Captain Edmund
Blackadder
Naturally, Blackadder
spends most of his time trying to get out of the trenches before the insane General Melchett gives him the order to 'climb
out of the trenches and walk very slowly towards the enemy' which means certain death. Blackadder's attempts to escape are
usually opposed by General Melchett, who does not seem to realise the futility of sending men to their certain deaths, and
Captain Darling, who does. As a result of the mutual personal distaste between Darling and Blackadder, Darling would gladly
see Blackadder mown down by German machine guns. The two bury the hatchet without saying a word when Darling is posted to
the front line in the final episode.
Captain Blackadder
claims to have joined the army in 1888, joining the 19th/45th East African Rifles, when Britain was still fighting colonial
wars during the Scramble for Africa, and when 'the prerequisite for any battle was that the enemies should under no circumstances
carry guns'. He described it as having been 'little more than a travel agency for men with unusually high sex drives'. He
was hailed as the 'Hero of Mboto Gorge' in 1892, where he had faced 'ten thousand Watutsi warriors armed to the teeth with
kiwi fruit and dry guava halves'. He even saved the life of Douglas Haig (later Field Marshal Douglas Haig) when he was nearly
killed by a pygmy woman with a seriously sharpened mango. Blackadder was quite shocked when 500,000 very large, very German,
Germans 'hove into view'. At some point before the First World War, Captain Blackadder transferred to the local regiment of
Cambridge
(either the Cambridgeshire Regiment or the Suffolk Regiment).
Blackadder was,
as always, accompanied by Private S. Baldrick, and also Lieutenant George. The lack of appreciation for their predicament,
and general incompetence of George and Baldrick acts as a major hindrance to Blackadder's escape attempts, and generally ruin
his experience of the war.
Edmund's attempts
to avoid going over the top include posing as Italian chefs, with Baldrick as cook (thereby nearly poisoning Melchett and
Darling); joining the Royal Flying Corps under Lord Flashheart; accepting capture by Baron von Richthofen so as to escape
through the 'humiliating' punishment of spending the rest of the war teaching home economics in a German convent; working
in a British field hospital under "Operation Winkle" (ie:to winkle out the spies); organising a music-hall performance with
Lieutenant George as the drag act "The Beautiful Georgina" (this plan was aborted when General Melchett fell madly in love
with Georgina and Blackadder was forced to fake her death); shooting a homing pigeon (an act which almost results in his death
by firing squad); and sticking two pencils up his nose, putting his underpants on his head and saying 'Wibble' (Blackadder
admits this plan was particularly badly-thought-through, rather in a melancholy tone, when in the last moments of the final
episode, in response to Baldrick saying he's got a plan, he says, "Well, I'm afraid it will have to wait. Whatever it was,
I'm sure it was better than my plan to get out of this by pretending to be mad... I mean, who would've noticed another madman
around here? Good luck, everyone.")
In the final scene
of the series, Blackadder shows the first (and, so far, only) sign of genuine bravery (and nobility) from any Blackadder in
the entire series. Finally deciding it would be futile to keep running, he accepts his fate and leads Captain Darling, Lieutenant
George and Private Baldrick over the top of the trench and out into No man's land for the 'Big Push'. Blackadder's final recorded
words (before "CHARGE!"), standing in the trench with Darling, George and Baldrick (along with everyone else in trench), were
"Good luck, everybody". These words from someone who, over the space of four series spanning several centuries, had become
known to the public as an egotistical, self-centered, cynical, blunt, sly, thieving, corrupt, villainous, yet curiously likable
character, went a long way to underline the serious, sobering mood of this episode. In these last few moments of this momentous
sitcom all the clever put-downs, the witty one-liners, the slapstick and the turnip jokes, were, with this one line, effectively
pushed to one side, and the viewers realised that this was no longer a comedy, but a harsh, cruel and grim statement of fact.
It is believed that
Captain Blackadder was killed 'going over the top' in 1917.
Private Baldrick
Baldrick is a soldier
in a First World War trench, serving under Captain Blackadder and Lieutenant George. His hero is Lord Flashheart.
Equally as disgusting
as the third Baldrick, Private Baldrick is, without a doubt, the most stupid of the Baldrick dynasty to date. His 'cunning
plans' verge on those of an insane person. Examples include carving his name on a bullet, in relation to the old saying 'a
bullet with your name on it', his explanation being that if he owns the bullet, it won't ever kill him as he won't ever shoot
himself ('shame' comments Captain Blackadder), and the chances of there being two bullets with 'Baldrick' on them are 'very
small indeed'.
Despite his stupidity,
Private Baldrick (however inadvertently) delivers the most profound speech of the lot. In preparation for 'the final push',
tension is high, and Baldrick demands, "Why can't we just stop sir? Why can't we just say 'no more killing, let's all go home'?
Why can't we pack it in? Why?". Neither Captain Blackadder nor Lieutenant George are able to come up with a good answer.
It is believed that
Private S. Baldrick was killed going 'over the top' in 1917.
Captain Kevin
Darling
Darling - whose
surname was a constant embarrassment to him - was a pencil-pushing creep and aide to General Melchett. His main duties included
unloading and assigning truck loads of paperclips, sending orders to charge and helping General Melchett with his dickie-bows
and his dicky bladder (which Melchett claims to be wooden.)
Much like Lord Melchett
in series 2, Darling and Captain Blackadder share a mutual hatred of one another, and are constantly embroiled in a game of
one-upmanship. However, the two finally make amends when Darling is sent to join Blackadder and his men at the front line
for the 'final push'.
Darling was given
his orders by the insane General Melchett who believed it to be something of a treat, rather than a death sentence.
At home in England
Darling worked for 'Pratt and Sons', kept wicket for the Croydon Gentlemen and had a girlfriend called Doris, who, had it
not been for his untimely death, he intended to marry. He kept a diary, the final entry in which, written shortly after being
ordered to the front line, simply read 'Bugger'.
McInnery played
the role of Lord Percy in the first two series of the show but decided not to appear as Percy in the third series, in fear
of being typecast, opting instead to play a minor role.
Three other Darlings
appear in the millennium special Blackadder: Back and Forth. In the modern day setting McInnery plays Archdeacon Darling,
the assistant of Bishop Flavius Melchett. When Blackadder visits the Napoleonic Wars, we learn that the Duke of Wellington
(played, as in Blackadder the Third by Melchett actor Stephen Fry) was aided by the Duke of Darling, whereas Napoleon's aide
was the Duc de Darling.
The character was
originally named 'Captain Cartwright', as writers Ben Elton and Richard Curtis were unable to think of a more amusing name
for him. Eventually however, Stephen Fry suggested 'Darling' would be a more comedic alternative.
General Sir Anthony
Cecil Hogmanay Melchett
Although the character
Melchett did not appear in series 3 of Blackadder, Stephen Fry had a show-stealing role in the final episode as The Duke of
Wellington. The role seemed to fit Fry like a glove, and, when the character Melchett returned in the fourth and final series
of Blackadder, he was no longer the sycophantic toady his ancestor had been in series 2, but an insane, bellowing army General,
much like Fry's portrayal of Wellington. The two also shared the trademark bellow
'Baaah!', which would be delivered at random intervals for no apparent reason. (Fry has put it down to smoker's asthma, but
it frequently seems to serve as a signal of the character's insanity. In the final episode of the second series, Prince Ludwig
the Indestructible tortures Lord Melchett, after revealing that he was the sheep Melchett had had relations with, by yelling
'Baaah!' at him.)
The insane General
Melchett was something of a popular caricature of World War I generals like Field Marshal Douglas Haig, who have been controversially
portrayed by authors such as Alan Clark and John Laffin as sending men to a senseless death, with seemingly no tactics at
all.
This is parodied
in a scene where Haig is talking to Captain Blackadder on the phone. In front of him is a model of a trench with rows of men
on either side. He places all the models on top of the trench, then knocks them over with a stick.
The General is constantly
trying to lift the morale of the men, completely ignorant of the fact that they are too afraid of their impending deaths to
have their spirits lifted by a Charlie Chaplin film or a drag act. He also attempted to have Captain Blackadder shot for eating
his pet pigeon, tried to marry Lieutenant George, and shot Captain Darling in the foot to provide a believable disguise for
undercover hospital work.
In series four,
the role of the snivelling creep, and Blackadder's rival, was filled by Captain Darling, who acted as General Melchett's aide
and who was always by his side, right up until Melchett sent him to the front line.
It appears he is
a family friend of Lieutenant George's.
Nurse Mary
Nurse Mary Fletcher-Brown
appears in the Blackadder Goes Forth episode "General Hospital."
Like Amy she has a "fluffy bunny act" (her bedside manner), but is really a highly intelligent and cynical person. (While
Prince George is disgusted by Amy's stupid act, 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, but this time it was he who was leading her on, suspecting her of being a German spy and eventually
exposing her. She was executed by firing squad.
Bobby Parkhurst
In the Blackadder
Goes Forth episode "Major Star" we meet General Melchett's driver, Bob Parkhurst. This time Captain Blackadder recognises
Bob's gender immediately, saying she's "a girl with as much talent for disguise as a giraffe in dark glasses trying to get
into a polar bears only golf club". She explains that all her brothers have signed up, and she wants to see how a war is fought
so badly (and as Blackadder says, this war is indeed being fought badly, as badly in fact as the time that "Olaf the Hairy,
High Chief of all the Vikings, ordered 80,000 battle helmets with the horns on the inside").
While Blackadder
isn't fooled Lieutenant George is, failing to spot the truth even when she emerges from the shower wearing only a towel. So
is General Melchett, who, while attracted to the singer Gorgeous Georgina (utterly failing to recognise Lieutenant George),
is outraged when she is replaced by what he perceives as a drag act involving Bob.
Driver Parkhurst
also appears in the following episode, "Private Plane", once more involved with Lord Flashheart. Apparently she has become
more open about her gender, and is now calling herself by the unisex "Bobby". We are never told her real first name, but in
keeping with the tradition of characters recurring in each series it would seem reasonable to assume that it is Kate.
Squadron Commander
The Lord Flashheart
Captain Blackadder
appears to be the only man in England who dislikes Flash.
This encounter ends in opposite manner to the episode in Blackadder II - instead of starting out as friends and ending up
as (presumably - one did steal the other's bride) enemies; they start out as foes and end up as comrades, united in their
desire for revenge on Captain Darling who had refused to send official help to Blackadder and Baldrick when they were captured
by the Germans, leaving Flashheart to answer Lieutenant George's plea for an unofficial rescue mission. Blackadder even referred
to Flashheart as "a friend of mine" at the end, though did quietly call him a "git" as he exited the room. Flashheart, meanwhile,
had got into the habit of calling him "Slackie", an affectionate abbreviation of a previously derogatory nickname of "Slackbladder".
The rescue was required
after Blackadder and Baldrick crashed their planes behind enemy lines and into the captivity of the German flying ace Baron
von Richthofen played by Adrian Edmondson. Pairing the well-known duo of Mayall and Edmondson together in a one-off project
proved an intriguing masterstroke, especially as unlike in all their previous projects (The Young Ones, Bottom, Filthy, Rich
and Catflap) it wasn't Edmondson's character who bullied the Mayall character. This time, Mayall emerged on top by shooting
Edmondson's character in the stomach. It's assumed that this shooting was fatal - however, in reality, von Richtofen died
after being shot in the chest during an air chase.
Flash's hobbies
include fighting, snogging, shagging, punching Baldrick in the face, flying, sailing and, for some reason, wearing dresses.
Lieutenant The
Honourable George Colthurst St. Bartleigh
Public school educated,
George served as a stereotype of the ever-optimistic Tommy which was portrayed back in England
during World War I. (A couple of episodes indicate that George is an alumnus of Trinity
College, Cambridge.) George is just
as loud and foolish as Prince George in series three (indeed, it would not be too great a stretch of the imagination to say
that Lieutenant George was a descendant of the ever-promiscuous Prince George), yet Lieutenant George carries himself with
a great deal more innocence than the Prince, and his blind optimism shows that he is unaware of the seriousness of the situation
he is in.
George serves in
a trench under Captain Blackadder, to whom his presence is a constant annoyance. The dugout in which they live is also shared
with Private S. Baldrick. George has a special friendship with General Melchett, as the two both attended the same public
school. Melchett even offers George a way out of the trenches for the 'final push', which he refuses, much to Blackadder's
annoyance.
George apparently
has several hidden talents, which include painting and performing in a drag act.
George died going
'over the top' in 1917.
With the Lieutenant,
Laurie and the writers confirmed that the "George" character was intended to replace Percy as the "upper class twit" figure
in Blackadder, though George is more of a 'public school-boy'. Laurie would reprise the role in the millennium special Blackadder:
Back & Forth, playing the Roman Consul Georgius and the modern day Lt The Viscount George Bufton-Tufton.
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