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 There is a Clan Blackadder in reality. Dr Eric Blackadder, Chief Medical Officer at the BBC at the time of the first programme, claims that the series is named after him. Among historical members of the Clan, in 1502 Robert Blackadder Archbishop of Glasgow presided over a botched ceremony where James IV of Scotland swore to keep perpetual peace with England. At the first attempt the King read his oath from a paper where "France" was written instead of "England." George Buchanan introduced a real Edmund Blackadder in his "Rerum Scoticarum Historia", writing that Mary, Queen of Scots embarked on