Trivia
The format of the Blackadder series was changed substantially after the BBC was displeased with the first series (The Black Adder). It was made as a standard studio sitcom with an audience, the characters' roles were redefined and the budget substantially trimmed.
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The writers realized that they had to rewrite the character of Queen Elizabeth I after they saw Miranda Richardson's wonderfully silly interpretation.
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This is the only feature to actually use a snake to symbolize Blackadder: the snake in the title sequence, and in the "B" of "Blackadder".
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According to producer John Lloyd, Ben Elton was particularly keen on making the Elizabethan age the setting, calling it "a sexy age that the kids can relate to."
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Ben Elton often gave stand-up routines to warm up and amuse the audience before filming began.
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A murder mystery-style episode was written, but dropped because the writers felt it did not work for the show.
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Richard Curtis has said this show was the happiest he has ever worked on, due to the cast being reduced to a small number of familiar actors (he compared it to a "friendly bunch of school chums."
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According to Tim McInnerny, the character of Lord Percy Percy is inspired by Sir Andrew Aguecheek, from William Shakespeare's 'Twelfth Night' play.
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Director Mandie Fletcher described filming as "a bit like doing Shakespeare in front of an audience, not at all like sitcom."
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Ben Elton proposed that Baldrick, who was the most intelligent of the main cast, become "the stupidest person in the history of human beings" to act as a foil to the now-smarter Blackadder.
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The series was the originator of Baldrick's obsession with the turnip; this arose from a botanical error on the part of Ben Elton, who confused the vegetable with the "amusingly shaped" parsnip.
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Rowan Atkinson, who wrote for the first series The Black Adder, did not wish to continue writing for the second series, so writer and stand-up comedian Ben Elton replaced him.
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