The Black Adder (found pilot of BBC history sitcom; 1982): Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 02:18, 24 July 2023
Pilot title screen.
Status: Found
Date found: 15 June 2023
Found by: GOLD (UKTV channel)
Blackadder is a BBC sitcom created by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, the latter of whom also starred as the eponymous protagonist Edmund Blackadder throughout various stages of history, from the Battle of Bosworth to World War One. The series since its inception has been critically acclaimed and universally loved by British audiences, who often rank the show among one of the best British comedies ever made.
While initially being aired in 1983, it originally had a pilot titled 'The Black Adder' in 1982, of which never aired on British TV until 2023, as part of the TV channel Gold's celebration of the show's 40th birthday.
Background
The Black Adder pilot was originally screened for the BBC in 1982, having been taped in the June of that year.[1]
While sharing many similarities with the 1983 Blackadder series that it helped to greenlight (including being set in an historical era and having many of the same characters), there were major differences. The pilot in turn has been likened therefore to the second series of the show Blackadder II, due to its Elizabethan setting and its production design. The plot details are very vague, with a time frame being given in the opening of 'Europe, 400 years ago', and the monarch characters being referred to as 'the Queen' and 'the King'.[2]
There are more obvious differences between the pilot and the main show however, when comparing specific central characters, most notably that of Baldrick, who is given a silent role here played by actor Philip Fox, as opposed to Tony Robinson's more well-known role in the rest of the series as Blackadder's often-dimwitted sidekick. In a Radio Times interview, Robinson noted he had never met Fox, all the while conceding while the pilot was 'tedious' in parts, it had 'flashes of genius', similar to the main series.[3] The pilot in turn would later serve as the inspiration for Blackadder II's 'Born To Be King' episode.
Availability
The pilot was lost media for quite some time, until the British TV channel Gold (whose focus is on reairing classic British sitcoms) announced in April 2023 that it would air it in June of that year to commemorate the show's 40th birthday.[4]
It then subsequently broadcat the show on the 15th of June 2023, alongside the documentary Blackadder: The Lost Pilot about the matter, hosted by Robinson.
