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 captain goes down with the ship on board a few minutes later. After a major scandal at Baylor University, the university fired President Kenneth Starr and appointed him chancellor. A week later, Starr resigned as chancellor and "willingly accepted responsibility" for the actions of Baylor that "clearly fell short." He stated that his resignation for the scandal was "a matter of conscience," and said, "The captain goes down with the ship." He indicated that his resignation was necessary even though he "didn't know what was happening." The captain goes down with the ship "The captain goes down with the ship" is an idiom and maritime tradition