Rotten and pocket boroughs MacDonald Fraser's "The Flashman Papers" series, the eponymous antihero, Harry Flashman, mentions that his father, Sir Buckley Flashman, had been in Parliament, but "they did for him at Reform," implying that the elder Flashman's seat was in a rotten or pocket borough. In the episode "Dish and Dishonesty" of the BBC television comedy "Blackadder the Third", Edmund Blackadder attempts to bolster the support of the Prince Regent in Parliament by getting the incompetent Baldrick elected to the fictional rotten borough of "Dunny-on-the-Wold". This was easily accomplished with a result of 16,472 to nil, even though the constituency had only one
Blackadder the Third Baldrick sometimes calls Blackadder "Mr. B."). There are three main sets: the Prince's quarters, which are large and lavish, the below-stairs kitchen hangout of Blackadder and Baldrick, which is dark and squalid (though in fairness, very large and with a very high ceiling), and finally Mrs. Miggins' coffeehouse. Mrs. Miggins' pie shop was a never-seen running gag in "Blackadder II"; she — or at least, a descendant of hers — is now finally shown, played by Helen Atkinson-Wood. The plots of the series feature a number of then-contemporary issues and personalities, such as rotten boroughs, Dr. Samuel Johnson (played by