Bells (Blackadder) marks the first appearance of the Bob/Kate and Flashheart archetypes that appear again in "Blackadder Goes Forth". Rik Mayall, who played Lord Flashheart, allegedly designed the character's costume himself. John Lloyd has said that Mayall virtually rewrote his part to feature "loads of jokes", which annoyed the writers, Curtis and Elton. It was the only episode of the series to feature location filming, at Wilton House in Wiltshire. The music performed as Blackadder courts "Bob" is Vaughan Williams' "Fantasia on Greensleeves". In 1993, in conjunction with Comic Relief, this episode was given away free on cassette tape with boxes of
The Black Adder (pilot episode) Robert Bathurst instead of Robert East. The rest of the cast (Atkinson, Tim McInnerny and Elspet Gray) were reunited for the commissioned series. It was directed by Geoff Posner, who was the director of the last series of "Not the Nine O'Clock News". The producer was the then head of Comedy Department, John Howard Davies but this was a temporary measure because John Lloyd, who had co-produced "Not The Nine O'Clock News" was working on a special with Pamela Stephenson. When the series was commissioned, Lloyd took over the producer's role. A unique instrumental version of the "Blackadder" theme by