Blackadder appeared in more than one of the Blackadder series and/or specials. These are: Ben Elton's arrival after the first series heralded the more frequent recruitment of comic actors from the alternative comedy era for guest appearances, including Robbie Coltrane, Rik Mayall (who had appeared in the final episode of the first series as "Mad Gerald"), Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Mark Arden, Stephen Frost, Chris Barrie and Jeremy Hardy. Elton himself played an anarchist in "Blackadder the Third". Gabrielle Glaister played Bob, an attractive girl who poses as a man, in both series 2 and 4. Rik Mayall plays Lord Flashheart,
George (Blackadder) the third instalment of "Blackadder", though he did appear in the episode "Nob and Nobility", as Lord Topper, a snobbish aristocrat who claims to be The Scarlet Pimpernel, and returned in the fourth series playing Captain Kevin Darling. The Prince George character was created as a new "incompetent sidekick" for the title character. He was modelled after George IV of the United Kingdom, who served as Prince Regent between 1811 and 1820. Laurie had previously guest starred in the final two episodes of "Blackadder II", and the producers decided to cast him in the role of Prince George. Laurie's physical