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 being one of the few members of the family not to be named Edmund, and also for his double barrelled name, suggesting a family connection to Kevin Darling. At the 2012 charity event "We Are Most Amused", Atkinson appeared in a sketch parodying the then current banking crisis as Sir Edmund Blackadder, CEO of the Melchett, Melchett and Darling Bank. In the Blackadder script book "The Whole Damn Dynasty", a number of Blackadders are mentioned, beginning with a Druid by the name of Edmun, who is later succeeded by the Duc d'Blackadder, who is believed to have been the man