyd, Ben Elton was particularly keen on the choice of the Elizibethan age for the series, because it was "a sexy age that the kids can relate to."[3] As a stand-up comic, Elton often acted as the studio warm-up comic to amuse the audience before filming began.[10] The scripts were also tightened up during principal rehearsals with the actors - according to Richard Curtis, a whole script for a murder mystery-style episode was dropped because the writers felt it did not work.[10]
To make the show more cost effective, it was principally filmed on general purpose indoor sets at White City.[3] In particular, the Queen's throne 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 Spanish dungeon in "Chains".[1] Only one outside location shoot was used in the whole series, which took place before principal filming on Thursday May 30th 1985 at Wilton House, Wiltshire. These outside scenes were Blackadder's courting scene in "Bells" and the end title sequences.[5] Studio recordings shot in front of a live audience began on Sunday June 9th 1985 with the recording of "Head". Subsequent episodes were filmed on a weekly basis in the order Bells, Potato, Money, Beer and Chains.[5] Director Mandie 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."[5]
[edit] Cast
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".[2]
The series also featured at least one significant cameo role per episode, with notable appearances from Rik Mayall, playing the debonair Lord Flashheart in "Bells", two figures famous for their roles in science fiction series - Tom Baker and Simon Jones - in "Potato" and Stephen Fry's comedy partner Hugh Laurie appearing 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 as George in the subsequent series. Also seen for the first time was Bob, played by Gabrielle Glaister, who went to school with Ben Elton.[10] Several of the characters were seen in similar guises in later series.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Lewisohn, Mark, Blackadder II at the BBC Guide to Comedy, URL accessed 17 March, 2007
- ^ a b I Have a Cunning Plan - 20th Anniversary of Blackadder, BBC Radio 4 documentary broadcast 23rd August 2003. Excerpts available at bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/interviews/
- ^ a b c Britain's Best Sitcom - Blackadder, 2004 BBC Television documentary, presented by John Sergeant
- ^ Bells at bbc.co.uk, URL accessed 17 March, 2007
- ^ a b c d Blackadder Hall.co.uk, cached version from Google accessed April 2, 2007
- ^ a b Trivia at IMDb.com, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ a b c d e f Blackadder at bbc.co.uk, URL accessed April 2, 2007
- ^ Official Howard Goodall website, URL accessed 17 March, 2007
- ^ Credits at IMDb.com, URL accessed March 17, 2007
- ^ a b c Trivia at UKTV Gold.co.uk, URL accessed April 2, 2007
[edit] External links
- Blackadder II (1986) at the Internet Movie Database
- Blackadder II at the BBC Guide to Comedy
