Lord Edmund Blackadder
Edmund is a courtier
to Queen Elizabeth I. Most of Edmund's adventures revolve around his need to please "Queenie." Should he fail in this task,
the consequences often appear dire. His main competition in this field is Lord Melchett. The two hate each other bitterly.
Lord Blackadder
is much more like the traditional Blackadder than his great grandfather Prince Edmund, who was cowardly, slimey and snivelling.
Whilst Lord Blackadder is still cowardly, it is veiled behind a mask of pretend bravery (for example, Lord Blackadder claims
he will sail around the deadly Cape of Good Hope, to appear brave to the Queen and to show up Sir Walter 'Ooh What A Big Ship
I've Got' Raleigh, when in reality he has no intention of sailing around the Cape, but instead plans to sail to France, get
a suntan, and return claiming he has been to the Cape).
This Blackadder
also used verbal insults more frequently, and with greater success than his ancestor. A prime example of these trademark insults,
directed at Baldrick, would be 'God made man in his own image, and it would be a sad lookout for Christians around the globe
if God looked anything like you Baldrick'.
Lord Blackadder
is apparently the great grandson of the original 'Black Adder', Prince Edmund. As Prince Edmund's wife, Princess Leia of Hungary,
was only 14 when he died, and as a legitimate child would have inherited the throne, it is likely that Edmund had an affair
with a woman, telling her he was 'The Black Adder'. This seems particularly likely, as illegitimate children of British royalty
were often given lordships and the like.
Though Blackadder
claims to have amassed a great fortune, he later reveals that this was little more than a cunning web of deceit subtly spun
about the court to improve his standing, as he claims to be 'one of England's finest liars'. In fact, his father had blown
the family fortune on wine, women and amateur dramatics and by the end of his life he was eking out a living doing humorous
impressions of Anne of Cleves.
As well as inheriting
his name, Blackadder also appears to have inherited his ancestor's cohorts. Edmund is accompanied by the increasingly-stupid
Baldrick and Lord Percy, who is as stupid as ever.
Baldrick is Blackadder's
bondsman and has been in his service since he was two and a half (Blackadder points out that this is probably why he is so
sick of the sight of Baldrick). Percy is a halfwit 'friend' of Blackadder who Edmund doesn't seem to be able to shake off.
Blackadder hints that he keeps Percy around because he likes "to start the day with a complete dick-head to remind (him he's)
best".
Blackadder almost
married his 'manservant' Kate, but the wedding was halted when Kate ran off with the best man, Lord Flashheart. He was head
executioner for the Queen, a job that almost lost him his life when he executed a man two days early and then found his family
had succeeded in having him pardoned. He was almost killed by the baby eating bishop of Bath
and Wells when he failed to repay the black monks of St. Herod (banking with a smile and a stab). He foolishly tried to talk
a 'whopping great inheritance' out of his fanatical puritan aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Whiteadder, whilst at the same time,
holding a wild drinking party in Baldricks' bedroom. The party almost ended in tragedy when Queenie threatened to have the
whole party executed when Blackadder accused her of being Merlin, the Happy Pig. Fortunately, she got drunk and forgot.
Lord Blackadder,
along with the rest of the cast, was murdered by Prince Ludwig the Indestructible, master of diguise, after being kidnapped
with Melchett. However, like his great-grandfather before him, Edmund left a secret bloodline which led to the next descendant
to have his adventures chronicled.
Baldrick
The Elizabethan
Baldrick is the servant and bondsman, rather than a friend, to Lord Blackadder, who mistreats him, and, Baldrick claims, at
first tried to kill him. He has a bedroom in Blackadder's house, but has also been forced to sleep in the gutter and on the
roof. He has a tendency to eat dung. Baldrick has been in Lord Edmund's service longer than either of them care to remember.
Yet although his master treats him with the sort of contempt reserved for lepers, he remains intensely loyal.
This Baldrick, whilst
perhaps not as dim as his descendants, is much more stupid than the original. A kindly soul, Baldrick's lack of formal education
is compensated for by his basic streetwise cunning. Whilst his 'cunning plans' do sometimes have a strange, twisted and often
perverse logic and cunning to them (one suggestion was that Blackadder repay his debts by making money as a male prostitute,
another is to disguise a 'mad, wild, killer bull' as a rooster and enter it in a cock fight), he does show an entertaining
display of stupidity. In one episode, Blackadder attempts to teach Baldrick how to add. Baldrick's conclusions, which include
'two beans plus two beans equals some beans', 'two beans plus two beans equals three beans... and that one' and 'two beans
plus two beans makes a very small casserole', lead Blackadder to comment 'to you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something
that happened to other people, wasn't it?'
It was also in this
series that the first signs of Baldrick's love of turnips was shown, in the episode 'Beer', where he and Percy famously discover
a turnip shaped like a 'thingy'. Baldrick later describes the incident as 'triffic'. He is particularly delighted by the discovery,
because it contrasts with his own 'thingy' which is shaped like a turnip.
Baldrick once went
on an 'all mouse diet' by hanging a piece of cheese off of the end of his nose and lying with his mouth open, hoping that
mice would scurry in. He later tried the same thing, with a mouse on the end of his nose to catch a cat, for variety.
Baldrick was also
bridesmaid at Lord Blackadder's abortive wedding. "Queenie" kept him as a pet calling him Lassie (Baldrick did not complain)
and he stuck two pencils up his nose, so that he could attended a Royal fancy dress party as a pencil case.
Lord Percy Percy
Lord Percy of Blackadder
II being the descendant of that seen in The Black Adder. Unlike the first two Blackadders and Baldricks, the two Lord Percys
are almost identical. In the first series, Percy is Duke of Northumberland, while in the second he is heir to the title.
Incredibly loyal
yet incredibly stupid, Lord Percy is described by Lord Blackadder as 'a dimwit I can't seem to shake off'.
Lord Percy is a
caricature of an English, "upper-class twit", obsessed by the frivolities of his age. These include neck ruffs of varying
sizes (the largest making him look like 'a bird who's swallowed a plate', according to Blackadder), dressing like half an
allotment in Nottingham Forest to celebrate the return of Sir 'Rather A Wally' Raleigh, collecting religious artefacts (which
are largely fraudulent) and archery — in one episode he declares 'I would like to see the Spaniard who could make his
way past me!'. Blackadder suggests he should go to Spain,
where there are millions of them.
Lord Percy is also
the inventor of 'Green'. He discovered this particular entity whilst working on alchemy. The only real fundamental difference
between green and gold is that green is green rather than gold, it comes in 'splats' rather than nuggets and it has no value
whatsoever.
Lord Percy somewhat
dislikes Baldrick. This is perhaps as a result of the fact that, despite his higher social status, he still receives the same
amount of affection (or lack thereof) from Blackadder. This was particularly true in the first series, when Percy was intent
on looking down his nose at Baldrick, however, this is rarely of any avail as Baldrick is much more intelligent than him.
By the second series this appears to have largely subsided (perhaps because Baldrick is now closer to his intelligence level)
and the two appear to be quite friendly (Lord Percy at one point kisses Baldrick, believing him to be a bridesmaid). However,
there are still signs of the Lord Percy's distaste towards Baldrick, as he is reluctant to count him in on the money he plans
to make by fashioning 'Green' as jewellery.
Lord Percy only
appeared in the first two series of Blackadder, as McInnerny was worried about being typecast. However, McInnerny did have
a small role in series three and returned as a different character — Kevin Darling — in series four. Presumably
for this reason, while both Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Blackadder: Back & Forth return to the setting of Blackadder
II, neither features Percy.
In a scene that
was filmed for the final episode of the first series but not used, Percy identifies himself as 'Lord Percy Percy, seventh
son of the seventh Duke of Northumberland'. This and most of the other location scenes for the series were filmed in Hulne
Park, Alnwick, Northumberland, at that time in fact the property of Hugh Percy,
10th Duke of Northumberland. The castle that appears in the title sequence and in location shots throughout the series is
Alnwick Castle, home of the Percy family
since 1766.
Lord Melcett
The first Melchett
appeared in series two of Blackadder. He was Lord Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth I. He was also a snivelling toady. Melchett
was usually seen standing to the left of Queenie's throne, with Nursie on the right. As one of the Queen's favorites, he often
came into conflict with Lord Blackadder. Affectionately known to the Queen as 'Melchy', the earnest Lord Melchett has set
himself up as her closest personal adviser. A deeply religious man, he guards his position jealously.
Lord Melchett's
rivalry with Lord Blackadder saw such devious deeds as them try to drink each other under the table (an interesting competition
considering that the two were complete lightweights). Lord Melchett once recommended to the Queen that Blackadder be made
Lord High Executioner (a job at which, apparently, no one ever lasts more than a week without being murdered), and pressured
Blackadder to sail around the deadly Cape of Good Hope. However, Blackadder got the last laugh, as he had never intended to
go to the Cape, and instead, sailed around aimlessly for a while (via Australia), before returning to a hero's welcome and
giving Melchett, as a souvenir, a 'fine wine', which turned out to be a bottle of Baldrick's urine. Blackadder's Christmas
Carol also showed Blackadder getting the last laugh, as he tricks both Melchett and the Queen into "autographing" a death
warrant that condemns Melchett to be executed, and leaves Blackadder with all his property.
There were also
(largely confirmed) rumours about his activities with a sheep named Flossy while at a monastery in Cornwall.
Queenie
Often childish and
silly, but with a fiery temper, 'Queenie', as she came to be known, would readily threaten her courtiers with execution if
they did not do as she wished. She was portrayed in the manner of a school girl bequeathed with the power to have executed
anyone whose nose is prettier than hers - a power which she revelled in. It would appear that there was nothing Queenie liked
more than to "get squiffy and seduce [nobles]", apart from beheading them. A naughty schoolgirl at heart, Queenie loved to
party, play games and get drunk. And if anyone failed to so much as laugh at her jokes, they risked execution, but at times
she tired of their toadying and welcomed a more cynical approach.
Her favourites included
Edmund Lord Blackadder, along with his friend, Lord Percy and his "pet monkey"; Lord Melchett; Sir Walter Raleigh, played
by Simon Jones; and her childhood nurse, Nursie. However, her ire was easily raised against them: Raleigh was threatened with
execution after she grew bored of his tales of exploration, but was spared for 'blubbing' on his way to the block; Blackadder
was threatened with execution for refusing to admit a woman to see her husband, who was also to be executed; and Melchett
accidentally signed his own name on his death warrant — the Queen mused that she could not go back on it without dismantling
the whole English constitutional system. She also threatened the entire cast—sans Nursie—with execution after
she became entangled in a drunken party and Blackadder accused her of being 'Merlin, the Happy Pig'. She became drunk and
forgot.
She—and the
rest of the cast—were murdered by Prince Ludwig the Indestructible, a master of disguise, who then usurped the throne
in disguise, although he did have trouble getting the voice right.
Nursie
Childhood nurse
to Queen Elizabeth I, the Queen appears to have had some sort of fondness or loyalty to her now senile nurse. Lord Blackadder
described her perfectly as a 'sad, deranged old woman with an udder fixation'.
Nursie has a tendency
to embarrass the Queen, telling tales about her childhood.
Nursie had a three
year engagement to Captain Red-Beard Rum (played by Tom Baker) and was heart-broken to hear of his death, despite having only
met him for two minutes before he set off on the voyage on which he perished. When Lord Blackadder informed her that he had
salvaged his beard she declared 'my lucky stars! I shall wear it always', before proceeding to put it on.
She also claims
to have three sisters called Donald, Eric and Basil. Her real name is Bernard. In the final episode of the series, she was
murdered along with the rest of the main cast by villain Prince Ludwig the Indestructible of Germany (Hugh Laurie).
Bob
Bob (or rather,
Kate) is one of the first characters to appear in Blackadder II. She is a somewhat naive young woman (she is convinced her
mother is dead, despite her father's insistence that she ran off with his brother). Her insane father tells her he can no
longer afford to keep her so, despite his pleas that she should become a prostitute ("oh please go on the game, it's a steady
job, and you'd be working from home") she decides to disguise herself as a boy, and seek her fortune in London.
Her Father points out the futility in walking to London when she could make a
fortune lying on her back.
Upon arrival in
London, she is hired by Lord Blackadder as his manservant, (Baldrick is casually
kicked out onto the streets), however, when Blackadder questions why this boy is called "Kate", she quickly covers claiming
it is short for "Bob". However Blackadder becomes increasingly concerned about the attraction he feels to the boy, as time
passes he falls in love with "Bob". Eventually he learns the truth, and several seconds later they become engaged. This is
reminiscent of the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, in which the lead character, Viola, is forced to disguise herself as a
man after a shipwreck. She, however, is hired by a Duke with whom she falls in love.
The wedding is due
to be officiated by Lord Melchett, with Baldrick acting as bridesmaid (Kate didn't have any girl-chums, as her family was
too poor to afford friends). Blackadder pays Kate's father £10 to go away, much to her dismay. Blackadder's promise to have
Baldrick beat him up and retrieve the money does little to comfort her. Unfortunately Blackadder asks Lord Flashheart to be
the best man. Flash and Kate decide to run off together (although, as Kate has discovered she prefers wearing boys' clothes,
and Flash feels more comfy in a dress, they swap outfits first), leaving Blackadder jilted at the altar.
Lord Flashheart
In series two, Lord
Blackadder claims Flash to be his oldest and most trusted friend, and chooses him to be his best man (although, Lord Flashheart
ends up stealing the bride, and describes "Eddie" as a jerk). His reputation goes before him, as Lord Percy immediately recognises
the name when Blackadder reveals that he will be the best man, and Percy - upset as he wanted the role for himself - thus
recalls Flashheart's achievements in life ("Lord Flashheart - the best sword, the best shot, the best sailor and the best
kisser in the kingdom").
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