The Foretelling The Foretelling "The Foretelling" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom "The Black Adder", the first series of the long-running comedy programme "Blackadder". It marks Rowan Atkinson's début as the character Edmund Blackadder, and is the first appearance of the recurring characters Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and Percy (Tim McInnerny). The comedy actor Peter Cook guest stars as King Richard III. "The Black Adder" is a historical comedy set in late Medieval England on the cusp of the Tudor Period, and centres on the eponymous "Black Adder", the pseudonym adopted from this episode onwards by Edmund Plantagenet, Duke of Edinburgh.
Cultural depictions of Richard III of England Olivier was 37 when he played him on stage in 1944). Ron Cook was 35 when he played Richard III in the 1983 BBC Shakespeare production of the play. Aneurin Barnard was 26 at the time of filming, and Cumberbatch 38. Richard has been portrayed by the following actors on film, mostly in versions of the Shakespeare play: Richard has been portrayed on television by: Sue Parrill and William B. Robison, "The Tudors on Film and Television" (McFarland, 2013). . Cultural depictions of Richard III of England Richard III of England has been depicted in literature and popular culture many