Other roles have emphasised his comedic abilities: notably Prince Vultan in "Flash Gordon" (1980) – for which he is frequently remembered for the famous line "Gordon's alive!"; the mad, comic figure of Richard IV in the first series of "The Black Adder" (1983); and Spiro in the BBC adaptation of "My Family and Other Animals" (1987). He also played the role of General Yevlenko in the miniseries "War and Remembrance" (1988). Blessed jokes he almost starred in "Blackadder II" (1986) as Queen Elizabeth but he wasn't available at the time of filming.