Bells (Blackadder) marks the first appearance of the Bob/Kate and Flashheart archetypes that appear again in "Blackadder Goes Forth". Rik Mayall, who played Lord Flashheart, allegedly designed the character's costume himself. John Lloyd has said that Mayall virtually rewrote his part to feature "loads of jokes", which annoyed the writers, Curtis and Elton. It was the only episode of the series to feature location filming, at Wilton House in Wiltshire. The music performed as Blackadder courts "Bob" is Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on Greensleeves". In 1993, in conjunction with Comic Relief, this episode was given away free on cassette tape with boxes of
Blackadder Goes Forth disappeared. This image of a barren landscape was then faded into a still image of a poppy field found in the BBC Picture Library. The theme melody was a variation on the "Blackadder" theme by Howard Goodall over opening title images of Blackadder and George parading their men past Melchett and Darling, while Baldrick plays the triangle. The title music starts with the opening bars of "The British Grenadiers" before segueing into the familiar "Blackadder" theme. In the closing credits, the full "Blackadder" theme plays over visuals of armed men marching on a parade ground. The sequences were filmed and