Edmund,
Duke of Edinburgh, arrives late for the Battle of Bosworth Field. He's supposed
to be fighting on side of the Plantaganets, but due to sheer incompetence, he
manages to chop off Richard III's head. Then he saves the life of Henry Tudor,
leader of the opposing army. Now his father is King, Edmund wants to be
taken more seriously, and having toyed with the idea of calling himself The Black
Vegetable, he settles for The Black Adder. A legend is born. Review:Describing
itself as a situation tragedy, the series set out to parody history, using Shakespeare
(or rather, misusing) and a strong cast of cameo appearances, including one of
Peter Cook's last acting performances, a fine Richard III. The plot came
before the characters, and the writers clearly were no intending to rely on one-liners,
so it was not a laugh-out-loud experience; it was enough, however, to hook a cult
following. At this stage, it was unclear who was going on to play central
roles, but the writers had the sense to keep Brian Blessed (Edmund's father) in
check, and establishing the queen as a force to be reckoned with. Credits:
| Director | Martin Shardlow |
| Writers | Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson |
| Additional Dialogue | William Shakespeare |
| Barbara Miller | Regan |
| Peter Cook | Richard III |
| Peter Benson | Henry VII |
| Philip Kendall | Painter |
| Kathleen St. John | General |
| Gretchen Franklin | Cordelia | |
| 