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| "Head" | |
|---|---|
| Blackadder episode | |
| Episode no. | Series 2 Episode 2 |
| Directed by | Mandie Fletcher |
| Written by | Ben Elton Richard Curtis |
| Original air date | 16 January 1986 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Holly de Jong Bill Wallis Linda Polan Patrick Duncan | |
"Head" is the second episode of the BBC period comedy Blackadder II , the second series of Blackadder , which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. [1]
Blackadder is attempting to teach Baldrick the basic concepts of addition when he is summoned to court, and is informed that the Lord High Executioner has died, having signed his name on the wrong dotted line and so accidentally ordered his own execution. With the Queen's ongoing persecution against the Catholics, a new Lord High Executioner must be appointed and Melchett has assembled a list of suitable candidates for the job, with only one name on it: Lord Blackadder.
Saddled with a position he sardonically describes as "Minister in charge of Religious Genocide", Blackadder sets about organising the various executions to be carried out, and meets up with his staff: The Jailor Mr. Ploppy, the prison cook Mrs. Ploppy (no relation) and the executioner, revealed to be Baldrick. To give himself the middle of the week off, he makes a simple change by moving up the date of execution for Lord Farrow from Wednesday to Monday, quipping that Farrow got time off for good behaviour.
However, this simple change goes completely awry when the Queen allows Farrow's wife to visit her husband in prison on Tuesday, the day before his originally scheduled execution, not aware that he has already been executed. As he is already too late, Blackadder pretends to be Farrow, disguising himself with a bag over his head, as the Queen had given Lady Farrow a death warrant to give to Edmund should he refuse her. He is nearly thwarted, first when he discovers that Farrow had many individual traits, such as a deep voice, being much taller than him, and missing half an arm, and then when Lady Farrow attempts to take the bag off his head. Nevertheless, he manages to go undetected.
Afterward, the Queen decides to pardon Farrow, saying 'He probably is innocent anyway', and everything looks bleak for Blackadder. They decide that the only way to get around this problem is to pretend that they had been taking Farrow to see the Queen, when he said something traitorous in the hallway, and he and Percy had cut his head off there. Upon searching for the head in Traitor's Cloister, they realise the plan will not work, as the head already looks decomposed. However, Lord Percy notices that the head that Blackadder found on Farrow's spike is not actually Lord Farrow's, but rather that of Lord Ponsonby, another death row inmate whose execution was scheduled for Friday, meaning that Baldrick had killed the wrong man. Leaving Farrow alive.
Blackadder is relieved, until he remembers that the Queen is on her way to the prison at that very moment to visit Lord Ponsonby, and he hurries there just in time to pretend to be Ponsonby for the Queen, just as he had done with Farrow, despite Ponsonby only having one leg, a hunch and a speech impediment.
Blackadder is a series of four period British sitcoms, plus several one-off instalments, which originally aired on BBC1 from 1983 to 1989. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the antihero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick. Each series was set in a different historical period, with the two protagonists accompanied by different characters, though several reappear in one series or another, e.g., Melchett, Lord Percy Percy / Captain Darling and George.
Edmund Blackadder is the single name given to a collection of fictional characters who appear in the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder, each played by Rowan Atkinson. Although each series is set within a different period of British history, all the Edmund Blackadders in the franchise are part of the same familial dynasty. Each character also shares notable personality traits and characteristics throughout each incarnation. In a 2001 poll conducted by Channel 4, Edmund Blackadder was ranked third on their list of the 100 Greatest TV Characters.
Blackadder II is the second series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986. The series is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), and sees the principal character, Edmund, Lord Blackadder, as a Tudor courtier attempting to win the favour of the Queen while avoiding execution by decapitation, a fate that befell many of her suitors.
Blackadder's Christmas Carol, a one-off episode of Blackadder, is a parody of Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. It is set between Blackadder the Third (1987) and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989), and is narrated by Hugh Laurie. Produced by the BBC, it was first broadcast on BBC1 on 23 December 1988.
Blackadder: Back & Forth is a 1999 British science fiction comedy short film based on the BBC period sitcom Blackadder that marks the end of the Blackadder saga. It was commissioned for showing in the specially built SkyScape cinema erected southeast of the Millennium Dome on the Greenwich peninsula in South London. The film follows Lord Edmund Blackadder and his idiotic servant, Baldrick, on a time travel adventure that brings the characters into contact with several figures significant to British history.
"The Black Adder" is the pilot episode of the BBC television series Blackadder. Taped on 20 June 1982, it features the original incarnation of the character Edmund Blackadder, played by Rowan Atkinson. Following this pilot, The Black Adder eventually went into production and the first six-part series was broadcast in 1983, but with a number of changes to the casting, characterisation and plot; while the transmitted series was set in 1485 and the years following the Battle of Bosworth Field, this untransmitted pilot was set in 16th century, apparently during the Elizabethan Era.
"Corporal Punishment" or "Plan B: Corporal Punishment", is the second episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. It was first broadcast on BBC1 on 5 October 1989. In the episode, Blackadder faces a court-martial, and later an execution by firing squad, for shooting a carrier pigeon.
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode.
"General Hospital", or "Plan E: General Hospital", is the fifth episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.
"Chains" is the final episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Power-mad and self-professed "master of disguise", Prince Ludwig the Indestructible kidnaps Lord Blackadder and Lord Melchett. They escape his clutches but Prince Ludwig infiltrates the palace during a fancy dress ball. The episode was recorded 14 July 1985.
"Beer" is the fifth episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. In the episode, an embarrassing incident with a turnip, an ostrich feather and a fanatically Puritan aunt leads to a right royal to-do in the Blackadder household. The episode marks Miriam Margolyes's second and Hugh Laurie's first ever Blackadder appearance with Laurie going on to appear in every subsequent episode of the show.
"Money" is the fourth episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603.
"Potato" is the third episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603.
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years is a 15-minute one-off edition of Blackadder set during the English Civil War, shown as part of the first Comic Relief Red Nose Day on BBC1, broadcast on Friday 5 February 1988. The show featured Warren Clarke as a guest star.
"Private Plane", or "Plan D: Private Plane", is the fourth episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.
"Major Star", or "Plan C: Major Star", is the third episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. It originally aired on 12 October 1989.
"The Queen of Spain's Beard" is the fourth episode of season one in The Black Adder, a BBC's historical comedy franchise. Set in England, during a fictional historical era of the late 15th-century, the episode parodies the practice of intermarriage between the royal houses of European powers - which was a genuine and significant characteristic of European politics at that time. Its bawdy humour also deals with taboos surrounding premarital sex, gay stereotypes and the practice of child marriage.
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is the fifth episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. It is set in England in the late 15th century and centres on the fictitious Prince Edmund, who finds himself falsely accused of witchcraft by a travelling witch-hunter known as the Witchsmeller Pursuivant. The story satirises mediaeval superstition and religious belief.
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil and arguably the best friend of the lead character. Each series of Blackadder is set in a different period in British history, and each Baldrick character is a descendant of the Baldrick from the preceding series. Just as Blackadder exists in many incarnations throughout the ages, so does Baldrick; whenever there is a Blackadder there is a Baldrick serving him. They are all portrayed by Sir Tony Robinson.
