The Black Adder "The Black Adder" is the title that Edmund adopts during the first episode (after first considering "The Black Vegetable"). Presumably one of his descendants adopted it as a surname before "Blackadder II", in which the title character becomes "Edmund Blackadder". Furthermore, Baldrick is shown in more favourable and intelligent light here - his 'cunning plans' are typically superior and more workable than Edmund's own. Starting from the second series, the characters' relative intelligence and naivety clearly switch. Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis developed the idea for the sitcom while working on "Not the Nine O'Clock News". Eager to avoid comparisons
Blackadder the Scarlet Pimpernel), over-the-top theatrical actors (Kenneth Connor and Hugh Paddick), a squirrel-hating cross-dressing highwayman (Miranda Richardson), and a duel with the Duke of Wellington (Stephen Fry). This series is set in 1917, on the Western Front in the trenches of the First World War. Another "big push" is planned, and Captain Blackadder's one goal is to avoid being killed, but his schemes always land him back in the trenches. Blackadder is joined by his batman Private S. Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and idealistic Edwardian twit Lieutenant George (Hugh Laurie). General Melchett (Stephen Fry) rallies his troops from a French château