Corporal Punishment

Episode aired Oct 5, 1989
TV-PGTV-PG
30min

8.8/10

S1.E2

Blackadder hatches a cunning plan to avoid starvation and ignore his orders by eating a carrier pigeon.Blackadder hatches a cunning plan to avoid starvation and ignore his orders by eating a carrier pigeon.Blackadder hatches a cunning plan to avoid starvation and ignore his orders by eating a carrier pigeon.

8.8/10

946

Director
- Richard Boden
Writers
- Richard Curtis(by)
- Ben Elton(by)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Hugh Laurie and Tony Robinson in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Rowan Atkinson, Lee Cornes, Paul Mark Elliott, Stephen Frost, and Jeremy Gittins in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Rowan Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, and Tim McInnerny in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Hugh Laurie in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Jeremy Hardy in Blackadder Goes Forth (1989)

Faced with the possibility of being ordered to advance, as well as starvation in the trenches, Captain Blackadder decides to kill two birds with one stone by eating a pigeon carrying his orders. Unfortunately, General Melchett has been using his own pet bird to deliver the message, and the loss of "Speckled Jim" sends him on a rampage, determined to punish those responsible. —Murray Chapman

pigeon carrier pigeon hangover blindfold firing squad 9 more

Trivia
The line concerning solicitor Bob Massingbird was a post-production overdub: the line-as-spoken in studio referred to "Bob Moxon Browne". There was a real QC Robert Moxon Browne and this could have been seen as the BBC promoting him, thereby flouting the then still in Force prohibition on members of 'the professions' directly advertising their services.

Goofs
The firing squad's rifles are not cocked.

Quotes
[last lines]
[Blackadder has found Baldrick and George drunk]
Private Baldrick: I think I can explain sir.
Captain Blackadder: Can you, Baldrick?
Private Baldrick: No.
Captain Blackadder: As I suspected. I'm not a religious man as you know, but henceforth I shall pray nightly to the God who killed Cain and squashed Samson that he comes out of retirement and gets back into practice with the pair of you.
[the phone rings. Blackadder snatches it up]
Captain Blackadder: Blackadder. Ah, Captain Darling. Well, you know, some of us just have friends in high places, I suppose. No I can hear you perfectly. You want what? You want two volunteers for a mission into No Man's Land. Codename "Operation Certain Death". Yes I think I have just the fellows.
[He hangs up and looks at the two]
Captain Blackadder: God is very quick these days.
[George and Baldrick look terrified]