Money (Blackadder)

Last updated

"Money"
Blackadder episode
Episode no.Series 2
Episode 4
Directed byMandie Fletcher
Written by
Original air date6 February 1986 (1986-02-06)
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Potato"
Next 
"Beer"
List of episodes

"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. [1]

Contents

Plot

Blackadder is visited by the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells, who reminds him that he owes £1,000 to the Bank of the Black Monks. The bishop threatens to sodomise Blackadder with a hot poker if he does not repay the money.

Lord Percy offers his savings to Blackadder, but Blackadder has already long since found Percy's hiding place and spent his money, as well as Baldrick's. Blackadder has only £85 to his name, which he loses to the Queen following a bet she had about him with Melchett.

Blackadder tries selling Baldrick into prostitution, but makes only a sixpence from a sailor named Arthur, which the Queen also takes. Percy then tries to produce gold using alchemy, but only manages to produce a mysterious green substance.

Deciding to sell his house, Blackadder bullies a couple into paying him £1,100, but is again tricked out of this by the Queen.

Blackadder attempts run away to avoid the Black Monks after losing the money for the Queen's trickery. But Baldrick points out that the bank has several branches and informs his master that not only people will not remember Blackadder fondly when he dies, but they also be slapping each other on their shoulders, laughing and calling him "old privy-breath". Baldrick also claims that people use Blackadder's name as a byword for dog faeces, as they say "Whoops, I’ve trod on an Edmund."

Outraged that he is a laughing stock, Blackadder comes up with his own cunning plan and sends Baldrick out to obtain a number of items, including a sleeping draught and the finest portrait painter in England. Baldrick returns with the painter.

The bishop visits Blackadder again and prepares to carry out his threat to Blackadder for not paying his debts. Before he does so, the bishop drinks some wine offered to him by Baldrick, which he has drugged, and falls unconscious.

The bishop is later woken up by Blackadder, who reveals a painting made of the bishop in a highly compromising position with another figure. He uses this to successfully blackmail the bishop into writing off the debt and giving Blackadder more than enough money to buy back his house. The bishop is impressed by the treachery and asks Blackadder who the other figure is, at which point Blackadder reveals Lord Percy.

Cast

Legacy

Related Research Articles

<i>Blackadder</i> British TV sitcom (1983–1989)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmund Blackadder</span> Fictional character from Blackadder

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 line. 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.

<i>Blackadder II</i> Second series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder

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.

<i>Blackadders Christmas Carol</i> 1988 Christmas special of Blackadder

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.

<i>Blackadder: Back & Forth</i> 2000 special based on the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder directed by Paul Weiland

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 (<i>Blackadder</i>) Episode of Blackadder

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Foretelling</span> 1st episode of the 1st series of Blackadder

"The Foretelling" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom The Black Adder, the first series of the long-running comedy programme Blackadder. It marks Rowan Atkinson's debut as the character Edmund Blackadder, and is the first appearance of the recurring characters Baldrick and Percy. The comedy actor Peter Cook guest stars as King Richard III.

Born to Be King (<i>Blackadder</i>) 2nd episode of the 1st series of Blackadder

"Born to Be King" is the second episode of The Black Adder, the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. Set in late 15th-century England, the episode takes a humorous look at rivalries with the Kingdom of Scotland and centres the dramatic tension on the doubts cast over parentage of the lead character, Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Archbishop</span> 3rd episode of the 1st series of Blackadder

"The Archbishop" is the third episode of the first series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. It is set in England in the late 15th century, and follows the exploits of the fictitious Prince Edmund as he is invested as Archbishop of Canterbury amid a Machiavellian plot by the King to acquire lands from the Catholic Church. Most of the humour in the episode relies on religious satire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Queen of Spain's Beard</span> 4th episode of the 1st series of Blackadder

"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baldrick</span> Fictional character from Blackadder

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.

References