Casting
Each series tended to feature the same set of regular actors in different period settings, although throughout the four series and specials, only Blackadder and Baldrick were constant characters. Several regular cast members recurred as characters with similar names, implying, like Blackadder, that they were descendants.
Various actors have appeared in more than one of the Blackadder series and/or specials. These are:
Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder, the series' protagonist. In The Black Adder he is Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh, nicknamed "The Black Adder". In Blackadder II he is Edmund, Lord Blackadder, a nobleman in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. In Blackadder the Third he is Mr. Edmund Blackadder Esq., servant to the Prince Regent. In Blackadder's Christmas Carol he is Ebenezer Blackadder, the Victorian proprietor of a "moustache shop". In Blackadder Goes Forth he is Captain Edmund Blackadder, serving in World War I. In Blackadder: Back & Forth he is Lord Edmund Blackadder, a modern-day representative of the Blackadder dynasty.
Tony Robinson as S. Baldrick, Blackadder's servant, or batman/orderly in Blackadder Goes Forth, who appears in all four series and all the specials.
Tim McInnerny as Lord Percy Percy, Blackadder's dimwitted sidekick in The Black Adder and Blackadder II—initially the Duke of Northumberland in the former, then heir to the same title in the latter—and as Captain Kevin Darling, Blackadder's antagonistic rival, in Blackadder Goes Forth. He also appeared as The Scarlet Pimpernel (alias Lord Topper and Le Comte de Frou Frou) in the Blackadder the Third episode "Nob and Nobility", and reprised his role as Darling in Back & Forth.
Stephen Fry as Melchett in Blackadder II and Blackadder Goes Forth. In Blackadder II he is Lord Melchett, the sycophantic adviser to Queen Elizabeth I. Fry also played this incarnation of Melchett in Blackadder's Christmas Carol. In Blackadder Goes Forth he is General Melchett, a blustering buffoon and presumed descendant. Fry also appeared as Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, in "Duel and Duality", the final episode of Blackadder the Third, and as various characters in Back & Forth.
Hugh Laurie as George, first the Prince Regent in Blackadder the Third, and later Lieutenant George in Blackadder Goes Forth. Laurie also played the Prince Regent in Blackadder's Christmas Carol. Prior to becoming a regular cast member, Laurie also appeared in two episodes of Blackadder II; first as Simon "Farters Parters" Partridge or "Mr. Ostrich" in the episode "Beer", and then as Prince Ludwig the Indestructible in "Chains", the final episode of Blackadder II. He reprised his role as George in Back & Forth.
Miranda Richardson was only a regular cast member for Blackadder II, in which she played Queen Elizabeth I, reprising the role in Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Back & Forth, alongside additional characters. However, she also played significant one-off roles as Amy Hardwood (a.k.a. The Shadow) in "Amy and Amiability" from Blackadder the Third, and Mary Fletcher-Brown, a dutiful nurse in "General Hospital" from Blackadder Goes Forth.
Brian Blessed, Elspet Gray and Robert East appeared in all six episodes of The Black Adder as the Black Adder's father (King Richard IV), mother (Queen Gertrude) and brother (Prince Harry), respectively. Gray had also appeared in the non-broadcast pilot.
Patsy Byrne played Nursie in all six episodes of Blackadder II, but never featured in either of the subsequent series, either as a regular character or one-off. She briefly reprised the character in Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Back & Forth.
Helen Atkinson-Wood played the role of Mrs. Miggins in all six episodes of Blackadder the Third, but did not appear again in the series, although the character was mentioned several times in Blackadder II and in the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth.
Ben Elton's arrival, from Blackadder II onwards, heralded the more frequent recruitment of comic actors from the alternative comedy era for guest appearances, including Robbie Coltrane, Rik Mayall (who had appeared in the final episode of The Black Adder as "Mad Gerald"), Adrian Edmondson, Nigel Planer, Mark Arden, Stephen Frost, Chris Barrie, Jim Sweeney, Steve Steen and Jeremy Hardy. Elton himself played an anarchist in Blackadder the Third.
Gabrielle Glaister played Bob, a young woman who poses as a man, in both Blackadder II and Blackadder Goes Forth, where in the latter her official title is Driver Parkhurst. One episode each of Blackadder II and Blackadder Goes Forth feature Rik Mayall as Lord Flashheart, a vulgar friend in his first appearance and then a successful rival of Blackadder in his second. He also played a decidedly Flashheart-like Robin Hood in Back & Forth. Lee Cornes appeared in one episode each of the Curtis/Elton-written series; as a guard in the Blackadder II episode "Chains"; as the poet Shelley in the Blackadder the Third episode "Ink and Incapability"; and as firing squad soldier Private Fraser in the Blackadder Goes Forth episode "Corporal Punishment".
More established actors, some at the veteran stage of their careers, were also recruited for roles. These included Peter Cook, Alex Norton, Jim Broadbent, Frank Finlay, Valentine Dyall, John Grillo, Simon Jones, Tom Baker, Ronald Lacey, Roger Blake, Denis Lill, Hugh Paddick, Kenneth Connor, Warren Clarke and Geoffrey Palmer, who played Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig in "Goodbyeee", the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth. Bill Wallis and Miriam Margolyes each played three different guest roles: Wallis played Sir Justin de Boinod in "The Archbishop" (The Black Adder), Mr. Ploppy in "Head" (Blackadder II), and Brigadier Sir Bernard Proudfoot Smith in "General Hospital" (Blackadder Goes Forth), while Margolyes played The Spanish Infanta in "The Queen of Spain's Beard" (The Black Adder), Lady Whiteadder in "Beer" (Blackadder II), and Queen Victoria in Blackadder's Christmas Carol. Patrick Allen provided narration for all six episodes of The Black Adder, and appeared as "The Hawk" in the last episode, "The Black Seal". Two episodes of The Black Adder feature Natasha King as Princess Leia of Hungary, while the second episode, "Born to Be King", features a brief, early screen appearance of Angus Deayton.
Unusually for a sitcom based loosely on factual events and in the historical past, a man was recruited for one episode essentially to play himself. Political commentator Vincent Hanna played a character billed as "his own great-great-great grandfather" in the Blackadder the Third episode "Dish and Dishonesty". Hanna was asked to take part because the scene was of a by-election in which Baldrick was a candidate and, in the style of modern television, Hanna gave a long-running "live" commentary of events at the count (and interviewed candidates and election agents) to a crowd through the town hall window.
