Black-Adder II (1986– )

In the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Lord Edmund Blackadder strives to win Her Majesty's favour while attempting to avoid a grisly fate should he offend her.

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny

Cast

Series cast summary:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Edmund Blackadder (6 episodes, 1986)
Tim McInnerny	...	Lord Percy (6 episodes, 1986)
Tony Robinson	...	Baldrick (6 episodes, 1986)
Miranda Richardson	...	Queen Elizabeth I (6 episodes, 1986)
Stephen Fry	...	Lord Melchett (6 episodes, 1986)
Patsy Byrne	...	Nursie (6 episodes, 1986)
Tony Aitken	...	Minstrel (6 episodes, 1986)

Storyline

Sixty years after the demise of Prince Edmund Plantagenet, Queen Elizabeth I, who's as insane as her ancestors, is England's current leader. Seductive, easy-to-impress, spoiled, and always seeking a husband, "Queenie" has a leading courtier: Lord Edmund Blackaddder, great-grandson of the original. Now, however, he is dryly cynical and intelligent, but still trying to become king; this time by marrying the queen. However, her right-hand-man, Lord Melchett, will always serve as fair competition for her hand. Blackadder is again assisted by the clueless but fashionable Lord Percy Percy and dung-eating, "cunning" peasant Baldrick.

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Plot Keywords:

Queen | Queen Elizabeth I | Servant | England | Roman Numeral In Title | 

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Taglines:

The original may be dead... but now his bastard great-great grandson swaggers around Renaissance London with a big head and a small beard.

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Genres:

Comedy | History

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 1986 (UK)

Also Known As:

Crna Guja II

Filming Locations:

Wilton House, Wilton, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (6 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The "Blackadder" theme is played with a recorder and an electric guitar.

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Quotes

Blackadder: Shut up, Balders. You'd laugh at a Shakespeare comedy.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, a snake (a Mexican black kingsnake) slithers across a marble table (in a homage/parody to I, Claudius, a historical/political drama series which starred Patsy Byrne). However, the snake doesn't go the way it should, and at the end is removed and replaced with an object (the object varies depending on the episode).

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Connections

Followed by Blackadder Back & Forth (1999)

User Reviews

Blackadder – as good as it ever was

Lord Edmund Blackadder is a Lord in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. With his long suffering servant Baldrick and `close-friend' Percy he must wiggle his way through several sticky situations to come through with his political state and his skin intact!

This second of four series of Blackadder ranks as one of the consistently best. It may not be as fresh as the thrid and fourth series – mainly because the later series were sharper, crueler and benefited from very familiar (and by then – quite famous) characters and actors. The stories were always a little absurd but built around the deadpan, downbeat Blackadder. Plots include the Blackadder falling in love with his female man-servant Bob, beheading a man who was meant to be pardoned or just being kidnapped by a French master of disguise.

They all are filled with sarcasm and wit and make up for the daffy plots. Atkinson is comfortable in his role – but is better in series 3. Robinson is funny in a poor role of Baldrick. McInnerny is OK as percy but is not as good an idiot as Laurie's Prince in 3. The royal court is funny with Fry, Richardson and Byrne all good.

Overall this is as good as all the series are. Witty, cruel, sarcastic and with off the wall plots and extreme characters – it's typical of how good British comedy can be.