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
Blackadder Goes Forth Wallis and Lee Cornes, who had played minor roles in prior series, appeared briefly again in the fourth series as well. This series of Blackadder was one of the first television programmes in Britain to be made and transmitted with stereo sound, using the NICAM digital system, even though most viewers could only afford, or were only able to receive due to their location, the standard FM mono audio carrier signal. The series was directed by Richard Boden and all interior scenes were shot at BBC Television Centre in front of a live studio audience. Rowan Atkinson recalls that the