Blackadder meeting between Richard Curtis and comedian Ben Elton led to the decision to collaborate on a new series of Blackadder. Recognising the main faults of the first series, Curtis and Elton agreed that "Blackadder II" would be a studio-only production (along with the inclusion of a live audience during recording, instead of showing the episodes to an audience after taping). Besides adding a greater comedy focus, Elton suggested a major change in character emphasis: Baldrick would become the stupid sidekick, while Edmund Blackadder evolved into a cunning sycophant. This led to the familiar set-up that was maintained in the following
Edmund Blackadder be killed onscreen (the first two are murdered, whilst the fourth dies in battle); while history records this version of Blackadder as having been shot dead by the Duke of Wellington, in actuality Prince George is masquerading as Blackadder and vice versa, which results in Blackadder assuming his identity and later becoming King George IV. Ebenezer Blackadder, the Victorian Blackadder, appears in "Blackadder's Christmas Carol". Unlike his ungenerous, cynical ancestors, he is by repute the nicest man in Victorian England. Unfortunately, this only serves to make him a target for the cynical crooks and cheats he is surrounded by, and