Blackadder thirty-five miles from the front, where he is aided and abetted by his assistant, Captain Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny), pencil-pusher supreme and Blackadder's nemesis, whose name is played on for maximum comedic value. The series' tone is somewhat darker than the other "Blackadder"s; it details the deprivations of trench warfare as well as the incompetence and life-wasting strategies of the top brass. For example, Baldrick is reduced to making coffee from mud and cooking rats, while General Melchett hatches a plan for the troops to walk very slowly toward the German lines, because "it'll be the last thing Fritz will
The Soldier (poem) maker of rhymes on the deck who is going to die, in the corner of some foreign field that will make him so famous, as the light temporarily shines to illumine his pages.” The poem is used as the theme for "The Listener" Crossword 4343, "Bear, Bear Bearing". The title hints at "Rupert Brook-e", and features from the poem are hidden in the grid. In the "Blackadder Goes Forth" episode "Major Star", Captain Blackadder says "If I should die, think only this of me, I'll be back to get you." In the film "All the King's Men" the poem is