History Recap / BlackadderS1E0Pilot

The first-ever ''Blackadder'' episode, filmed in early 1982, and an early version of what would later become "Born to be King" in the actual series. This episode was never aired, due to the eventual series getting a ReTool which placed it in the War of the Roses, along with a much larger budget and a somewhat different cast (this episode has Philip Fox as Baldrick, John Savident as the King, and Robert Bathurst as Prince Henry, though all the other roles are the same).

----

* TooDumbToLive: [=McAngus's=] death via the cannon actually makes a lot more sense in this version, where he's depicted to be a good fighter but not particularly intelligent. In contrast, the [=McAngus=] in the actual series is obviously much cleverer than Edmund, making it seem a little odd when he falls for Edmund's trap.

While snooping around his bedroom, Edmund overhears a conversation between [=McAngus=] and the Queen, insinuating that [=McAngus's=] father may have been involved in some rather inappropriate relations with the Queen in the past. Edmund then recruits [=McAngus=] to take part in a play he's just written, called ''The Death of the Scotsman''. That night Edmund, Percy, Baldrick and [=McAngus=] start performing the play, which if all goes to plan will see [=McAngus=] "accidentally" hanged for real during the play's climax. Before going on-stage, the drunken [=McAngus=] lets slip that he has some letters between his father and the Queen, which he claims would throw doubt on the parentage of Henry if they were to get out in the open. Edmund attempts to stop the play, but Percy and Baldrick take Edmund's previous warning that "if [=McAngus=] lives, you die" a little too seriously and go to insane lengths to try killing the scotsman despite Edmund actively trying to stop them. Eventually, despite nearly hanging [=McAngus=] himself by accident, Edmund stops his two servants.

* YouDontLookLikeYou: Leaving aside the characters that were recast for the actual series, Edmund has a much more respectable hairstyle than his ludicrous pudding-basin cut, the Queen looks like Elizabeth I, and [=McAngus=] has short hair and stubble rather than the long hair and BadassBeard he has in "Born to be King." In what seems to be one of the few constants in the Blackadder universe, Percy looks the same as his later counterparts.

* {{Expy}}: The Queen's appearance is obviously styled after Elizabeth I, though she doesn't act anything like the eventual Queenie we'll later see in ''Blackadder II''

** On the other hand it seems a little odd that this Edmund would blunder and mix the dates since he is quite smart unlike Prince Edmund from the main series.

* UpperClassTwit: Prince Henry has pretty much the same sort of personality as Percy does, which goes a long way to explaining Edmund's resentment toward him. Notably, when the possible truth of Edmund's parentage comes out, Henry says "No, I think you're the bastard" with a completely straight face, while the Prince Harry of the finished series turns it into a verbal smack-down.

* TheUnfavorite: As with the broadcast series, Edmund is very much this compared to Harry, albeit because he's a dishonourable cad rather than a snivelling idiot.

* TooDumbToLive: [=McAngus's=] death via the cannon actually makes a lot more sense in this version, where he's depicted to be a good fighter but not particularly intelligent. In contrast, the [=McAngus=] in the actual series is obviously much cleverer than Edmund, making it seem a little odd when he falls for Edmund's little trap.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Or, as far as most fans are concerned, What ''Should'' Have Been, since this episode is much more in keeping with the tone of the second, third and fourth series. The only major thing missing from this episode is Tony Robinson as Baldrick, and for some, BrianBlessed as the King (though others argue that the incarnation played here by John Savident could have easily worked if given better lines).

The first-ever ''Blackadder'' episode, filmed in early 1982. The episode was never aired, due to the eventual series getting a ReTool which placed it in the War of the Roses, along with a much larger budget and a somewhat different cast (this episode has Philip Fox as Baldrick, John Savident as the King, and Robert Bathurst as Prince Henry, though all the other roles are the same).