Disease and deprivation stalk our land like ... two giant stalking things.
An assassination attempt is made on the Prince Regent while on a night out at the theatre. Surprised to learn that he is unpopular, the Prince is advised by Edmund to give a speech showing his sensitivity to the people. To help, the Prince decides to take eloqution lessons from a couple of actors they saw at the theatre the same night. Blackadder (who has nothing but contempt for the theatre and acting in general) argues against the idea but is overruled.
Putting up with the numerous eccentricities of the actors and the Prince becoming (if possible) even more boorish and crass than usual under their influence proves the final straw; Blackadder hands in his notice and storms off to get a job under Napoleon. But when Baldrick overhears what he thinks is the actors plotting to kill them all, he and George really have to convince Blackadder to come back to save the day...
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: Baldrick calling Blackadder a "rubber-faced bastard" was probably meant to be a self-deprecating nod to Rowan Atkinson's own propensity for having a rubber face in his physical comedy, since it doesn't make much sense for Baldrick to say that about this iteration of Blackadder whose mannerisms, and especially his facial expressions, are much more reserved than his performances as the previous two Blackadders, especially Prince Edmund.
- All Part of the Show: Prince George believes that an anarchist throwing a bomb at him is part of a play. Then again, he usually thinks the events on stage are real and regularly orders actors arrested for murder.
- Bad Boss: The Prince Regent really goes for this with Edmund.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Blackadder gets his job back with a significant pay rise, the actors are arrested (and presumably executed) on trumped up charges of treason thanks to Edmund, and the Prince Regent is convinced to take the lead role in a play Blackadder has penned, called "Thick Jack Clot Sits in the Stocks and Gets Pelted With Rancid Tomatoes". Downplayed in that the actors themselves behave like massive jerkasses throughout the episode, but at least they stop short of actually having people killed.
- Buffy Speak: "Disease and deprivation stalk our land like two...giant, stalking things".
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: Prince George is so dim-witted that he doesn't realize theatre actors are just playing pretend. According to Blackadder, he once ruined a performance of Julius Caesar by shouting "Look behind you, Mr. Caesar!" during the assassination scene, and we see another performance where he attempts to call the guards to arrest a killer.Blackadder: As I've told you about eight times, the man playing Julius Caesar was an actor named Kemp.Prince George: Thundering gherkins! Brutus must have been pretty miffed when he found out.Blackadder: What?Prince George: That he hadn't killed Caesar after all, but just some poxy actor called Kemp. What do you think he did, go round to Caesar's palace after the play and kill him then?
- Of course, it then gets turned around: Blackadder finally gets George to grasp the concept (partly because the "murdered" actor stood up for the curtain call), just in time for a real anarchist to leap on-stage and throw a real bomb into George's hands. When Blackadder advises him to drop the bomb and run, the Prince dismisses him, saying "your problem is you can't tell when something's real and when it's not!" Cue Non Fatal Explosion.
- Baldrick later falls victim to this, mistaking the actors rehearsing lines from their new play for them boasting about how they intend to murder the Prince.
- Chewing the Scenery: Keanrick and Mossop.
- Comically Missing the Point: According to Blackadder, the Prince has no concept that theatre is fiction, to the point that he shouted "Look behind you, Mr. Caesar" just before Brutus struck.
- Also shows this in the aftermath of the attempt on his life:
George: Why on earth would an anarchist possibly want to kill you?Blackadder: I think it might have been you he was after, sir.George: Oh hogwash! What on earth makes you say that?!Blackadder: Well sir, my suspicions were first aroused by his use of the words "Death to the stupid Prince!"George: Yes that was a bit rude, wasn't it? - Creator Cameo: Ben Elton appears as a literal Bomb Throwing Anarchist.
- Deadpan Snarker:Blackadder: Finish later, Baldrick.Baldrick: Yes, sir. The cleaning or the being strangled?Blackadder: Either suits me.
- Didn't Think This Through: The actors read out lines from their new play, which is about the murder of a prince, in the palace of an actual prince who has just survived an assassination attempt.
- The Dog Bites Back: Blackadder exhibits this after one too many of the Prince's insults
- Baldrick, of all people, gets one when Edmund takes his leave.
Blackadder: Baldrick, I would like to say how much I will miss your honest, friendly companionship... but as we both know, it would be an utter lie. I will therefore content myself with saying "Sod off, and if I ever meet you again, it'll be 20 billion years too soon!" [he leaves]Baldrick: Bye, you lazy, big-nosed, rubber-faced bastard. - The Dreaded: The mention of Macbeth is this to the actors. Blackadder gets a lot of enjoyment out of saying it to them as a result.
- Eats Babies:Blackadder: People are worked up, sir, because they are so poor that they are forced to have children as a cheap alternative to turkey at Christmas.
- Every Man Has His Price: The offer of a thousand guinea raise per month is enough to convince Edmund to return and save the day. Likewise, Keanrick and Mossop are only too happy to shrug off their "beloved" audience in exchange for the prestige (and likely pay) of teaching acting to the Prince Regent himself.
- Everyone Has Standards: Blackadder really thinks the theatre is a waste of time.Blackadder: A load of stupid actors, strutting about shouting, with their chests thrust out so far, you'd think their nipples were attached to a pair of charging elephants!
- The Gadfly: Blackadder gets what amusement he can out of taunting and humiliating the actors. Since they're going out of their way to make his life difficult, it's hard to feel sorry.
- Groin Attack: Referred to.Keanrick: [referring to George's "actor's stance", standing with his legs wide apart] Your very posture tells me, "Here is a man of true greatness".Blackadder: Either that, or "Here are my genitals, please kick them".
- Hypocritical Humor: Keanrick and Mossop say they pride themselves on their artistic integrity. However, they make no attempt to improve Prince George's acting skills, telling him his terrible attempts at performance are perfect, content to accept their generous fees despite not delivering the service they were hired for.
- Implied Death Threat: "They do say, Mrs. Miggins, that verbal insults hurt more than physical pain. They are, of course, wrong, as you will soon discover when I stick this toasting fork in your head!"
- It Amused Me: Blackadder is aware of the actors' superstition about not mentioning the name of "the Scottish play", so he goes out of his way to mention it several times.
- It's Not Porn, It's Art: Keanrick and Mossop's new play is called The Bloody Murder of the Foul Prince Romero and His Enormously-Bosomed Wife.Blackadder: A philosophical work, then.
Mossop: Indeed yes, sir. The violence of the murder and the vastness of the bosom are entirely justified, artistically. - It Will Never Catch On: The actors hear one line of Prince George's famous Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking... speech before declaring it terrible.
- Large Ham: Keanrick and Mossop are definitely this.
- Luvvies: Actors Keanrick and Mossop act this way. Apart from calling each other 'dear' and 'love' they're also incredibly pompous and are more interested in patronage, self-promotion, and the rather hideous play they wrote.
- Mugging the Monster: For the actors, it turns out that bullying and patronising the butler of the Prince Regent's household — who, as it turns out, is more than capable of convincing the incredibly credulous Prince Regent that they're anarchists and traitors seeking to murder him — was a spectacularly bad idea.
- Nasal Trauma: At any mention of the name of "the Scottish play", the two actors must ward off evil spirits with a bizarre series of motions that conclude with them twisting each others noses. Naturally, Blackadder goes out of his way to mention it at every possible opportunity, and the actors are left clutching their noses in pain.
- The torture scene in the play:
Mossop: To torture him I lust. Let's singe his hair, and up his nostrils, [turns page] hot bananas thrust! - Punctuality Is for Peasants: Early on, Mossop and Keanrick declare that they "never upset the punters"; this changes to "sod the proles" when they are invited to the palace to give the Prince acting lessons. When they get there, Blackadder deliberately keeps them waiting outside and beating on the door. When he finally lets them in, he says they should have knocked.
- Right Behind Me: Blackadder has finally had enough of the Prince's insults and leaves (with, of course, a parting insult for Baldrick). After he walks out Baldrick mutters "Goodbye, you lazy, big-nosed, rubber-faced bastard." He slowly looks up just as Blackadder re-enters the room, having been in earshot the whole time.
- Running Gag:
- The Prince Regent constantly mistaking Baldrick's spring cleaning for attempts to assassinate him.
Prince George: [finds Baldrick cleaning inside a chest] Anarchist!Baldrick: Cleaner!Prince George: Alright, so you've had a wash, that's no excuse! Die traitor! [starts strangling Baldrick]- The silly patty-cake based ritual that the actors do whenever anyone says "Macbeth" in their hearing:
Mossop & Keanrick: Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends! Ooh. - The Scottish Trope: Parodied, adding in pat-a-cake, hand-twirling and nose-twisting:Blackadder: By "the Scottish play", I assume you mean Macbeth?
Mossop & Keanrick: Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends! Ooh.
Blackadder: What was that?
Keanrick: We're exorcising evil spirits. Being but a mere butler, you will not know the great theatre tradition that one does never speak the name of the Scottish play.
Blackadder: What, Macbeth?
Mossop & Keanrick: Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends! Ohh.
Blackadder: Oh, you mean you have to do that every time I say Macbeth?
Mossop & Keanrick: Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends! Owwww.
Mossop: Will you please stop saying that! Always call it "the Scottish Play!"
Blackadder: So you want me to say "the Scottish Play."
Mossop & Keanrick: [shout] Yes!
Blackadder: Rather than Macbeth.
Mossop & Keanrick: Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends! Owwwwww.
Prince George: I say, what is all this hullaballoo, all this shouting and screaming and yelling blue murder. Why, it's like that play we saw the other day, what was it called, uh...
Blackadder: Macbeth, sir?
Mossop & Keanrick: Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!
Prince George: No, no, no, it was, it was called Julius Caesar.
Blackadder: Ah yes, of course. [beat] Julius Caesar. [beat] Not Macbeth.
Mossop & Keanrick: Aahhhhh! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!- Baldrick has a dig at Blackadder's large nose for the second time in the series.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Blackadder may have the stupidest master in all of London, but he knows when he's had enough, specifically when insulted by the actors.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: In addition to the many mentions of Macbeth, the line "Puck will make amends!" from the actors' ritual is a reference to the character and final line from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
- Tempting Fate:
- This exchange between Blackadder and Baldrick epitomises the trope, while Edmund is raging about the Prince's treatment of him through the episode.
Blackadder: All I'm saying is, he'd better watch out! [holds up a milk-jug] One more foot wrong from him, and the contract between us will be as broken as this milk-jug!
Baldrick: But that milk-jug isn't broken.
Blackadder: You really do walk into these things, don't you? [smashes the jug on Baldrick's head]- Played with when Baldrick says they're not going to be murdered the moment Blackadder leaves. Then he overhears the actors seemingly plotting the death of the Prince and his servants.
- Torture Porn: The opening scene of The Bloody Murder of the Foul Prince Romero and His Enormously-Bosomed Wife consists of Mossop and Keanrick's characters discussing precisely how their characters plan to murder Prince Romero in excessive detail. It probably was not a good idea for them to hold an in-depth discussion of how they plan to murder "the Prince" in the home of a prince who had recently dodged an assassination attempt.
- Villainy-Free Villain: Mossop and Keanrick are a textbook example. Do they do anything evil during the episode? No. Do they actively plot against the prince or his servants? Not at all, though it doesn't stop Baldrick and Prince George from mistaking them for murderers. But they are classist snobs with an outlandishly large sense of their own worth, so it can be quite entertaining to see Blackadder snark at them, goad them into repeatedly hurting themselves by saying "Macbeth" in their presence and finally framing them for murder and arranging for them to be arrested, tortured and executed.
- Walk-In Chime-In:Mossop: From your leading character, in a play connected with Scotland...Blackadder: [entering the room carrying a tea tray] That's Macbeth, isn't it?
- We Were Rehearsing a Play: Unfortunately, the Prince would rather believe Blackadder's claim that the assassins in their arrogance had their Evil Plan written down as a theatrical script.
- The Wicked Stage:Mossop: How dare you, sir! You think, being actors, we sleep with everyone!Blackadder: I should think, being actors, you're lucky to sleep with anyone.
