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1
00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:04,400
Tell me Edmund, have you someone
special in your life?
2
00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,560
Well, yes, as a matter of fact,
I do. Who?
3
00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:08,800
Me.
4
00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:15,360
No, I mean, someone you love and
cherish and want to keep safe
5
00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,160
from all the horror and the hurt.
6
00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:19,600
Mmm... Still me really.
7
00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:22,120
I was travelling on a plane
8
00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:25,720
several years ago and an
episode of The Blackadder
9
00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:28,560
came up on the
entertainment channels,
10
00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:32,600
and it was the nurse episode from
the fourth series with Miranda,
11
00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:37,920
and, as far as I'm aware, it was an
episode that I had never, ever seen.
12
00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,360
Cigarette? No, thank you. I only
smoke cigarettes after making love.
13
00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,880
So, back in England,
I'm a 20-a-day man.
14
00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:52,320
I'm not a great laugher, sadly,
but I might have sniggered at it,
15
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,960
which was my way of saying,
"That was very funny."
16
00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:04,240
Remarkably, Blackadder first
slithered on to our screens
all of 25 years ago.
17
00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:10,280
I'd mud-wrestle my own mother for
a ton of cash, an amusing clock
and a sack of French porn.
18
00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:14,200
So tonight, we celebrate the series
that sired a comic generation
19
00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:17,840
and a quantum of quotable lines.
20
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,200
You've really worked out your
banter, haven't you? No, not really.
21
00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,400
This is a different thing. It's
spontaneous and it's called wit.
22
00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:29,120
We travel by train, plane,
boat and automobile to track down
23
00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,160
the original cast and creators
who'd gone on to conquer
24
00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:34,320
all corners
of the known universe.
25
00:01:34,320 --> 00:01:35,560
Baaah!
26
00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,640
If you should falter,
remember that Captain Darling
and I are behind you.
27
00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,680
About 35 miles behind you.
28
00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,720
We travel from Northumberland...
29
00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,400
When we filmed here, it was the first
time I'd ever met a camp Geordie.
30
00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:51,440
..to northern France.
31
00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:55,160
If ever there was a subject
requiring of satire,
32
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,680
it's people blindly going to war.
33
00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:59,520
From Hollywood...
34
00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:01,520
There were some rather large egos.
35
00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:06,360
I happen to be perfect,
but everyone else
is just a sort of big-headed twerp.
36
00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,880
..to the Horn of Africa.
37
00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,560
After Blackadder, I sort of
semi-retired really, and I bought
38
00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,600
this small African town, Potendwe,
39
00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:18,680
and the land you can see there,
up until the hills, that's all mine.
40
00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,520
Behind is Christopher Biggins',
except the hill further on.
41
00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,400
That's the S Club 7 and Boyzone
accountant.
42
00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,720
Blackadder, to remind those
from another planet,
43
00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:38,160
followed the exploits of the
devilishly cunning Edmund Blackadder
44
00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,600
and his trustily stupid
sidekick, Baldrick.
45
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,720
Baldrick, believe me.
46
00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:47,880
Eternity and the company of Beelzebub
and all his hellish instruments
47
00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:53,360
of death will be a picnic compared to
five minutes with me and this pencil.
48
00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,760
The pair journey from the
mayhem of the Middle Ages...
49
00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,520
through the terrible Tudors...
50
00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,600
to the gorgeous Georgians...
51
00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:05,760
Hurrah!
52
00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:09,600
..ending up in the First World War.
53
00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:11,680
MACHINE GUN FIRE
54
00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:18,960
As an historical sitcom, it's
timeless and keeps on twisting
55
00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,080
and turning its way into
the public's affections like...
56
00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,000
Well, a twisty, turney thing.
57
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:26,080
And your chosen subject.
58
00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,560
Blackadder. Blackadder the TV series.
59
00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:29,760
Blackadder Goes Forth.
60
00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:32,360
It's even the backbone
of school history lessons.
61
00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:35,840
Now who's heard of Blackadder?
62
00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:37,960
I want to be remembered
when I'm dead.
63
00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,080
I want books written about me,
I want songs sung about me,
64
00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,720
and then, hundreds of years from
now, I want episodes from my life
65
00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,520
to be played out weekly at
half-past nine
66
00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,880
by some great heroic
actor of the age.
67
00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:55,320
Now, for the first time, Blackadder
himself, Rowan Atkinson,
68
00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:59,520
and producer John Lloyd are
re-tracing the story of the show,
69
00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:03,600
a story that began at Oxford
University, where a young Atkinson
70
00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,480
first met the show's
fellow creator, Richard Curtis.
71
00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,760
I did nothing of a theatrical nature
72
00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:17,960
in my first term at Oxford.
73
00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,960
You know, I was
just relishing the whole,
74
00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:24,840
you know, slightly olde-worlde, you
know, privileged nature of the place,
75
00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:28,280
and going to endless organ recitals.
I was a great lover of the organ.
76
00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:34,560
I met Rowan in a small room -
a don's room in some college
77
00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:37,400
with people who'd answered
an advertisement
78
00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,440
for The Etceteras, which was
the Oxford sketch-writing group.
79
00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,120
He described me as
being like a cushion,
80
00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,960
like a cushion, because I sat
on the chair and said nothing.
81
00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:51,680
I thought he was a stuffed toy.
82
00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,680
I mean, he didn't say anything
for the first three meetings,
83
00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,120
just a curiously shaped
object in the corner.
84
00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,400
And just when we were trying to
decide what the material should be,
85
00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,000
and we'd all been handing in
sketches for months,
86
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:08,480
Rowan actually stood up and did two
absolutely astonishing sketches.
87
00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,520
Endsleigh?
88
00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:17,800
Babcock?
89
00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:21,480
Bland?
90
00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:26,360
I was an enormous
admirer of Rowan Atkinson.
91
00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,360
I'd seen him in Edinburgh where
he'd been a cult performer
92
00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:30,600
from his earliest performances.
93
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,680
Nancy-Boy Potter?
94
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:40,120
Nibble?
95
00:05:42,560 --> 00:05:45,240
'And I don't remember ever
having laughed so much.'
96
00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:47,160
I genuinely weed myself
at one point.
97
00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:49,280
Just a small amount, you'll
be pleased to know,
98
00:05:49,280 --> 00:05:51,720
but I did wee myself
at Rowan's schoolmaster monologue.
99
00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:56,160
Nibble! Leave Orifice alone.
100
00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,000
Not The Nine O'Clock News, the show
that brought alternative comedy
101
00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,200
to TV, was the next step
for Rowan and Richard.
102
00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,000
It was while working together on
the ground-breaking sketch show
103
00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:19,040
that the idea for Blackadder started
to take shape,
104
00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,800
and they made a pilot
that's never been seen till now.
105
00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,000
Then there's the Morris dancers.
We're not having them.
106
00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,400
Morris dancing is the most
despicable entertainment
107
00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:38,480
I've ever seen.
108
00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,960
A load of effeminate blacksmiths
waving bits of white cloth
109
00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:43,120
they've been wiping their noses on.
110
00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:46,160
It's a positive health hazard.
KNOCK ON DOOR
111
00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:47,040
Go away!
112
00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,640
The thing we really didn't want
to do was anything that could,
113
00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:55,320
in any sense, be compared
to Fawlty Towers.
114
00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:57,880
That was...that was almost
the starting point.
115
00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,400
There's one thing you mustn't be,
Fawlty Towers, or anything like it.
116
00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:04,440
And of course the great inspiration
on the other side of it,
117
00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:08,920
the thing we DID want it to be quite
like was Errol Flynn's Robin Hood.
118
00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:16,960
The pilot turned
into the first series,
119
00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:18,960
featuring a Blackadder
very different
120
00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,000
from the brilliant bounder
we came to know.
121
00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:24,400
What a little turd!
122
00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,640
It was a grand affair,
set in the Middle Ages
123
00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:32,280
at the stately
Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.
124
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:39,400
Well, so, 25 years ago,
125
00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:44,280
we found ourselves coming to
this town for the first time.
126
00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,080
Oh, look, there's a bit of castle,
there's the sort of gate.
127
00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,640
I'm sure, when we came on
the recce, we thought,
128
00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:51,560
oh, no, this is really
disappointing.
129
00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:53,800
Is that it? Just that gate. Yeah.
130
00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,840
Oh, dear, that's a bit squat.
131
00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:58,480
Oh, my God, there it is.
132
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:02,320
Now this does ring bells. Yes.
133
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:07,120
Although I have to say the whole feel
is an awful lot more spruce.
134
00:08:07,120 --> 00:08:10,040
It's a lot... It's very trim,
isn't it? It wasn't like this.
135
00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:11,960
I mean, look at that grass.
136
00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:30,760
You know, there are lots of castles
in, you know, Kent or somewhere
137
00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,800
which just don't have this sense of
openness and bleakness
138
00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:38,000
which Alnwick has,
particularly in the snow in February.
139
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,880
All I can remember is thinking,
"Look at all this stuff..."
140
00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:42,760
This place would have
been full of people,
141
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,200
as far as the eye could see.
Horses and dogs...
142
00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:52,520
This is where the
first shot we shot begins,
as you say goodbye to Baldrick.
143
00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,800
And I remember the fantastic
sound of hooves on these stones,
144
00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,360
on this stone inside this tunnel.
145
00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:05,720
And I remember, when you were
on that horse that first day,
146
00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,960
you leaned down from the horse
and there was a little dewdrop
147
00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,800
hanging off the end of your nose
because it was so cold.
148
00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:13,480
Oh, yes, yes. The raindrop there,
149
00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:14,880
and then you said,
150
00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:18,000
"What voice shall I use?"
151
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,560
Help! Help! We haven't thought
about this at all.
152
00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:24,040
Get out of my way!
153
00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:26,640
Are you going on a journey, my lord?
154
00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,280
No, I thought I'd stand
here all day and talk to you.
155
00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:31,960
Well, you'll be needing
someone to tend your horse then.
156
00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:33,720
What is your profession?
157
00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,280
One two three, one two three!
158
00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:42,080
My God, a retired Morris dancer.
159
00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:46,280
I found this the other day. I
actually kept a diary of a few days.
160
00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,440
"12th February 1983.
161
00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,600
"Filming has been
fantastically slow and tedious.
162
00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,080
"The snow comes down on
the words 'turn over'
163
00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:58,520
"as if summoned by an incantation
and a remarkable variety
of textures.
164
00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,560
"Often it's as big as gravel stones,
165
00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,680
"and the flagstones look like a
working model of Brownian motion."
166
00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:05,240
Oh, that's rather...
167
00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:07,040
Some lyrical writing!
168
00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:10,080
Very well written. Thank you so much!
169
00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:11,920
Rather better than the series!
170
00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,400
"On Monday, Tuesday,
worried dreadfully that
171
00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,640
"Rowan's character was a disaster,
but it seems to be gelling well."
172
00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:22,880
Oh, oh. It's gelled.
173
00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:25,160
"Tim McInnerny is brilliant,
as is Tony Robinson,
174
00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:31,240
"quite splendid juices being
squeezed from a rather
shrivelled selection of lemons."
175
00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,640
What comes in my head first
about series one
176
00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,240
is freezing to
death in Alnwick Castle.
177
00:10:36,240 --> 00:10:39,320
I can remember on the very
first day, Tim McInnerny and I
178
00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:40,960
started to get the giggles
179
00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:42,600
because in the previous hour,
180
00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,680
we'd been subjected to five different
kinds of snow.
181
00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:50,040
It was everything the
north-east had to throw at us.
182
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,800
"The hailstones are as fat
as Mint Imperials
183
00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,840
"and it's so cold, we have to
wear our long-johns in the bath."
184
00:10:55,840 --> 00:11:00,040
Despite its quite graphic description
of the difficult conditions,
185
00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,280
actually, the
tone is quite optimistic.
186
00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:05,320
I mean, you don't sound like a
man about to jump off a cliff.
187
00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:09,600
What used to be strong about
British comedy
188
00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,040
was that people
went from writing sketches
189
00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:16,440
to writing a sitcom, and their
sketchcraft was carried through.
190
00:11:16,440 --> 00:11:19,400
Let's get down to business,
shall we? Business, my lord?
191
00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:25,120
Yes. Baldrick has been looking at
some of the ways we can actually
make a bit of money at this job.
192
00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:29,160
Some of the things that are best
in series one are really sketches.
193
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,320
There appear to be
four major profit areas.
194
00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:37,240
Curses, pardons, relics and selling
the sexual favours of the nuns.
195
00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,200
Selling the sexual favours of nuns?
196
00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:41,320
Yeah. You mean some
people actually pay for them?
197
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,520
Well, foreign
businessmen, other nuns...
198
00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:45,360
'We weren't an ensemble
at that time'
199
00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:47,440
and, in a way, for me, I think,
200
00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:50,160
that scene was the first time
that it really gelled.
201
00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:54,480
Moving on to relics, we've got
shrouds from Turin.
202
00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:58,960
Wine from the wedding at Cana.
203
00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,160
Splinters from the Cross.
204
00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:06,400
And of course, there's all the stuff
made by Jesus in his
days in the carpentry shop.
205
00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:10,960
We've got pipe racks,
coffee-tables, coat stands.
206
00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:14,640
Waterproof sandals.
That's what I remember.
207
00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:19,680
This was my one good scene in
the first Blackadder series.
208
00:12:19,680 --> 00:12:20,920
'I was so pleased I got this.'
209
00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:22,720
I haven't finished this one yet.
210
00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:24,080
It's so verbal, isn't it?
211
00:12:24,080 --> 00:12:26,600
Nice props,
I'm not knocking them at all,
212
00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,320
but just the three of us
being serious and pulling faces.
213
00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:31,320
'Absolutely.'
214
00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:35,120
I have here a true relic.
215
00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:37,200
What is it?
216
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:41,480
It is a bone
from the finger of our Lord.
217
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,280
It cost me 31 pieces of silver.
218
00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,280
'Baldrick, you stand amazed.'
219
00:12:48,280 --> 00:12:51,040
I am. I thought they
only came in boxes of 10.
220
00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:52,840
'Look at you!'
221
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:55,200
You should be shot for
that kind of acting.
222
00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:56,880
No, I could have been much worse.
223
00:12:56,880 --> 00:12:59,520
I remember Blackadder
being lots of fun.
224
00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,400
In the end, you are about as much
use to me as a hole in the head -
225
00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:06,080
an affliction with which
you must be familiar,
226
00:13:06,080 --> 00:13:08,440
having never actually had a brain.
227
00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:09,360
Hello!
228
00:13:09,360 --> 00:13:12,280
The Spanish Infanta
didn't know she was ugly.
229
00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,800
That's the
sad thing, really, about it.
230
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:18,400
Here I am, awaiting the arrival
of the most beautiful, ravishing...
231
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:19,400
Hello!
232
00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,880
Leave me alone, will you?
I'm trying to talk to someone.
233
00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,760
..while you're wittering away like
a pox-ridden moorhen.
234
00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:26,920
SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
235
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:32,400
She loved Blackadder, and she was
electrified, sexually, by him.
236
00:13:37,080 --> 00:13:39,680
SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
237
00:13:39,680 --> 00:13:42,160
I've waited for this
moment all of my life
238
00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,000
SHE SPEAKS SPANISH
239
00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:48,680
Your nose is smaller
than I expected.
240
00:13:48,680 --> 00:13:50,880
For him, it was tough.
241
00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,400
He felt a huge responsibility,
242
00:13:54,400 --> 00:13:56,360
kind of carrying the show.
243
00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:02,680
It's extraordinary, the physical
difference with Rowan,
244
00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:04,920
between the
first and second series. Yeah.
245
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,440
Do your funny walk then, Adder.
246
00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:11,240
Moi? Do the funny Blackadder walk.
247
00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:13,440
I haven't got a
funny Blackadder walk.
248
00:14:13,440 --> 00:14:16,480
You did one like that!
249
00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:17,920
'Or something weaselly.'
250
00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,400
What seems odd now is that
251
00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:28,680
Tony was the streetwise, smart guy,
and Rowan was an idiot.
252
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:41,240
Incredibly dysfunctional,
almost twisted person.
253
00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:43,920
A bit like what Mr Bean became.
254
00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,440
Rowan wasn't entirely relaxed
in the first series,
255
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,280
as were none of us,
because we weren't quite sure...
256
00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:53,680
not quite sure
what we were doing.
257
00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:56,880
Rowan's character wasn't properly
sorted out.
258
00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,760
Oh, my God, this is impossible!
I can't do this.
259
00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:04,920
We tried to do too much with
Rowan's character in series one,
260
00:15:04,920 --> 00:15:11,160
cos he was sort of aggressive and
stupid and posh and cowardly
and brave,
261
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:15,520
so it was a sort of agglomeration
of quite a few funny things
262
00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:17,880
that we knew Rowan could do.
263
00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:20,280
But it's interesting how, you know,
264
00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:26,320
an amusing costume and a daft haircut
an amusing character doth not make!
265
00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,480
I sat there wanting to laugh and
unable to, a lot of the time.
266
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,640
I did laugh quite a lot, but I
hope desperately that I shall
laugh more the next week.
267
00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:39,760
What exactly is funny about this?
268
00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,320
What is funny about having
that character?
269
00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:47,520
Farewell, sweet England,
and noble castle!
270
00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:52,360
First watering place in the desert
of my life.
271
00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:58,960
Farewell, gentle giblets
and sweet crenellations,
272
00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:02,520
and farewell, dearest gutters!
273
00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:04,760
I remember that famous
comment of yours.
274
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,120
It looks like a million dollars but
it cost a million pounds.
275
00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:13,560
I suppose a good thing about the
modern BBC is that they would
never have allowed us to do this.
276
00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,520
You know, to do what we did.
277
00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:19,200
I mean, you know, they would never,
you know, have just let
278
00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,640
a few young, you know, creative
people come up to Alnwick and shoot.
279
00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:25,440
Well, no, they wouldn't, but then,
on the other hand,
280
00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:27,720
we were very
proud of it at the time we did it.
281
00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,560
The basic fault is the script,
because Rowan Atkinson
282
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,000
and this chap who he writes with,
have written an awful lot,
283
00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:35,840
and it seems that six episodes
are too much for them.
284
00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:39,920
There are a lot of half-employed
script writers who could have been
brought in to good effect.
285
00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:47,240
There was in fact a slightly more
than half-employed scriptwriter
knocking about.
286
00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:50,880
Ben Elton was behind the
cult series of The Young Ones
287
00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:54,120
and was brought in to hone
the writing of the second series.
288
00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:55,720
Is the sitcom written?
289
00:16:55,720 --> 00:16:58,360
I mean, not the sitcom,
the drama, the comedy. Well...
290
00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:02,640
That sounds like a good idea.
I'm working on a pilot,
I'm working on a pilot episode.
291
00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:05,920
I've now had a screening council,
and the end is hard to get right,
292
00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,360
and I don't know how to
get the special effects right.
293
00:17:08,360 --> 00:17:14,680
I think we met at a script meeting
for what was going to turn
into Spitting Image,
294
00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,880
and I was startled to find
a huge fan of Blackadder I.
295
00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:22,360
These were before the days of
ratings. That was always the shock.
296
00:17:22,360 --> 00:17:26,400
I mean, I still don't know how many
people watched any episode of
Blackadder.
297
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,640
And I remember on BBC...
298
00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,560
Well, I used to wander round
Shepherd's Bush
299
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:33,960
looking at people's windows,
300
00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,760
particularly people with basement
flats, to see whether or not
anyone was watching.
301
00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,040
You were looking for any nude girls
who'd left their windows...
302
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,080
No, I was looking to see
if anyone was watching Blackadder.
303
00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,560
One didn't know whether
it would be a success.
304
00:17:46,560 --> 00:17:51,200
I wondered who that kind of
ginger perv was whilst Kate and
I were singing the theme tune.
305
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:53,400
'He lived rough.
306
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,040
'He talked rough.
307
00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,480
'He wore a ruff.
308
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,760
'Blackadder II.
309
00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:04,400
'Coming soon.
310
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:05,920
'Ish.'
311
00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,440
They would sit in different rooms,
probably even in different houses,
312
00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:11,880
having divided the series
into two halves,
313
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,720
and they'd write three
episodes each and then swap over.
314
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,240
It always led you somewhere else.
OK, execution,
315
00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,440
head cut off, how's
he gonna get out of it?
316
00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:21,760
Stick the head down
the back of his tights. Obvious!
317
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,920
'But maybe not obvious to the person
who started with the beheading.'
318
00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:26,720
Oh, Percy!
319
00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,600
I've got the body, my lord,
and I see you've got the head.
320
00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:31,040
Yes, but it's no good, Percy.
321
00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,280
No-one's ever gonna believe we've
just cut it off. It's gone green!
322
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,920
Ben and I never wrote together,
mainly because we had better
things to do with our time.
323
00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,200
We were both completely obsessed
by pop music.
324
00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,280
Madness, very great era for Madonna.
325
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,400
I seem to remember endless meetings
when all we talked about
326
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,920
was which was our
favourite track on True Blue.
327
00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:54,560
And I remember us going to see
Kylie Minogue, and we were
literally the only two men there.
328
00:18:54,560 --> 00:18:58,040
It was very early on in her career,
and the entire audience was made up
329
00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:01,920
of 30-year-old women who watched
Neighbours and their daughters,
330
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:06,120
who also watched Neighbours,
and were, by the time Kylie came on,
fast asleep.
331
00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:12,240
However enjoyable the writing
process and however well the scripts
were shaping up,
332
00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:14,880
Ben and Richard were less than
lucky, lucky, lucky
333
00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,680
to get an ominous letter from
the BBC's head of comedy.
334
00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:21,520
Michael Grade had come in,
and he looked at the ratings,
335
00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:22,800
and it doesn't stack up.
336
00:19:22,800 --> 00:19:26,040
It's not good enough for the little
ratings they're getting,
337
00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:28,360
and it doesn't get
enough good reviews. It's finished.
338
00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:30,520
And I remember
the sentence very clearly.
339
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:32,680
"For this season, and
realistically that means for good.
340
00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:35,080
"Very sorry about this. It's over."
341
00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,200
At which point,
342
00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,880
a combination really of John Lloyd,
Rowan Atkinson and Rowan's agent,
343
00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,960
Richard Armitage, at the time,
went into overdrive.
344
00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,360
There was this mad weekend where
Richard, Ben and I were sitting
345
00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,400
at three typewriters, desperately
cutting up out all the film,
346
00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,840
taking up anything that had
a silly costume,
347
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:54,280
that was at all expensive,
348
00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,520
and we went back, I went back
two days later,
349
00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,040
the beginning of the next week, to
John Davies, and said, "Here you are.
350
00:20:01,040 --> 00:20:05,240
"These are the cheapest
sitcoms on telly, and please
may we have another chance?"
351
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,800
The key element to the success
of the second series though,
352
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,880
would be the transformation of
Blackadder himself
353
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:17,320
from nerdy medieval prince
of series one
to suave Elizabethan courtier.
354
00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:22,320
The very first lesson was to pick
Rowan's character,
355
00:20:22,320 --> 00:20:26,160
to get it exactly clear
what it was he was gonna do,
356
00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:31,080
and, as Ben says, there was
a whole imperious, sarcastic,
357
00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,320
posh side of Rowan
which we both loved,
358
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,840
which we knew how to write, which
came very naturally to both of us.
359
00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:40,400
Tell me, young crone. Is this Putney?
360
00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:43,800
Indeed. That it be.
361
00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:45,560
Yes it is, not "that it be".
362
00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:51,960
You don't have to talk in that stupid
voice to me, I'm not a tourist.
363
00:20:51,960 --> 00:20:55,600
It's lovely to have this sort of
pecking order, and to place
364
00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,480
Blackadder somewhere in it,
somewhere in the middle,
365
00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:00,920
so he can be very cynical
about those above him,
366
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:02,800
and very cynical about those
below him.
367
00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:06,600
Oh, very good shot, my lord.
368
00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:08,000
Thank you, Baldrick.
369
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,680
Sorry I'm late.
No, don't bother apologising.
370
00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:13,960
I'm sorry you're alive.
371
00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:17,160
'There's a thing about
comedy in Britain.
372
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,000
'Britain's a terrible place
for class, as everybody knows.'
373
00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,280
You look at a...
I don't know, a sitcom.
374
00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:26,880
The moment the lights go up, as it
were, and you think, "Oh, God, it's
upper-class people.
375
00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:31,440
"I don't care about them."
Or, "Oh, God, it's middle-class
dentists, I don't care about them."
376
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:34,600
Or, "Oh, God, it's wacky Scousers,
I don't care about them."
377
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:35,680
You know what I mean?
378
00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:40,920
Everybody seems to hate everybody
else in Britain and thinks up a
reason not to care about them.
379
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,600
And one of the marvellous things
about Blackadder II
380
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:48,000
and the subsequent Blackadders is
that they are set in a very rigidly
hierarchical world.
381
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,480
My Lord. The Queen does demand your
urgent presence on pain of death.
382
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:56,960
Oh, damn. The path of my life
is strewn with cowpats
383
00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,000
from the devil's own satanic herd.
384
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:00,240
You've got real threat.
385
00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:04,680
Blackadder is going to have his
head chopped off at any moment.
It's perfectly possible.
386
00:22:04,680 --> 00:22:07,720
This mad, capricious queen really
could say, "This time I mean it."
387
00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,640
Ooh, Edmund.
I do love it when you get cross.
388
00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:15,960
Sometimes I think about having
you executed just to see the
expression on your face.
389
00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:20,120
It's within court,
390
00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:24,600
which is a very
small, bejewelled world, you know.
391
00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:26,920
There are these little people
in there,
392
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:31,280
who think they rule the world,
and of course it was only me
that ruled the world.
393
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:34,960
What is it? A stick.
394
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:38,840
Is it a stick, Lord Blackadder?
395
00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:42,080
Yes, Ma'am. But it is a very
special stick,
396
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:46,120
because, when you
throw it away, it comes back!
397
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:48,760
Oh, well!
398
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:50,800
That's no good, is it?
399
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,880
Because, when I throw things away,
I don't want them to come back!
400
00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:57,120
You! Get rid of it.
401
00:22:57,120 --> 00:23:00,720
'Richard and Ben had created
this idea, which was the Queen
402
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:03,200
'was like, a little girl with
an enormous amount of power.'
403
00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:06,120
I think we interviewed
40 actresses,
404
00:23:06,120 --> 00:23:08,720
and we really were beginning
to get desperate.
405
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,760
It was probably written in a
pretty two-dimensional way,
406
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,040
and they all just were
playing girls from Bedales.
407
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:18,400
The 41st person who walked in,
when we were really about
to shoot ourselves,
408
00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:21,920
was this blonde who
clearly hadn't washed her hair.
409
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,200
Apparently I walked in like
something that had been pulled
through a hedge backwards.
410
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:27,280
Spot the difference!
411
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:33,440
Here was this astonishing actress
who did nothing like we expected it.
412
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,120
Every line was odd,
peculiar, weirdly pitched.
413
00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:41,600
I may have the body
of a weak and feeble woman.
414
00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:43,600
But I have the heart and stomach...
415
00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,680
..of a concrete elephant.
416
00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:51,240
Prove it! Certainly will.
417
00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,800
First I'm going to have
a little drinkie,
418
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,840
and then I'm going to execute
the whole bally lot of you.
419
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,040
Unbeknown to most
people, and Miranda,
420
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:10,160
in a secret corner of the BBC,
where few dare to tread,
421
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:13,440
there's the forgotten
costumes department.
422
00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:15,480
In the bowels of the building.
423
00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:23,840
What has it got in its pockets?
424
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,120
Oh! God!
425
00:24:30,920 --> 00:24:33,560
This looks rather familiar.
426
00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:35,920
Ah!
427
00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:39,880
I hope several
hundred moths don't fly out.
428
00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:42,720
Look at this!
429
00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,360
Look at the...
And even the work in the...
430
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:47,640
in the cuffs.
431
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:54,280
All these little individual
pearls, most of them
still there, just bobbling away.
432
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:56,800
I remember the weight.
433
00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:04,120
Bloody hell! Yes, that dear friend,
as I remembered. And not only...
434
00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:11,000
Not only the dress, not only
the wig, not only the ruff,
but also a pomander
435
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,400
and a mirror attached to my dress.
436
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:17,040
Do I look absolutely divine
and regal
437
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,360
and yet and at the same time
very pretty and rather accessible?
438
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,160
You are every jolly jacktar's
dream, Majesty.
439
00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:26,560
I thought as much.
440
00:25:26,560 --> 00:25:28,800
Had we not lucked out
in getting Miranda,
441
00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:31,480
probably Blackadder II
wouldn't have worked. Yeah!
442
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:34,720
I think it's held
together rather well.
443
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:38,360
Rather better than I have!
444
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:44,680
Even though in theory I had
the title role of the programme,
445
00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:47,920
because there was Stephen Fry and
Hugh Laurie and Tony Robinson,
446
00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,200
there was this wonderful feeling of
being able to delegate,
447
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:54,040
of almost being the man in
the middle, who was able to say,
448
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,400
"Ladies and gentlemen, Tony Robinson
will now be extremely amusing!"
449
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:06,000
Baldrick, I would advise you to make
the explanation you're about to give
phenomenally good.
450
00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:10,320
You said, "Get the door."
Not good enough, you're fired.
451
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:14,080
But, my lord, I've been
in your family since 1532.
452
00:26:14,080 --> 00:26:15,760
So has syphilis. Now get out.
453
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:17,600
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr Stephen Fry!
454
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:20,200
Now, Melchy,
you really are a beginner.
455
00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:22,440
You're not even wearing
a pair of comedy breasts.
456
00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:24,120
Au contraire, Blackadder.
457
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,200
You silly, silly people!
458
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:36,240
To have come all the way to Ndigwe
459
00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,600
with a pair of comedy breasts.
460
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,560
Well, down the hatch.
461
00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,040
CHEERING
462
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,400
They still smell the same.
463
00:26:46,400 --> 00:26:48,320
They're fantastic.
464
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,680
I always felt sorry for those
who came into the Blackadder to,
465
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:54,320
you know, do their roles,
you know, do their cameos.
466
00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:00,240
It's me!
467
00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,120
Some people managed it
better than others.
468
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,080
Flash by name, flash by nature!
469
00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:09,800
Come here, camera.
470
00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:12,480
Come here. Come here.
471
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:15,280
Hello, girls. It's Rik.
472
00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:16,680
Happy Christmas.
473
00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:17,920
Wahay!
474
00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,120
Hooray! Where have you been?
475
00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:22,160
Where haven't I been? Woof!
476
00:27:23,880 --> 00:27:25,640
I was surprised when they asked me.
477
00:27:25,640 --> 00:27:27,480
Very honouring they should ask me.
478
00:27:27,480 --> 00:27:30,160
I said, "All right, so long as I get
more laughs than Rowan."
479
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:34,360
So my old mate
Eddie's getting hitched, eh?
480
00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:38,600
What's are the matter? Can't
stand the pace of the in-crowd?
481
00:27:38,600 --> 00:27:42,040
Many actors have many facets.
482
00:27:42,040 --> 00:27:45,360
I do... I can do ego...
483
00:27:45,360 --> 00:27:46,560
And that's about it.
484
00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:50,600
Am I pleased to see you or did I
just put a canoe in my pocket?
485
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:52,240
Down, boy, down!
486
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:55,160
I've got a big one. It's a big one.
487
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,880
But Flashheart isn't
really you, is it?
488
00:27:57,880 --> 00:27:58,920
I mean, it's... No, my ego.
489
00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:02,120
Who is that?
490
00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:04,640
I don't know but he's in your place.
491
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:06,760
Not for long!
492
00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:12,360
It really helped, somebody coming
in with a different style,
493
00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:16,600
shall we say! Which gave everybody a
bit of a kick up the arse, I think.
494
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:21,120
There was a very good head-butt.
I'm rather proud of that one.
495
00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:22,880
I head-butt him through the door.
496
00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,400
Look, I only took the part
of Flashheart for the women.
497
00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,960
Hi, Queenie. You look sexy. Woof!
Woof!
498
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,600
He's like Errol Flynn coming in,
you know, and she's, she's obsessed.
499
00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:37,920
I've got such a crush on him!
500
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,200
He's just bigger and louder
and got more testosterone.
501
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:42,800
Still worshipping God?
502
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:44,040
Fancier tights.
503
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:46,200
Last thing I heard,
he started worshipping me!
504
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,920
Ah ha ha ha ha! Ah ha ha ha ha!
505
00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,320
To be standing next to Rowan
is quite an experience.
506
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:54,600
My fiancee, Kate.
507
00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:56,440
Hi, baby!
508
00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,240
'You see then that Rowan
is also a great reactor.'
509
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,560
FRANTIC GRUNTING
510
00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,000
And at the end of it, Rik said,
"Did I win?"
511
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,720
Which isn't really in the spirit of
the ensemble, is it?
512
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:16,560
I don't know. Of course
I haven't counted,
513
00:29:16,560 --> 00:29:19,760
but I got three-and-a-half rounds
of applause and he didn't get one.
514
00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:21,080
Hurrah!
515
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:28,120
Series two was a brilliant
success so nothing stood in
the way of series three.
516
00:29:28,120 --> 00:29:31,680
The dastardly duo moved
from Elizabethan excess
517
00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:36,200
to the bewigged and perfumed
finery of the 18th century.
518
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,880
Series three, we took a big old
gamble at the beginning,
519
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,920
that we ended up
with such a small cast,
520
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,000
because there'd been sort of five
of them, hadn't there?
521
00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,560
There'd been Melchett and Nursey and
Queenie and Percy and Baldrick
522
00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,280
and Rowan, and this time, there was
just Baldrick, Rowan and Hugh.
523
00:29:53,960 --> 00:29:59,720
It was the casting of Prince George
alongside Blackadder and Baldrick
that brought new life to the show.
524
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,960
The role went to an actor
who's since quickened
the pulse of America.
525
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,640
Roaaaarrr!
526
00:30:20,920 --> 00:30:23,000
It's a trial, John, you've no idea.
527
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,800
Have you learned
anything about medicine?
Can you remember all the stuff?
528
00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:28,120
For about 20 minutes.
529
00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,760
You know, I can hold it in my head
for about 20 minutes, and I could...
530
00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:33,720
For about 20 minutes,
I could probably
531
00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,960
do a coronary bypass operation.
532
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:40,600
If you catch me at the right hour,
then by all means
533
00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,280
have an aortic infarction
at my feet and I'll fix it.
534
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,520
But, if it's the wrong hour,
you're a goner.
535
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:50,120
I have to say, it's that my
favourite series, Hugh,
536
00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:51,920
that one, and
it's because of you,
537
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,640
and I remember saying to
you on the set that one day,
538
00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,000
you are gonna
be such a world-famous actor.
539
00:30:57,000 --> 00:30:58,720
Stop it. I told you. Stop it.
540
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,080
I bet you say that to all the
actors in Blackadder, third series.
541
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:04,320
Hugh's always self-deprecating
about it,
542
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:05,880
but that's the kind of bloke he is.
543
00:31:05,880 --> 00:31:07,440
He says, "Oh, I just shouted a lot."
544
00:31:07,440 --> 00:31:09,440
I'm a gay bachelor, Blackadder.
545
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:14,480
I'm a roarer, a rogerer,
a gorger and a puker.
546
00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:18,200
I can't marry. I'm young,
I'm firm-buttocked, I'm...
547
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:19,600
Broke.
548
00:31:19,600 --> 00:31:21,200
Well, yes, I suppose so.
549
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,680
You used to get quite stressed
when you were the Prince Regent.
550
00:31:24,680 --> 00:31:27,480
I came pre-stressed.
551
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:29,600
No stress was added.
552
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:31,720
I mean, that's what I do.
I don't know why.
553
00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:35,760
I wish I didn't, I wish I could sort
of relax and enjoy things more,
554
00:31:35,760 --> 00:31:37,720
but I don't,
I worry about them.
555
00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,360
Just occasionally one can
say, "Come on, Hugh."
556
00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:43,680
Is the entire idea of your misery
for us to spend the next three hours
557
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:45,240
telling you how great you are?
558
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:48,280
Because, whether or not that was
the idea, that is the end result!
559
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:54,800
Prince George is shy and just
pretends to be bluff and
crass and unbelievably thick.
560
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:59,640
Whilst deep down he is a
soft little marshmallowy,
pigletty type of creature.
561
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,400
But I do love the Prince Regent.
562
00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:02,440
I love his...
563
00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:05,160
His attempt to be
better all the time.
564
00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,040
That's one of the things that's
so likeable about him, is,
565
00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,160
he's trying to improve himself, and
we know how doomed it is.
566
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:13,680
'That vacant, panicky look
in his eye. It's bliss.'
567
00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,920
I terminated my uninterrupted
categorisation
568
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:20,200
of the vocabulary of
our post-Norman tongue.
569
00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:24,200
Well, I don't know what you're
talking about,
570
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,680
but it sounds damn saucy,
you lucky thing!
571
00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:32,560
The classic episode of series three
saw the arrival of Robbie Coltrane
as Dr Johnson.
572
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:33,720
Here it is, sir.
573
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:36,040
Author of the
very first English dictionary.
574
00:32:36,040 --> 00:32:40,600
This book, sir, contains every
word in our beloved language.
575
00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,080
Every single one, sir?
576
00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:44,880
Every single one, sir. Oh.
577
00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:48,360
Well, in that case, sir, I hope you
will not object if I also offer
578
00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,480
the doctor my most enthusiastic
contrafibularities.
579
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:53,800
What?
580
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:55,880
Contrafibularities, sir.
581
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:58,760
It is a common word down our way.
Damn!
582
00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:01,480
Oh, I'm sorry, sir.
583
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,360
I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic,
584
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,320
even compunctuous to have
caused you such pericombobulations.
585
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:12,080
What, what, what?
586
00:33:12,080 --> 00:33:15,400
The funny thing about the dictionary
episode is there are things
587
00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:18,080
in it which I really don't like.
588
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,480
Robbie's wig, which doesn't
fit properly. The poets.
589
00:33:21,480 --> 00:33:23,040
Be quiet, sir!
590
00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:24,840
Can't you see we're dying?
591
00:33:24,840 --> 00:33:28,240
The dream. I suddenly
realised I don't like dreams.
592
00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:33,080
Baldrick! Who gave you
permission to turn into an Alsatian?
593
00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,480
Oh, God, it's a dream, isn't it?
594
00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,760
It's a bloody dream.
595
00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:41,800
But the fundamental idea of the
plot was a brilliant moment for us.
596
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,240
Baldrick, where's the manuscript?
597
00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,920
You mean the big
papery thing tied up with string?
598
00:33:47,920 --> 00:33:51,160
Yes, Baldrick, the manuscript,
belonging to Dr Johnson.
599
00:33:51,160 --> 00:33:55,400
So you're asking where the big
papery thing tied up with string,
600
00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:58,920
belonging to the batey fellow in
the black coat who just left, is?
601
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,120
Yes, Baldrick, I am.
602
00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:02,560
And if you don't answer,
603
00:34:02,560 --> 00:34:06,000
then the booted bony thing with
five toes on the end of my leg
604
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,000
will soon connect sharply
605
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:11,280
with the soft dangly collection
of objects in your trousers.
606
00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,120
I can remember Richard saying,
"I've had a great idea.
607
00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,920
"It took Dr Johnson 25
years to write his dictionary.
608
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,640
"How about he finishes it,
lends it to Blackadder,
609
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:23,400
"Baldrick puts it on the fire,
Blackadder's got a weekend to
rewrite the dictionary."
610
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,000
Now what about D?
611
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:28,520
I'm quite pleased with dog.
Yes, and your definition of dog is?
612
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:30,360
Not a cat.
613
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:36,200
And I just thought, that is
such a beautiful conceit,
614
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,480
and that's a lot better than writing
three good knob gags,
615
00:34:39,480 --> 00:34:41,600
which is what
I was sort of trying to do.
616
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,440
The dictionary episode was an
appropriate highlight for a series
617
00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,280
that revelled in the richness
of the English language,
618
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:54,200
and was never shy
of a scintillating simile.
619
00:34:54,200 --> 00:34:59,760
He's madder than Mad
Jack McMad, the winner of last year's
Mr Madman competition.
620
00:34:59,760 --> 00:35:02,240
You look as happy as a man who
thought a cat had done its business
621
00:35:02,240 --> 00:35:05,480
on his pie but it turned
out to be an extra big blackberry.
622
00:35:05,480 --> 00:35:08,960
I'm as poor as a church mouse
that's had an enormous tax bill
623
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:12,800
on the very day his wife ran off with
another mouse taking all the cheese.
624
00:35:12,800 --> 00:35:16,480
A burned novel is like a
burned dog... Oh, shut up!
625
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,840
The Blackadder scripts are so
revered that all these years later,
626
00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:27,120
the team still pore over the
subtleties of their trade
627
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:31,080
with fellow literary luminaries,
wherever they can be found.
628
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,920
Do you want it dedicated
to somebody? To Derrick, please.
629
00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:36,560
Thank you. I love Time Team.
630
00:35:36,560 --> 00:35:39,600
You really are a national treasure.
631
00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,240
Have you got a favourite quotation?
632
00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:46,040
We used to play the game of
guessing who had written which line.
633
00:35:46,040 --> 00:35:47,520
We were invariably wrong.
634
00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:49,080
Thanks.
635
00:35:51,320 --> 00:35:56,680
When it came to the rehearsals,
and this got more intense
series by series,
636
00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:06,360
everyone became fantastically and
wonderfully greedy.
637
00:36:06,360 --> 00:36:09,160
arguing about the script and
pulling the script to pieces.
638
00:36:09,160 --> 00:36:12,760
There was one where I said,
"I have a message, my lord",
639
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,760
and Rowan said, "That's the
worst message I've ever read",
640
00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:19,640
and we all went, "Urgh",
and it ended up...
641
00:36:19,640 --> 00:36:23,000
"That's the worst message
I've ever heard since..."
642
00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:26,320
..Lord Nelson's famous signal at
the Battle of the Nile,
643
00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:28,520
"England knows Lady Hamilton
644
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:33,040
"is a virgin, poke my eye out and
cut off my arm if I'm wrong."
645
00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:36,280
People fought for their patch.
646
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:40,640
Nobody just toed the line and stood
where they were told to stand
647
00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:42,400
and did what they were told to do.
648
00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,800
Everyone stood up for
themselves and their characters.
649
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,880
It was very free... Yes.
650
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:49,960
And creative.
Richard wouldn't have said that.
651
00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:55,360
No, no! "Just read it out" was
Richard's... "Just read it out!"
652
00:36:55,360 --> 00:37:00,040
They would sit around for the
entire time discussing the script.
653
00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:01,680
We'd sometimes say,
654
00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:05,120
"If you stood up and tried to
act this script out,
655
00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:07,680
"you might find out
things about it."
656
00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,400
I hate to raise this having worked
on it for three hours
657
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,280
but is it a good joke,
Hugh, since you suggested it?
658
00:37:14,280 --> 00:37:15,880
This was nothing to do with me.
659
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:17,560
It was!
660
00:37:17,560 --> 00:37:20,040
It was up on the board.
I just read it out.
661
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,320
John and Richard and
Hugh and Stephen
662
00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:29,320
conduct themselves in a very
affable way,
663
00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:32,520
and when they talk
about Blackadder now,
664
00:37:32,520 --> 00:37:35,560
it all seems like it was
a bit jolly,
665
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:38,840
slightly sticky sometimes,
but basically fine.
666
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:43,760
I don't remember it quite like that.
It was hard.
667
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:46,960
Hours would pass and packets of
cigarettes would be got through,
668
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:51,640
huge quantities of polystyrene
hideous muddy coffee would be drunk
669
00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,920
in an effort
to try and get the script right.
670
00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:57,760
Hang on, there's something
wrong here.
671
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:02,840
Surely if you're ordering a cab
for a Mr Redgrave...
oh, from Arnos Grove?
672
00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:06,720
Sometimes it was very tense, I
remember some difficult times
673
00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:12,480
when we appeared to be just
sitting around for 2.5 hours,
674
00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:19,240
bemoaning the lack of writing
clarity in a particular scene
675
00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:22,600
and desperately trying to think how
it might be re-orientated to work.
676
00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:24,760
Just change it to "for".
677
00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:29,040
If you're a young writer
and in with your mates,
678
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:31,480
and because you've known them
for a long time,
679
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,480
they're going to be able to slag you
off in a way other people
680
00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:37,360
probably won't now
because you're becoming successful.
681
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:38,560
That's going to be difficult.
682
00:38:38,560 --> 00:38:41,080
I remember this like
a heart attack....
683
00:38:42,640 --> 00:38:48,480
That was when I felt the analysis
was getting overblown
684
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:51,560
and I remember feeling
it was better,
685
00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,800
we're now feeling a duty
to open everything up at all times.
686
00:38:55,800 --> 00:38:59,120
I thought it was Mr Redgrave
ordering the cab but in fact
687
00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:05,800
what you're saying is Mr Redgrave
is the person who's going to be
picked up who's on the top bell, yes?
688
00:39:09,240 --> 00:39:11,320
'That's roughly how it
was when it was good.'
689
00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,400
And when it wasn't so good,
it wasn't really like that.
690
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,200
It was more strained.
691
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:20,560
I'm not saying those moments
were rare because they weren't.
692
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:25,880
They were quite commonplace.
There were lots of longeurs between.
693
00:39:25,880 --> 00:39:28,840
'People sitting
with their heads in their hands.'
694
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,960
And a cab...for a Mr Redgrave,
695
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:37,120
picking up from 14 Arnos Grove,
ring top bell.
696
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:45,840
On the back of the third
series, Blackadder was awarded
its own Christmas special,
697
00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:50,360
a parody of Dickens' Christmas Carol
with Ebenezer Blackadder in
very different form.
698
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:59,800
But the fourth series would take our
comic anti-heroes into a place where
heroes dwell - the First World War.
699
00:40:05,600 --> 00:40:08,560
Writer Ben Elton
and producer John Lloyd
700
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:13,000
have come to the Somme to reflect
on the setting of the final series.
701
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:16,880
I've always been so interested
in the First World War.
702
00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:19,920
Yet I've never been
to the cemeteries.
703
00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:22,240
We've all seen the footage,
704
00:40:22,240 --> 00:40:28,200
many a panning shot, as we're doing
now, but until you actually
stand amongst
705
00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:32,880
tens of thousands of crosses, each
with a name on it, it's really...
706
00:40:35,160 --> 00:40:40,240
I had a grandfather fight on either
side. Did you know my German
grandfather got an Iron Cross? No.
707
00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:42,560
Yes, he got an Iron Cross.
708
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:47,760
Which, actually, is buried in
England because as Jewish refugees,
they escaped
709
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:50,400
from Nazi Europe...escaped, got out,
710
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:55,960
my grandad brought his Iron Cross
with him and my grandma,
711
00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,920
on discovering it, was horrified.
712
00:40:58,920 --> 00:41:02,200
Here we are, German accents,
Iron Cross,
713
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:06,840
people might put two and two
together so she buried it
in a garden in Hampstead.
714
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:13,360
What we discussed back in '88 when
we were writing it was not
715
00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:19,200
taking easy laughs at the expense
of such mass heroism.
716
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:23,680
Coming here today,
I'm very glad we didn't.
717
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:31,000
By the time we got to Blackadder
Goes Forth, we'd always said that,
more than anything,
718
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,600
we'd like to create a series
719
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:36,920
that was very claustrophobic
720
00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,760
where the five or six of us
who were the performers
721
00:41:39,760 --> 00:41:41,360
were trapped in a space
722
00:41:41,360 --> 00:41:48,840
and what better way to feel that
notion of claustrophobia than in the
trenches in the First World War?
723
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:51,440
Hear the words I sing,
724
00:41:51,440 --> 00:41:54,560
war's a horrid thing.
725
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,120
So I sing, sing, sing,
726
00:41:58,120 --> 00:42:00,760
ding-a-ling-a-ling.
727
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:05,880
It was a peculiar and bold thing
to make a comedy out of,
728
00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:10,240
but ultimately a very
sympathetic and respectful one
729
00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:15,320
even though the characters were
absurd and moronic at times.
730
00:42:17,120 --> 00:42:22,760
It never sort of disrespected
their courage or sacrifice.
731
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:24,640
I joined up straightaway, sir.
732
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,280
August 4th, 1914,
what a day that was.
733
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:30,880
Myself and the rest of the fellows
leapfrogging down
734
00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:34,280
to the Cambridge recruiting office
and then playing
tiddlywinks in the queue.
735
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:37,640
We'd hammered Oxford's
tiddlywinkers only the week before
736
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:40,080
and there we were,
off to hammer the Boche.
737
00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:41,920
And how are the boys now?
738
00:42:41,920 --> 00:42:46,160
Well, Jocko and the Badger bought
it at the first Ypres, unfortunately.
739
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:48,200
Quite a shock, that.
740
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:51,880
Those awful policies, of what
were called the Pals Brigades,
741
00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:55,760
because in 1914 people joined up
together, whole gangs, the pub would
742
00:42:55,760 --> 00:43:01,120
march to the recruiting station,
a cricket team or the tiddlywinks
team as we said in Blackadder.
743
00:43:01,120 --> 00:43:04,640
They'd all go together and the idea
was they will fight together,
744
00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:07,920
fight for each other and this
industrial war didn't have time
745
00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:12,200
for people to fight for each other
because people would be mown down
in an instant.
746
00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:17,440
Gosh, I suppose I'm the only one
of the Trinity Tiddlers still alive.
747
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:20,760
There's a thought
and not a jolly one.
748
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:25,840
People don't stop making jokes
because somebody is killed
around the corner. In many ways,
749
00:43:25,840 --> 00:43:32,280
life, as people say who've been
fighting in real wars, life becomes
very precious and pumped up.
750
00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:35,200
Baldrick, what are you doing
out there?
751
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:38,240
I'm carving something
on this bullet, sir. What?
752
00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:41,880
I'm carving, "Baldrick", sir.
753
00:43:41,880 --> 00:43:46,280
Why? It's a cunning plan, actually.
Of course it is.
754
00:43:46,280 --> 00:43:50,040
You know they say somewhere there's
a bullet with your name on it?
755
00:43:52,240 --> 00:43:53,360
Yeeeeees.
756
00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:59,280
I thought if I owned the bullet with
my name on, I'd never get hit by it.
757
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:02,560
One of the things that strikes me
about that last series
758
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,400
is how isolated all the characters
in it are.
759
00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:06,680
Are you a bit cheesed off, sir?
760
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:10,600
George, the day this war began
I was cheesed off.
761
00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:15,680
Within ten minutes of you turning up,
I'd finished the cheese and moved
on to the coffee and cigars.
762
00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:20,840
The world weariness of Blackadder
was something extraordinary,
763
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:22,440
something beaten down.
764
00:44:22,440 --> 00:44:25,720
He was not necessary going to win
all the time.
765
00:44:25,720 --> 00:44:29,800
And knew he wasn't, which gave it
a darker edge, I thought.
766
00:44:29,800 --> 00:44:34,240
Baldrick finds his absolute
apotheosis as the Tommy.
767
00:44:34,240 --> 00:44:37,680
He can make the best of everything,
turn things to his advantage,
768
00:44:37,680 --> 00:44:40,800
however ghastly it is.
He can find a better puddle to go to.
769
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:45,440
I believe Baldrick is the key
to Blackadder and the key
to why it's popular.
770
00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:50,920
He's the common man. We
all identify with this downtrodden
guy who's not respected by anybody,
771
00:44:50,920 --> 00:44:57,800
even when he's supposed be stupid,
Baldrick's analysis of everything
is simple but basically truthful.
772
00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:01,240
Are you looking forward
to the big push?
773
00:45:01,240 --> 00:45:05,320
No, sir, I'm absolutely terrified.
774
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:09,000
Hmmm, the healthy humour
of the honest Tommy. Ha-ha!
775
00:45:09,000 --> 00:45:16,080
I had the privilege of performing
a part that represented the ordinary
lives of the grandfathers
776
00:45:16,080 --> 00:45:20,000
of an awful lot of people
in the country in which I live.
777
00:45:20,000 --> 00:45:26,240
But really it was for them
to imbue Baldrick with that notion
rather than me.
778
00:45:26,240 --> 00:45:28,080
I was just a bloke
who couldn't make coffee.
779
00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:30,520
Baldrick, fix us some coffee,
will you?
780
00:45:30,520 --> 00:45:33,720
And try to make it taste
slightly less like mud this time.
781
00:45:33,720 --> 00:45:37,000
Not easy, I'm afraid, Captain.
Why is this? Because it IS mud!
782
00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:40,680
In the original script,
Ben had written this line
783
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:43,920
about Baldrick saying
he'd made the coffee out of mud.
784
00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:46,600
We ran out of coffee 13 months ago.
785
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:50,800
So every time I've drunk your
coffee since, I have in fact
been drinking hot mud.
786
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:54,680
And in rehearsals, as was so
often the case, someone said,
787
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:57,160
"Well, shouldn't there be milk
in the coffee?"
788
00:45:57,160 --> 00:45:58,720
Well, saliva.
789
00:45:58,720 --> 00:46:01,000
And then there should be sugar.
790
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,440
Which is? Dandruff.
791
00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:10,160
And then I know this was Tim
McInnerny, very late in the week,
he suddenly said,
792
00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:15,800
just for us, not cos he thought
it would go in the script, "We
could always make it cappuccino."
793
00:46:15,800 --> 00:46:17,840
BALDRICK SPITS
794
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:22,840
Here you are, sir.
795
00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:24,600
Ah, cappuccino.
796
00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:33,880
Have you got any of that
brown stuff you sprinkle on the top?
797
00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:36,920
Well, I'm sure I could... No, no.
798
00:46:36,920 --> 00:46:39,560
'In the initial rehearsals,
he wasn't even called Darling.'
799
00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:44,680
He was called Captain Cartwright,
which is kind of dull.
800
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:48,320
I didn't really know who he was
and couldn't get an angle on him.
801
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:51,160
I had this bizarre idea that
maybe if there was something
802
00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:56,200
laughable about him, teaseable, and
then it occurred to me maybe a name.
803
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:57,240
A really silly name.
804
00:46:57,240 --> 00:46:59,080
What's going on, Darling?
805
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:02,520
Suddenly, this character was born out
of nowhere just cos of the name.
806
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:04,120
You never mentioned this to me, sir.
807
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:06,160
Well, we have to have some secrets,
don't we, Darling?
808
00:47:06,160 --> 00:47:07,760
It's such a simple joke,
809
00:47:07,760 --> 00:47:09,640
calling someone Darling,
810
00:47:09,640 --> 00:47:12,680
especially if
he's such a bitter, nasty man.
811
00:47:12,680 --> 00:47:15,520
The way Stephen could
come out, "Oh, Darling."
812
00:47:15,520 --> 00:47:17,080
Get a laugh every single time.
813
00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:20,520
Captain Darling?
Funny name for a guy, isn't it?
814
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:24,960
Last person I called "darling"
was pregnant 20 seconds later.
815
00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:29,560
Every time his name is mentioned
it's like a knife in his heart,
twisting.
816
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:36,200
His hatred and self-loathing
and self-denial is getting
more and more tortured.
817
00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:37,680
Just doing my job, Blackadder.
818
00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:42,720
Obeying orders and of course having
enormous fun into the bargain.
819
00:47:42,720 --> 00:47:48,160
Darling and Blackadder are kind of
the same. They're lower middle-class,
820
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:49,720
semi-gentlemen.
821
00:47:49,720 --> 00:47:57,200
Obviously one of them has connived
himself onto the staff and the other
one is bad-lucked into the trenches.
822
00:47:57,200 --> 00:48:03,440
You're a damned fine chap,
not a pen-pushing, desk-sucking
blotter-jotter like Darling here.
823
00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:05,280
Eh, Darling? No, sir.
824
00:48:10,480 --> 00:48:12,720
Oh, you're always so good at this.
Oh, yes.
825
00:48:15,160 --> 00:48:23,200
Oddly enough, these feet
aren't the same feet I used to play
General Melchett in Blackadder.
826
00:48:23,200 --> 00:48:30,560
Those were my early feet,
I lost those feet in a card game
to Keith Allen in 1992.
827
00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:33,320
These are my second pair of feet.
828
00:48:33,320 --> 00:48:36,560
Young people playing old people
is very funny.
829
00:48:36,560 --> 00:48:41,720
Because I was in my 20s and I was
playing a general, it was somehow
830
00:48:41,720 --> 00:48:45,920
funnier than if I'd been the right
age to be a general which I now am.
831
00:48:45,920 --> 00:48:48,160
It had to be a 30-year-old
playing a 60-year-old.
832
00:48:48,160 --> 00:48:51,200
If it had been a 60-year-old
actor it would have been different.
833
00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:53,240
It might have been funny
but in a different way.
834
00:48:53,240 --> 00:48:55,240
It wouldn't have worked
the way Melchett worked.
835
00:48:55,240 --> 00:48:58,200
It's the authority of youth.
836
00:48:58,200 --> 00:49:04,600
Slightly red cheeks
I remember having cos he was
constantly puffing and blowing.
837
00:49:04,600 --> 00:49:09,480
Constantly... I had in my head that
he had piles so when I sat down...
838
00:49:09,480 --> 00:49:14,960
Oh! Like that, these strange noises,
bleats and baas.
839
00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:17,120
Baa! Baa! Baa!
840
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:19,400
Baa!
841
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:24,400
Baa! It's an extraordinary gift to
play a character who's afraid of
no-one, who's in supreme command.
842
00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:27,360
It was just wonderfully...
He was seamless.
843
00:49:27,360 --> 00:49:32,640
There was this feeling of an
unstoppable train of a performance.
844
00:49:32,640 --> 00:49:35,040
Who is the judge, by the way? Baa!
845
00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,120
I'm dead.
846
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:42,040
Come on. We'll get this over in five
minutes and have a spot of lunch.
847
00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:44,000
The court is now in session.
848
00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:46,720
General Sir Anthony Cecil
Hogmanay Melchett in the chair.
849
00:49:46,720 --> 00:49:52,320
I remember five or six years after
Blackadder IV, I was walking along
850
00:49:52,320 --> 00:49:57,200
the street and somebody shouted at
me, "You bastard pigging murderer!"
851
00:49:57,200 --> 00:49:59,640
I thought, "Oh, God, it's a loony."
852
00:49:59,640 --> 00:50:04,440
So I quickened my step and then I
heard footsteps hurrying after me.
853
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:07,160
"Mr Fry, Mr Fry!" I went, "Yes?"
854
00:50:07,160 --> 00:50:09,200
He said, "Sorry, you seem upset."
855
00:50:09,200 --> 00:50:11,280
I said, "You called me a
bastard pigging murderer."
856
00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:14,560
He said, "No,
I said Flanders pigeon murderer."
857
00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:19,440
The case before us
is that of the Crown
versus Captain Edmund Blackadder.
858
00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:23,800
The Flanders pigeon murderer.
859
00:50:23,800 --> 00:50:28,760
Clerk, hand me the black cap,
I'll be needing that.
860
00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:31,120
I love a fair trial.
861
00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:39,280
For all the comedy bawling and
bleating, the final episode saw
events take an extraordinary turn
862
00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:43,960
as Captain Blackadder and his troops
braced themselves for
the inevitable.
863
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:49,600
Don't forget your stick, lieutenant.
Rather, sir. I wouldn't want to
face a machine-gun without this.
864
00:50:49,600 --> 00:50:55,760
I just remember feeling, you know,
the impending doom, for my character,
865
00:50:55,760 --> 00:50:57,920
'and I remember feeling
866
00:50:57,920 --> 00:51:02,000
'this strange sort of knot
in the pit of my stomach.'
867
00:51:02,000 --> 00:51:04,280
It was the first time, as an actor,
868
00:51:04,280 --> 00:51:07,680
that I had felt
the predicament of my character.
869
00:51:07,680 --> 00:51:10,320
'I was going to die
at the end of the week.'
870
00:51:11,560 --> 00:51:14,600
'It was much more like
a serious play or a drama'
871
00:51:14,600 --> 00:51:17,560
as all the comedy kind of melts
and fades out of it,
872
00:51:17,560 --> 00:51:19,440
and it becomes sadder and sadder,
873
00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:20,920
'and more and more tragic,
874
00:51:20,920 --> 00:51:24,960
'and, eventually,
almost unbearably moving and sad.
875
00:51:24,960 --> 00:51:27,480
'It's valedictory.'
876
00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:38,680
I hope no-one was left in any
doubt of the respect
877
00:51:38,680 --> 00:51:41,600
I think
everybody on the team had for...
878
00:51:41,600 --> 00:51:45,120
for the sacrifices made and the
honour of the people involved.
879
00:51:45,120 --> 00:51:49,400
But it was a damn silly war
and if ever there was a subject,
880
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:51,920
you know, requiring of satire,
881
00:51:51,920 --> 00:51:54,400
it's people,
no matter how honourably
882
00:51:54,400 --> 00:51:58,280
and no matter how nobly,
blindly going to war.
883
00:51:58,280 --> 00:52:02,240
Company, one pace forward!
884
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:07,200
On the signal, Company will advance.
885
00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:08,560
WHISTLE BLOWS
886
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:10,520
Good luck, everyone.
887
00:52:10,520 --> 00:52:12,080
WHISTLE BLOWS
888
00:52:12,080 --> 00:52:15,640
CHARGE!
PERCUSSIVE RATTLE OF GUNFIRE
889
00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:18,920
In those days, you had to get out
of the studio by 10 o'clock.
890
00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:22,040
If you didn't, the electricians
would pull the switch.
891
00:52:22,040 --> 00:52:26,480
'At ten to ten, we finished filming
in our normal studio,'
892
00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:29,560
we then had to race across
to the other studio
893
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:34,200
and it was then that we saw this
no-man's land set for the first time
894
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:35,920
and it looked dreadful.
895
00:52:35,920 --> 00:52:40,640
OK, well, this, apparently,
is the original footage
896
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:42,760
from the very last scene
of Blackadder IV
897
00:52:42,760 --> 00:52:44,360
where they all go over the top.
898
00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:47,640
I haven't seen this since 1989.
899
00:52:47,640 --> 00:52:50,440
Action! Charge!
900
00:52:52,920 --> 00:52:54,920
They're actually only running -
what? -
901
00:52:54,920 --> 00:52:56,960
15 yards
before they hit the barbed wire
902
00:52:56,960 --> 00:52:58,960
and stand around
looking like lemons,
903
00:52:58,960 --> 00:53:01,400
then pretend to die
and it's very embarrassing.
904
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:05,480
CHARGE!
905
00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:07,880
RATTLE OF MACHINE GUNS
906
00:53:07,880 --> 00:53:12,920
GUNFIRE CONTINUES
907
00:53:18,080 --> 00:53:21,200
HE CHUCKLES
908
00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:24,080
It's pretty unconvincing, isn't it?
909
00:53:26,040 --> 00:53:28,240
Now they've done
a close-up here.
910
00:53:28,240 --> 00:53:32,280
There's a ghastly shot
of Hugh and Tim
911
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:34,360
and Baldrick dying.
912
00:53:36,800 --> 00:53:39,560
Rowan pretending to die
but keeping his eyes open.
913
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:41,560
He's getting up and he looks cross.
914
00:53:41,560 --> 00:53:43,560
Well, that's...
915
00:53:44,920 --> 00:53:46,920
me looking decidedly miffed.
916
00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:49,160
And that's the end of it.
917
00:53:49,160 --> 00:53:51,480
I can remember coming away thinking,
918
00:53:51,480 --> 00:53:54,560
"I've no idea how we're
going to end the series."
919
00:53:54,560 --> 00:53:58,080
I thought they would end it before
we actually went over the top.
920
00:53:58,080 --> 00:54:01,160
It's one of the lowest points,
I think, of my television career
921
00:54:01,160 --> 00:54:04,760
thinking, "The end of this amazing
series and I've just screwed it up."
922
00:54:04,760 --> 00:54:05,840
As it was so obvious
923
00:54:05,840 --> 00:54:10,480
that we had so little material to
work with, we had to really slow
924
00:54:10,480 --> 00:54:14,560
the pictures right down in order
to stretch them in time
925
00:54:14,560 --> 00:54:17,400
but that produced
an incredibly good effect
926
00:54:17,400 --> 00:54:21,680
with the flashes which were going
over on the right of the picture
927
00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:24,920
and the debris
that falls over Rowan's character.
928
00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:29,000
In slow motion,
this suddenly achieved a grandeur
929
00:54:29,000 --> 00:54:32,240
which was not obvious
in the full motion.
930
00:54:32,240 --> 00:54:35,280
The assistant editor said,
"What if we slowed the sound down?"
931
00:54:35,280 --> 00:54:37,640
ECHOING GUNFIRE
932
00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:39,760
And suddenly we had
this - pwuffch! -
933
00:54:39,760 --> 00:54:44,000
this slow-motion sound effect and it
starts to get really quite spooky.
934
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:48,320
BLACKADDER THEME AT SLOW SPEED
935
00:54:54,160 --> 00:54:57,840
Having got Rowan virtually obscured
by the debris,
936
00:54:57,840 --> 00:54:59,440
to go to the next shot
937
00:54:59,440 --> 00:55:03,360
where we're now
in a blank no-man's land wide shot,
938
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:07,560
our characters are seen virtually
to melt into the landscape.
939
00:55:09,960 --> 00:55:12,680
And then somebody,
I think it was the PA, said,
940
00:55:12,680 --> 00:55:16,320
"We should get some poppies.
What if...? I think..."
941
00:55:16,320 --> 00:55:19,960
And someone got very excited and
ran upstairs to the picture library
942
00:55:19,960 --> 00:55:22,400
and got a still,
a transparency, of some poppies.
943
00:55:24,960 --> 00:55:28,000
The last decision,
some bright spark in sound,
944
00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:30,120
said,
"Let's put some birdsong on it."
945
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:34,880
TRILL OF BIRDSONG
946
00:55:34,880 --> 00:55:36,360
Even in the edit
947
00:55:36,360 --> 00:55:42,120
it was obviously one of the most
moving things that I had ever seen.
948
00:55:47,240 --> 00:55:50,880
In the 19 years since the series
ended, the team have each gone on
949
00:55:50,880 --> 00:55:54,080
to achieve greatness
in their own right.
950
00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:55,920
But for all of them, there remains
951
00:55:55,920 --> 00:55:58,360
something special
about the Blackadder era.
952
00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:06,480
'I think that I'd have to say
that it just seems an unbelievably'
953
00:56:06,480 --> 00:56:10,480
lucky break that something
which was just a bit of work
954
00:56:10,480 --> 00:56:14,640
that I did for a chunk of time,
you know, doing the best I could
955
00:56:14,640 --> 00:56:19,920
with people I really liked,
has turned out to last so well.
956
00:56:19,920 --> 00:56:22,080
'I don't think there'd been anything
957
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:24,560
'that enjoyed history like that.'
958
00:56:24,560 --> 00:56:29,440
The relationship between lords
and ladies and dukes and peasants.
959
00:56:29,440 --> 00:56:33,520
The whole panoply and richness of
what it is to come from our culture.
960
00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:37,160
'It was just
a very enjoyable experience'
961
00:56:37,160 --> 00:56:40,800
of spending extended periods of time
962
00:56:40,800 --> 00:56:46,040
with people with whom you felt
a tremendous creative empathy.
963
00:56:46,040 --> 00:56:48,680
I was doing Time Team once
and somebody said me,
964
00:56:48,680 --> 00:56:51,360
"Here, aren't you that bloke
that used to be funny?"
965
00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:55,240
THEY CHUCKLE
966
00:56:55,240 --> 00:56:57,480
Only one question remains.
967
00:56:57,480 --> 00:56:59,520
Dear, oh, dear. Oh, Lord.
968
00:56:59,520 --> 00:57:03,560
Will they ever be funny together
again?
969
00:57:03,560 --> 00:57:06,000
Would you do it again? What?
970
00:57:06,000 --> 00:57:08,680
Blackadder. No.
971
00:57:08,680 --> 00:57:10,280
Because?
972
00:57:10,280 --> 00:57:12,280
HE SIGHS
973
00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:15,560
Too old...for one thing.
974
00:57:15,560 --> 00:57:20,240
I don't think people want to see us
the way we look now. I really don't.
975
00:57:20,240 --> 00:57:21,920
They want those memories.
976
00:57:21,920 --> 00:57:24,680
There's often talk
of a fifth series.
977
00:57:24,680 --> 00:57:28,880
If you had to do another one, what
setting would you like to do it in?
978
00:57:28,880 --> 00:57:34,640
If we'd done another one, I think we
were going to set it in the '60s.
979
00:57:34,640 --> 00:57:37,760
He had this idea of Adder
as a sort of Brian Epstein figure
980
00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:39,720
and Baldrick as a drummer,
981
00:57:39,720 --> 00:57:42,600
a Ringo-style drummer,
called Bald Rick
982
00:57:42,600 --> 00:57:44,120
who has to wear a Beatle wig.
983
00:57:44,120 --> 00:57:46,960
Rowan as the bastard son
of Queen Elizabeth II
984
00:57:46,960 --> 00:57:49,880
but also running a rock band
in the King's Road.
985
00:57:49,880 --> 00:57:52,800
It's already sounding shit.
That'll be why we never made it.
986
00:57:52,800 --> 00:57:57,800
The one I really liked the idea for
was the one set in Neanderthal times.
987
00:57:57,800 --> 00:58:01,320
Out of the jungle comes
homo Blackadder.
988
00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:03,880
I thought you meant gay Blackadder!
989
00:58:03,880 --> 00:58:05,920
Oh, I thought you meant
homo Blackadder.
990
00:58:05,920 --> 00:58:08,760
I was just going, "Not many parts
for girls there then!"
991
00:58:08,760 --> 00:58:11,000
What about you, Tony,
what would you've liked?
992
00:58:11,000 --> 00:58:13,920
We talked about loads of ones.
993
00:58:13,920 --> 00:58:16,480
I love the idea of a cowboy one.
994
00:58:16,480 --> 00:58:19,160
I'd do that. Definitely.
995
00:58:19,160 --> 00:58:22,600
Where I get to be a sort of Calamity
Jane or something. Fantastic.
996
00:58:22,600 --> 00:58:25,240
In a prisoner-of-war camp
in the Second World War.
997
00:58:25,240 --> 00:58:28,680
I've always personally favoured
the Colditz idea.
998
00:58:28,680 --> 00:58:33,320
But maybe it's best to leave
these things as a memory.
999
00:58:33,320 --> 00:58:37,400
SCOTTISH ACCENT: Aye, times past.
That's what they were.
1000
00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:40,840
# Blackadder, Blackadder
1001
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:44,440
# His taste is rather odd
1002
00:58:44,440 --> 00:58:48,080
# Blackadder, Blackadder
1003
00:58:48,080 --> 00:58:51,640
# A randy little sod!
1004
00:58:51,640 --> 00:58:55,080
# Blackadder, Blackadder
1005
00:58:55,080 --> 00:58:56,800
# Who gives a toss?
1006
00:58:56,800 --> 00:58:58,720
# No-one! #
82740
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