Edmund Blackadder to a lord ("Blackadder II"), a knight (""), a royal attendant ("Blackadder III"), a shopkeeper ("Blackadder's Christmas Carol"), to an army captain ("Blackadder Goes Forth"). Throughout each series, Blackadder is a self-serving, cynical opportunist concerned solely with increasing his own influence, status and wealth. His character is symbolized by the adder, the United Kingdom's only native venomous snake, which sometimes appears in the series as a visual motif. With the exception of the first Blackadder incarnation, Prince Edmund, each Blackadder is generally cynical, charismatic and intelligent. While he is haunted by bad luck, he is usually very capable of manipulating
Sense and Senility the working classes: "Disease and Deprivation stalk our land like two giant stalking things." Following this event, Prince George becomes paranoid about anarchist attacks. Whenever the Prince encounters Baldrick cleaning, he accuses Baldrick of being an anarchist and attempts to strangle him. Blackadder suggests that the Prince should improve his public image and writes a speech for the Prince to deliver at his father's birthday celebrations. The Prince then suggests that the two actors that they saw at the theatre (David Keanrick and Enoch Mossop, played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Connor) be hired to give him elocution lessons. Blackadder