Blackadder the Third The programme won a BAFTA award for Best Comedy Series in 1988 and received three further nominations. "Blackadder the Third" is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the Regency. For much of this time, King George III was incapacitated due to poor mental health, and his son George, the Prince of Wales, acted as regent. During this period, he was known as "the Prince Regent". Although the Regency was in place between 1811 and 1820, the historical events and persons depicted and referenced appear to date the series before this time; anywhere in
Edmund Blackadder nearly all subsequent Blackadders in the series were modelled after Edmund, Lord Blackadder, the exception being Ebenezer Blackadder, who initially began as the nicest man in England to the point of naivete but who gradually fell back into the standard persona after being abused by almost everyone around him. Sir Edmund Blackadder appears in the Comic Relief special "". Set after the English Civil War, Sir Edmund is (apparently) a loyal royalist and friend of Charles I of England, played by Stephen Fry. This Blackadder also appeared in an introductory sequence for Charles, Prince of Wales' fiftieth birthday Gala Performance,