All four series of the historical comedy as well as the specials 'Blackadder's
Christmas Carol', 'Back and Forth', 'The Cavalier Years' and 'Costume Piece'. The first series, 'The Blackadder' (1983), is set during the supposed
reign of Richard IV (
Brian Blessed).
Prince Edmund (Rowan
Atkinson) is the king's worthless slimy son who schemes to take the throne for himself, assisted by his idiotic sidekicks Percy (Tim McInnerny) and Baldrick (Tony Robinson). The episodes are: 'The Foretelling', 'Born to Be King', 'The Archbishop', '
The Queen of Spain's Beard', 'Witchsmeller Pursuivant' and 'The Black Seal'. In the second series, 'Blackadder II' (1986), Edmund has been reduced to the rank of Lord in Elizabethan London, and seeks to insinuate himself into
the Queen (Miranda Richardson)'s court, hindered as ever by Lord Percy and Baldrick, and
the queen's chancellor, Lord Melchett (Stephen Fry). The episodes are: 'Bells', 'Head', 'Potato', 'Money', 'Beer', and 'Chains'. In the third series, 'Blackadder the Third' (1987), Edmund Blackadder is now butler to the moronic
Prince George (Hugh Laurie), and in Regency London he finds himself crossing paths with figures such as Samuel Johnson (Robbie
Coltrane), the elusive Scarlet Pimpernel (McInnerny), and the violent Duke of Wellington (Fry). The episodes are: 'Dish and Dishonesty', 'Ink and Incapability', 'Nob and Nobility', 'Sense and Senility', 'Amy and Amiability', and 'Duel and Duality'. In the fourth series, 'Blackadder Goes Forth' (1989), Edmund is now a captain in the British Army during the First World War, doing his best to avoid death at the hands of the Germans. The episodes are: 'Captain Cook', 'Corporal Punishment', 'Major Star', '
Private Plane', 'General Hospital' and 'Goodbyee'.
