Miranda Richardson she prefers new work rather than the classics because of the history which goes with them. In 1985, Richardson made her film debut as Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, in the biographical drama "Dance with a Stranger". Around the same time, Richardson played a comedic Queen Elizabeth I, aka Queenie, in the British television comedy "Blackadder II". Following "Dance with a Stranger", Richardson turned down numerous parts in which her character was unstable or disreputable, including the Glenn Close role in "Fatal Attraction". In this period, she appeared in "Empire of the Sun"
Edmund Blackadder the form of Lord Melchett, for her favour. At the end of his series, this Edmund was murdered by Prince Ludwig the Indestructible of Germany. Blackadder thought he had murdered Ludwig but at the end of the credits, Ludwig came back and murdered Edmund, Queenie and the rest of the court. He then posed as Queenie after the assassination. The character shift from Prince Edmund in the first series to Lord Blackadder in the second is credited to the involvement of Ben Elton, who joined as the show's co-writer alongside Richard Curtis. The latter Edmund became the "de facto" archetype;