Blackadder (1983–1989) is a British historical comedy series created by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, with Atkinson playing successive members of the Blackadder family across different periods of British history. Tony Robinson appears throughout as equally unfortunate descendants of Baldrick, while recurring performers including Tim McInnerny, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson and Hugh Laurie take on different roles from one era to the next. The first series, The Black Adder (1983), is set in a wildly altered version of medieval England; Blackadder II (1986) moves to the court of Elizabeth I; Blackadder the Third (1987) finds Edmund serving the hopelessly foolish Prince Regent; and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) places Captain Blackadder in the trenches of the First World War. Although the setting changes completely each time, the basic relationship remains wonderfully familiar: Blackadder is intelligent, cynical and usually desperate to improve his position, while Baldrick contributes loyalty, filth and a seemingly endless supply of cunning plans. Written with an increasingly sharp mixture of historical parody, elaborate insults and very British cynicism, Blackadder became one of the most enduring British comedies of the 1980s, with the unusually sombre final scene of Blackadder Goes Forth giving the series one of British television’s most memorable endings.
Blackadder (1983–1989) was filmed primarily in England, but the amount of location work changed dramatically between the four series. The Black Adder (1983) was by far the most ambitious, with extensive filming at Alnwick Castle and in the surrounding Northumberland countryside. The castle became the home of King Richard IV and appears repeatedly throughout the medieval series, including its opening titles, with large groups of extras, horses and outdoor action giving the first six episodes a scale rarely attempted again. Nearby Brinkburn Priory was used in “The Archbishop”, standing in for Canterbury Cathedral during Edmund’s consecration as Archbishop of Canterbury. Interiors were also filmed at the BBC Television Centre in Shepherd’s Bush, London. The expense of the first series led to a very different approach for Blackadder II (1986), which was produced almost entirely on compact sets at Television Centre in front of a studio audience. Its only substantial outside location shoot took place at Wilton House in Wiltshire, where the gardens were used for Blackadder’s courtship of Kate in “Bells” and for the series’ closing-title sequences. Blackadder the Third (1987) continued the studio-based approach at BBC Television Centre, with its Regency London, Prince George’s apartments, Mrs Miggins’ coffee shop and other settings created indoors rather than using real Georgian streets and houses. Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) was likewise centred on Television Centre, where Blackadder and Baldrick’s dugout, General Melchett’s headquarters and the other First World War interiors were constructed as studio sets. One notable exception was the opening and closing title material, filmed at the former Colchester Cavalry Barracks in Essex with soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment dressed in First World War uniforms. The contrast between the expansive castles and countryside of the first series and the deliberately cramped rooms and trenches of the later ones is one of the more interesting parts of Blackadder’s production history: what began as an expensive historical comedy gradually found its identity inside a handful of carefully designed studio sets.
Alnwick Castle
Alnwick Castle has appeared in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Downton Abbey, Transformers and many more.