Line #6 Fridge/Blackadder


1	[[AC:FridgeBrilliance]]
2	* A "Baudrik" or "Baldric" was a term for a supporting strap in the Late Middle Ages, thus adding meaning to Baldrick's name.
3	* Prince Ludwig permanently impersonating Queen Elizabeth nicely explains the whole Virgin Queen thing. There have even been RealLife conspiracy theories about her being a man in disguise.
4	** ''Blackadder the Third''. George IV's great grandfather was George Ludwig of Germany. Which explains the uncanny resemblance (both are played by Creator/HughLaurie)
5	* Myriam Margoyles, a noted lesbian playing the puritanical Lady Whiteadder in the second series episode 'Beer' and in the final scene emerging from under Queenie's skirt... Does that count as a kind of Fridge ActorAllusion?
6	* In the episode "[[Recap/BlackadderS3E1DishAndDishonesty Dish and Dishonesty]]" in ''Blackadder the Third'', Edmund says that he'll be back before the prince can say "antidisestablishmentarianism". It just seems like a long funny word, which the prince, who is an idiot, is unable to figure out how to pronounce before Edmund returns two days later. But, the word itself basically means "the movement of people against people who are against the establishment". Especially it refers to a 19th century political movement against the separation of the Church of England and the government. The prince is actually Prince Regent and thus effectively the head of the Church of England and the British sovereign, the whole series ([[AnachronismStew sort of]]) takes place in the early 19th century, and Edmund is going out to recruit an MP to support the Prince and oppose those who are seeking to remove him from power--thus antidisestablishmentarianism is exactly what they are doing!
7	* Also from "Dish and Dishonesty", the very name of the rotten borough Dunny-on-the-Wold. "Dunny" is Australian slang for an outhouse. "Wold" is an antiquated English term for wetlands, like the Suffolk Fens where the borough is located. In other words, the place is all-but-literally named "shithole in the middle of the swamps"!
8	* In the ''Blackadder the Third'' episode "[[Recap/BlackadderS3E3NobAndNobility Nob and Nobility]]", Edmund goes to the pie shop to recruit a French aristocrat to easily win his bet. The Count leaps at the opportunity to attend a party and declares, "If only I'd brought my mongoose costume." At first it just seems a random ditzy statement, but when we find out he's actually Topper [[spoiler: (a.k.a. The Scarlet Pimpernel)]] and the fact that he wants to one-up Edmund, it comes off as foreshadowing since mongoose are famous for killing snakes. Unfortunately for Topper, mongoose are only advantageous against cobras, and he's up against an Adder, [[spoiler: so he ends up dead, and by poison no less]].
9	* In [[Recap/BlackadderSS2BlackaddersChristmasCarol Blackadder's Christmas Carol]], it would have made ''no'' difference in status if Blackadder had been nicer and so gotten the money and a title from the queen--he was horrible so he didn't get it, but if he had been nice and gotten the rewards, he probably would have ended up giving it all up to the poor, and the people in his neighbourhood who habitually visit him on the take.
10	** And he'd have had to leave Baldrick in charge of the shop while he attended sittings of the House of Lords. That wouldn't have ended well.
11	* Each significant member of the Blackadder line is slightly smarter and more competent, building on the mistakes of the past, until he finally wins. Now it makes sense that Edmund I was a complete idiot!
12	** If anything, Edmund was not a complete idiot. He lacked foresight when it came to his plans, that is all. What happened there is that Edmund was street-smart and cunning on his own, but he didn't receive the same kind of education that his brother, the more gullible and stupid Harry, received. After all, he was neglected by his father and education wasn't for free back then. Edmund I lacked the education he needed to be a MagnificentBastard or [[TheChessMaster Chess Master]] while Harry got the attention and training to be of relative use to the court.
13	** Additionally, the later Blackadders aren't so much immune to these same pratfalls (their plans fail just as often) as much they maintain their composure better. They live in eras where StiffUpperLip takes precedence on British composures, even in equally brutal and hopeless situations as before. The earlier Blackadders had to deal with much more barbaric and outwardly vicious adversary, so Edmund I is much more openly cowardly and out of his depth. Also explains why Edmund II is more of a CompositeCharacter in this regard, since he lives in a time with the likes of Elizabeth and the Bishop, who are complete {{Mood Swinger}}s in their polite and barbaric qualities.
14	* Clearly it's not above Mr. Blackadder to take the Prince's identity when the opportunity arises, but after all, George promised him "everything", and Blackadder himself fulfilled his promise to die on his friend's behalf. Technically, he's only taking what was promised. The rest was Fate being kind to him.
15	* In "[[Recap/BlackadderS4E6Goodbyeee Goodbyeee]]", Baldrick comes up with a "cunning plan" involving a splinter on a ladder. At first this seems like comedic NoodleImplements, but pay attention to what he says--he says "that's a rather nasty splinter on that ladder, '''someone could get hurt'''". His plan was essentially to do something to the ladder so that when Edmund climbed out of the trenches, the ladder would break and he'd fall, possibly breaking a leg in the process and getting sent to the hospital (and thus avoiding the dreaded "Final Push").
16	* In "[[Recap/BlackadderSS3BlackadderBackAndForth Blackadder Back & Forth]]", Blackadder travels back in time and steals Robin Hood's girlfriend. In the second season Lord Flashheart, a descendant of Robin Hood, stole Blackadder's fiance.
17	** The special features the modern descendants of the entire main cast from different periods of history, assembled with a time machine in their midst. This creates infinite possibilities, especially with Lady Elizabeth who looks like she would travel back in time and pull a Prince Ludwig on Queenie in a heartbeat.
18	*** Or she could even pull a Prince Ludwig on Ludwig, and take his place impersonating Elizabeth I? That would be appropriate come-uppance for Ludwig.
19	* The [[spoiler: dying Blackadder]] in "[[Recap/BlackadderS1E6TheBlackSeal The Black Seal]]" should logically be [[spoiler: screaming in agony, after his genitals, ears and hands have been chopped off]]. He isn't. He does, however, seem to have no strength left and carries physical injuries. Now bear in mind that Gertrude was [[spoiler: a witch, who had used her powers to save her son's life before]] and another layer is added to the story. Of course if she did manage to [[spoiler: completely save his life]] she wouldn't have shown it at that time, so as to protect her own life. We will never know, as [[spoiler: she and Blackadder both drink poison and die]].
20	* What if Samuel Johnson's ghost took revenge on the Blackadder family by corrupting Ebenezer Blackadder so that he [[spoiler: wouldn't get the money from Queen Victoria]]?
21	** Unfortunately, Samuel Johnson didn't have a Scottish accent, as the Ghost in ''Christmas Carol'' does (it's actor Robbie Coltrane's own accent). Johnson didn't have the affected posh London accent that he has in "Ink & Incapability", either. He was from Staffordshire, which has a very peculiar accent of its own, a variant on the Midlands accent — and by all accounts Johnson retained that accent throughout his life (having moved to London when he was 28).
22	** That said, he was familiar with the Scottish accent due to hanging out with James Boswell (with whom he visited Scotland in 1773), so he might have been able to imitate one.
23	* In "[[Recap/BlackadderS2E6Chains Chains]]", Lord Melchett gets the line, "As private parts to the gods are we! They play with us for their sport." The joke here is not only a play on a famous line from ''Theatre/KingLear'' ("As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport."), it also plays on a thematically similar line from ''Theatre/TheDuchessOfMalfi'' ("We are merely the stars' tennis balls, struck and banded which way please them.") Note that Creator/StephenFry, who plays Melchett, went on to write a retelling of ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'' called ''Literature/TheStarsTennisBalls''.
24	* In the first season, Prince Edmund is the manipulative and power-hungry second son of the Duke of York (later King Richard IV). In ''Theatre/KingLear'', Edmund is the manipulative and power-hungry second son of the Earl of Gloucester. Both Edmunds were born out of wedlock (although our Edmund quickly destroys the evidence of this before it can be examined in greater detail and is therefore able to maintain his position as a Prince for the rest of the first series). Considering how often the first episode of the series references ''Theatre/RichardIII'', it seems fitting that the writers would drop a subtle reference to a different Shakespearean play. The Bard is, after all, credited with having written additional dialogue in the closing credits.
25	* Carrying on the Shakespeare references, it turns out Henry Tudor got to take the throne by default after the Yorkist royal family wiped themselves out in an internal dispute, via poison. Essentially, the same way Fortinbras got the crown at the end of ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}''.
26	* Queenie's court looks rather empty throughout the second season. When they made ''Blackadder Back and Forth'' they made it more inline with what one would expect. Budgetary reasons are obviously [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] (ie. real-life) explanation for this, but there is also a perfectly reasonable Watsonian (ie. in-universe) explanation. Queenie remarks that the modern Blackadder looks old which means he travelled back to the start of her reign (when the Lord Blackadder she knows would be a younger man). By the time the series comes round, it's later on in her reign, and her AxCrazy tendencies have caused a situation whereby many courtiers have either lost their heads already or are too terrified to even hang around and try to gain her favour — only Melchett (who, going by what his descendant is like, may well be a bit insane) and Blackadder (who's really desperate gif royal favour) are permanent fixtures. As for Queenie looking younger, it is well-known that the real Elizabeth I used make-up in order to conceal the signs of aging.
27	* Tim [=McInnery=] didn't take a main character role in Blackadder The Third, instead appearing in one episode as a friend of George's called "Topper". We later find out that Topper is the Scarlet Pimpernel. In the original novel, the Scarlet Pimpernel's real name is "Percy"!
28	* In "General Hospital", George writes letters to his Uncle Hermie. How many names abbreviate to "Hermie" apart from "Hermann", which is a German name? [[spoiler:An early hint that George's letters are the cause of the leak.]]
29	* Nurse Mary in "General Hospital" shares some strong personality traits with Amy from series 3 and they both start out presenting very differently from their real scheming selves. Amy never married before being executed so it's not clear as a woman how she could have left any descendants - could she have escaped using her powers of disguise?
30	** Perhaps Amy had a child in her teenage years (as her real self, it's plausible she could be a passionate lover), and by "Amy and Amiability" she could be in her mid-thirties so her child is grown up and not an encumbrance to her?
31	** I've never bought the idea that all of Miranda Richardson's characters came from a SingleLineOfDescent. My personal theory is both Amy and Mary (and Lady Elizabeth of Back and Forth) are descended from Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's sister, while Queen Elizabeth is of course Anne's daughter. So distantly related to each other.
32	* The title of the episode "Head" potentially refers not only to the events of Blackadder's new role in the justice department, but also to what nearly happened in his visit from Lady Farrow.
33	* Le Comte de Frou-Frou in Blackadder the Third claims to speak only a little English before immediately saying: "Don't ask me to take a physiology class or conduct a light opera". It's delivered like a joke but should have given away to Blackadder that the Comte is not quite who he says he is.
34	* The British Royal Family have exchanged presents on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day since the time of Queen Victoria. Perhaps Albert always blew his surprise presents every Christmas Eve, as he does in "Blackadder's Christmas Carol", so then the rest of the family would all join in and exchange all their presents to make him feel better, and it became an established annual tradition.
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36	[[AC:Fridge Horror]]
37	* Near the end of "[[Recap/BlackadderS4E6Goodbyeee Goodbyeee]]", Edmund says, "The guns have stopped because we're about to attack. Not even our generals are mad enough to shell their own men. They think it's far more sporting to let the Germans do it." According to the Real Life section of TrialByFriendlyFire, the orders to walk slowly towards the enemy were intended to keep the troops behind the barrage of shells so they will have cover fire. By ceasing fire for the charge, the generals are just showing once and for all that they really are deliberately trying to get everyone killed.
38	* Also, Darling's line in the final episode. "The Great War: 1914 to 1917". To think that this insanity will continue for yet another year is almost too awful to contemplate.
39	** Also not helped when one considers how the war finally ''did'' end. The Treaty of Versailles actually sounds like the kind of thing one would expect to see in ''Blackadder''- a "negotiation" composed exclusively of representatives from countries on the winning side that was more interested in finding someone to blame for the war than actually resolving anything. General Melchett could very well have been present for it and involved in the decision to scapegoat Germany. This would mean not only has he been sending thousands of innocent people to die pointlessly in the First World War, but he also had a hand in creating the social circumstances that would eventually lead to World War II.
40	* In ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', Captain Darling's TwitchyEye is a classic symptom of shell shock--[[ShellShockedVeteran or, in modern parlance, post-traumatic stress disorder.]] If he actually had been invalided out of active service already, just imagine how much each one of Blackadder's (years of) veiled insults must have hurt--not to mention General Melchett sending him back into the front lines to get pointlessly killed.
41	** If it helps, there are some hints that he's actually just been extraordinarily lucky and[=/=]or managed to manipulate himself into a nice cushy admin job, and has never been on the front lines.
42	** Also, lest we get too deep into creating sympathetic backstories for him, FWIW [[WordOfGod the writers and Tim McInnerny]] have stated that Darling's twitch is actually a nervous tic brought about by years of bitterness, seething resentment and repressed fury at being referred to as "Darling" by everyone his whole life, not as a result of his military service (which is sympathetic in another way, I suppose). Of course, DeathOfTheAuthor means that we're free to interpret things different, but authorial intent suggests that Captain Darling has apparently just been lucky enough to be one of the many officers who found themselves stationed behind the front lines during the conflict.
43	* In "[[Recap/BlackadderS1E4TheQueenOfSpainsBeard The Queen of Spain's Beard]]", Harry has to act as a translator to his various foreign fiancees, while the Infanta has Don Speekinglish to carry out that role. Yet Princess Leia, despite being Hungarian, speaks absolutely perfect English, and with an upper-class English accent as well. This, along with her young age, points to only one conclusion; that she was sent to England as soon as she was old enough to speak (if even that old), and raised there with the sole intention of marrying into the English royal family as soon as it became politically convenient.
44	* In hindsight, it's probably a blessing is disguise that the first Blackadder drunk the poison when he did. Could you imagine living the rest of your life with his injuries in the 15th century?
45	* Princess Leia is conspicuously missing from the final scenes of the first series, and so presumably managed to avoid death by poisoning. This would have likely left her as the new queen, simply because they woudn't have had anyone else to turn to after the king, both legitimate heirs and countless other noblemen were wiped out. Unfortunately, thanks to all of Richard IV's advisers likely being killed as well, this meant that a girl in her early-mid teenage years, a dung shoveller, and an idiot who had poisoned the previous royal family were all that stood between a vengeful Henry Tudor (who had spent 13 years licking his wounds in exile and doubtless rebuilt his forces) and the throne of England. Yeah, that situation wasn't going to work out well for anyone left alive after the poisoning.
46	** The widow of a royal heir has no claim to the throne in her own right, and in 1498 England still followed the principle that a woman could not reign. Next in line for the throne would have been Edward, Earl of Warwick. We can assume Henry Tudor defeated Edward, and executed Edward in 1499, thus rejoining the accepted timeline of English history.
47	** And for the accepted timeline to re-establish itself for Elizabeth I's reign in Series 2, Henry, despite his defeat at Bosworth, must still have married Elizabeth of York in 1486, for Elizabeth I to be born when she was. Being married to Richard IV's sister Elizabeth, his nearest surviving relative, would have bolstered Henry's dodgy claim to the throne.
48	** And that's assuming Leia was actually still ''alive'' at the time of the final episode. It's entirely possible that her absence was the result of either her falling victim to the notoriously high infant mortality rate of the medieval era, or worse still, Richard IV pulling a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on her and arranging for her to suffer an "accident" to leave Edmund free to re-marry if ever any new alliances were needed.
49	*** If Leia was still alive during "The Black Seal", she would have been about 14. Around that time, Edmund would have been pressurised to impregnate her and have an heir. Maybe she died in childbirth, and the baby either died or was taken prisoner by Henry Tudor after the Yorkist royal family were all poisoned.
50	*** Er - no, she wouldn't. Even among the aristocracy, the average age of marriage was late teens or early twenties. Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII was a rare exception to this rule, and an example of why very young marriages were very rare and generally consummated much later, as Henry's birth damaged her body so badly that she was left infertile.
51	* In ''Blackadder the Third'', Baldrick relates that his uncle once portrayed a codpiece in a production of Macbeth. Unless it is merely a delusion of Baldrick's, this anecdote raises a lot of logistical questions. Assuming there is any truth to this story, the most plausible explanation seems to be that Baldrick's uncle was killed and skinned, and his tanned hide sewn into a codpiece.
52	* Darling has a cushy enough posting, but has tried to apply for a transfer to the Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps. Could it be that he knew on some level that Melchett's insanity would eventually get him killed?
53	* The title character of "Witchsmeller Pursuivant" is later revealed to be just [[DisproportionateRetribution an extremely petty frame-up artist]]. One has to wonder what happened in Taunton that drove the Witchsmeller to ''burn the entire town''.
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55	[[AC:FridgeLogic]]
56	* In the very first episode, the canopy in Edmund's bedroom has a black snake design on it even before he chooses his name. Of course, this might just be a lucky coincidence, or even the thing that inspired Baldrick to come up with "the Black Adder".
57	* Elizabeth I really wasn't keen on Catholics, yet her Bishop of Bath and Wells is a monk and therefore Catholic. When the show was first broadcast, the ''Radio Times'' listed "Money" as set in 1564, early in Elizabeth's reign - so the Bishop's Catholicism is explained by his being a Marian leftover.
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59	[[AC: FridgeHorror]]
60	* In the final episode of ''Blackadder the Second'', Lord Melchett is stated to have had relations with several sheep, at least one of which was a human in disguise. A few generations later, in ''Blackadder Goes Forth'', General Melchett's catch-phrase is a very sheeplike "Baahhh"!

Context Fridge / Blackadder