The Black Adder (pilot episode) England with his Queen, the fictional Gertrude of Flanders, during a rewritten period of history. The character of Queen Elizabeth I was later revisited in "Blackadder II", when Miranda Richardson played the role of Queenie, a skittish caricature of the Virgin Queen. Another major difference to the first series is the cast – most notably, comic actor Philip Fox plays the character Baldrick, rather than Tony Robinson, who was to play the role in all subsequent series. John Savident plays the role of the King, who was replaced by Brian Blessed for the first series. Prince Harry is played by
Blackadder special "Blackadder Rides Again"). One notable difference in the pilot, as in many pilots, is the casting. Baldrick is played not by Tony Robinson, but by Philip Fox. Another significant difference is that the character of Prince Edmund presented in the pilot is much closer to the intelligent, conniving Blackadder of the later series than the snivelling, weak buffoon of the original. Set in the year 1582, the script of the pilot is roughly the same as the episode "Born to be King", albeit with some different jokes, with some lines appearing in other episodes of the series. This special,