Edmund III

HM King Edmund III, formerly Lord Blackadder is the modern day descendant of fictional character Edmund Blackadder in the Blackadder TV series. He is the central character of Blackadder: Back & Forth. He is played by Rowan Atkinson.

Character

Although as time goes on Blackadder's social standing tends to go down, this Lord Blackadder is similar to Lord Blackadder of Blackadder II and Mr. E. Blackadder of Blackadder the Third in both standing and wit. He manages to match wits with Robin Hood and William Shakespeare and comes out on top in both cases. At the end, he manages to re-arrange the Blackadder line so that he legitimately becomes King of England. During Blackadder's time-travelling, Robin Hood's lover Maid Marian falls in love with Blackadder after he impresses her by taking the egotistical bandit down a peg or two, which leads to his own Merry Men turning against him and having him killed. By the end of the episode Blackadder is married to either Marian herself (if she travelled forward in time) or a descendant of hers.

King Edmund III

At the end of Blackadder: Back and Forth, Edmund travels back in time, changing the past so when he gets back to the present, he is King Edmund III, "loved by all and with a 98% approbation rate all across the country". His Queen is Marian of Sherwood, the Nation's most famous beauty (Kate Moss). His Prime Minister (as of 1999) is Baldrick, who holds his fifth term of office. Both of them rule the country together, ever since the dissolution of parliament in 1997.

He is the third King Edmund, after Edmund I in the 10th century and Edmund Ironside in the 11th, although the previous two Edmunds may be earlier kings in a Blackadder dynasty created by altering history. Traditionally, monarchs of England or Britain before 1066 are not counted when numbering monarchs, such as in the case of Edward I, referred to as such despite being the fourth Edward to rule England (following Edward the Elder, Edward the Martyr and Edward the Confessor).

Friends

The modern day Blackadder is linked with the descendants of the supporting characters in series 2-4 of the TV series. They are:

• S. Baldrick, the septic tank cleaner and part time dogsbody. The companions of Blackadders have always been Baldricks. Played by Tony Robinson.
• Archbishop Flavius Melchett, descendant of Lord Melchett and General Anthony Melchett. Played by Stephen Fry.
• Archdeacon Darling, aide to Melchett and descendant from Captain Kevin Darling. Played by Tim McInnerny.
• Lady Elizabeth, possible relative of Queenie (Elizabeth I of England). Played by Miranda Richardson.
• George Bufton-Tufton, descendant to Lieutenant George and possibly the Prince Regent George. Played by Hugh Laurie.

References