History Series / Blackadder

* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: "We haven't received any messages and Captain Blackadder definitely did not eat this delicious plump breasted pigeon."

* RidiculouslyLongLivedFailyName: In the year 1485, Prince Edmund decides to call himself "the Black Adder." In every other iteration of the series the protagonist, a direct descendant of Prince Edmund, is named Edmund Blackadder, even as the family's social status descends; his servant is also always named Baldrick.

* WokenUpAtAnUngodlyHour: At the beginning of "Money" in the second series, Blackadder is sleeping with a prostitute, and is woken by Baldrick, who has a visitor for him.
-->'''Baldrick:''' My Lord, there is someone at the door to see you.
-->'''Blackadder:''' What time is it?
-->'''Baldrick:''' Four o' clock.
-->'''Bladadder:''' I've told you, you mustn't let me sleep all day, this woman charges by the hour.
-->'''Baldrick:''' My Lord, it is four o' clock in the morning.
-->'''Blackadder:''' Someone wants to see me at four in the morning? What is he, a giant lark?
-->'''Baldrick:''' No, he's a priest.
-->'''Blackadder:''' Tell him I'm Jewish.

* RidiculouslyLonglivedFailyName: In the year 1485, Prince Edmund decides to call himself "the Black Adder." In every other iteration of the series the protagonist, a direct descendant of Prince Edmund, is named Edmund Blackadder, even as the family's social status descends; his servant is also always named Baldrick.

* ''Blackadder Back & Forth'' (2000): the 21st Century Blackadder and Baldrick trip through time in a time machine.

A tastefully vicious collection of [[BritCom British comedies]] which aired on [[Creator/TheBBC BBC One]] in TheEighties, all centering around various generations of the Blackadder family as embodied in its sole visible member, Edmund (Creator/RowanAtkinson): a cynical, snide, and outright caustic British AntiHero (he would be a DeadpanSnarker if he could just stop sneering) who never manages to succeed at most of his schemes, but never quite loses either (except at the end of each series, where he usually either dies horribly or wins spectacularly). Each Blackadder in each generation is aided by a BumblingSidekick in the shape of his corresponding Baldrick (Creator/TonyRobinson), an ignorant and filthy manservant and dogsbody of unhealthy habits and preoccupations. His typical {{foil}} is a classic UpperClassTwit of far higher social station than his own, on whom he is forced to serve hand and foot.

* AnythingThatMoves: The baby-eating bishop of Bath and Wells will "do anything to anything": animal, vegetable, even ''mineral''.
** Lord Flashheart isn't exactly selective.
--->'''Flashheart:''' ''[to Baldrick]'' Thanks, bridesmaid, like the beard! Gives me something to '''hang on to'''!\\
'''Flashheart:''' Nursie! I like it! [[ChubbyChaser Firm and fruity!]] Am I pleased to see you, or did I just put a ''canoe'' in my pocket! ''Down'', boy, '''down'''!

** The snake crawling across the table in the opening credits, apart from being a VisualPun on "Blackadder", may also be a parody of ''Series/IClaudius'''s opening titles.

* AncestralName: Prince Edmund "Black Adder" would have at least three descendants named Edmund Blackadder who alwyays seems to have gone down the social ladder in each generation.

One of the most impressive aspects of the show was the subtle differences between the various incarnations of Blackadder: The ambitious but spineless Black Adder, the dashing but impulsive Lord Blackadder, the cool and ruthless E. Blackadder Esq. and the weary, rather less evil, but more witty and intelligent Captain Blackadder all had much in common character-wise, but were recognisably different people. A similar variation can be seen in the Baldricks ([[RuleOfFunny for some reason]], each incarnation was lower in social order than the previous).

* TheRival: Lord Melchet is Blackadder's rival.

* FlashbackRealizationMontage: In "The Foretelling", a portrait of the enemy Henry Tudor is produced. Edmund then has a flashback of himself finding Henry Tudor in his bed, and not recognising him. He then rushes out to look for Henry Tudor.

* FlashbackRealisationMontage: In "The Foretelling", a portrait of the enemy Henry Tudor is produced. Edmund then has a flashback of himself finding Henry Tudor in his bed, and not recognising him. He then rushes out to look for Henry Tudor.

* RoyalBrat: Queenie.

** The first Blackadder himself is a fictional son of the mostly-fictional [[Creator/{{BRIANBLESSED}} King Richard IV]], who in [[TheFateOfThePrincesInTheTower real life may have or may not have been killed]] in the Tower as a boy by his uncle UsefulNotes/RichardIII and at the very least was never King. It follows that all other Blackadders are descended from him, though each descendant's lot degrades over time: from prince to lord to butler (to prince) to soldier.

** Most noticeably with ''The Black Adder'', which depicts Henry Tudor as ''losing'' the Battle of Bosworth Field, and Richard IV (who in RealLife would have been 11 or 12 at that point, assuming he was even still alive, and definitely not old enough to be played by Creator/BrianBlessed and have two adult children) ruling for the next 13 years, before the eventual Henry VII rewrites the history books to scrub out Richard IV's reign.

** The first Blackadder himself is a fictional son of the mostly-fictional [[Creator/{{BRIANBLESSED}} King Richard IV]], who in real life may have been killed in the Tower as a boy by his uncle UsefulNotes/RichardIII and at the very least was never King. It follows that all other Blackadders are descended from him, though each descendant's lot degrades over time: from prince to lord to butler (to prince) to soldier.

* ArtisticLicenseAwards: Blackadder's medals consist of the Queen's South Africa Medal and the King's South Africa Medal, both for UsefulNotes/TheSecondBoerWar (the latter was never issued by itself[[note]]It was established in 1902 after King Edward VII's coronation, for a total of 18 months service with at least part of it between 1 January and 1 June 1902, while the Queen's Medal was issued for all service in the war between 1899 and 1902[[/note]]), which belies his claim of only fighting unarmed African natives. Blackadder also claims to have fought in the [[UsefulNotes/TheRiverWar Sudan War]] in 1898, yet does not have the Queen's Sudan Medal or the Khedive's Sudan Medal (issued with the Queen's Sudan Medal, never alone), and the fictional Battle of Mboto Gorge is stated to have been in Upper Volta (present day Burkini Faso) in 1892, yet he doesn't have the East and West Africa Medal with 1892 bar.