Blackadder Goes Forth the effects on the soldiers who suffered over its course. The idea that the soldiers suffered whilst their commanders remained safely distant from the action was also referenced on many occasions, such as when Melchett says to Baldrick, "Don't you worry my boy, if you should falter, remember that Captain Darling and I are behind you!", to which Blackadder responds, "About 35 miles behind you!". In the episode "Corporal Punishment", Blackadder justifies the shooting for food of a carrier pigeon (which turns out to be Melchett's pet, Speckled Jim) by saying, "With 50,000 men getting killed a week, who's going
Edmund Blackadder nearly all subsequent Blackadders in the series were modelled after Edmund, Lord Blackadder, the exception being Ebenezer Blackadder, who initially began as the nicest man in England to the point of naivete but who gradually fell back into the standard persona after being abused by almost everyone around him. Sir Edmund Blackadder appears in the Comic Relief special "". Set after the English Civil War, Sir Edmund is (apparently) a loyal royalist and friend of Charles I of England, played by Stephen Fry. This Blackadder also appeared in an introductory sequence for Charles, Prince of Wales' fiftieth birthday Gala Performance,