Blackadder meeting between Richard Curtis and comedian Ben Elton led to the decision to collaborate on a new series of Blackadder. Recognising the main faults of the first series, Curtis and Elton agreed that "Blackadder II" would be a studio-only production (along with the inclusion of a live audience during recording, instead of showing the episodes to an audience after taping). Besides adding a greater comedy focus, Elton suggested a major change in character emphasis: Baldrick would become the stupid sidekick, while Edmund Blackadder evolved into a cunning sycophant. This led to the familiar set-up that was maintained in the following
Blackadder: Back & Forth guests are impressed by what Blackadder has returned with, but due to his interference with history, Robin Hood is unheard of, Shakespeare is only known as the inventor of the ballpoint pen, and Britain has been ruled by the French since Napoleon's victory at Waterloo. Horrified by this, Blackadder gets back into the time machine to try and fix things. He encourages Shakespeare, flatters Robin Hood, and prevents the death of the Duke of Wellington. They return home to collect Blackadder's winnings from his guests. He tells them to go upstairs and watch the New Year's festivities on television, assuring