Edmund III
| King Edmund III (prev Lord Blackadder) | |
|---|---|
| Blackadder character | |
 | |
| First appearance | Blackadder Back and Forth |
| Last appearance | Blackadder Back and Forth |
| Portrayed by | Rowan Atkinson |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Nobleman/King |
| Title |
King Edmund III (prev Lord Blackadder) |
| Spouse(s) | Marian of Sherwood |
| Relatives |
Richard IV (ancestor) Gertrude (ancestor) Edmund (ancestor) Leia (ancestor) E. Blackadder (ancestor) Ebenezer Blackadder (ancestor) Edmund Blackadder (ancestor) See here for more |
| Nationality | English |
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.[1]
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.
Plot
At the beginning of the special, Lord Blackadder is planning to scam his friends using a fake time machine. However, he learns to his surprise that the machine, built by Baldrick after plans by Leonardo da Vinci, actually works. In the aftermath, Lord Blackadder manages to match wits with Robin Hood, Queenie, and William Shakespeare and comes out on top in every situation. Ultimately, he manipulates history so that the Blackadders replace the British Royal Family.
Cretaceous Period
The pair first land in the Cretaceous Period, where they are attacked by a massive Tyrannosaurus. Baldrick uses his underpants to beat back the dinosaur, who takes one sniff and falls over dead. Lord Blackadder muses, "Fascinating! One of history's great mysteries solved. The dinosaurs were, in fact, wiped out by your pants!". When attempting to reset the dials to return to the present, Baldrick reveals that this is impossible, as he never got round to writing the dates on them.
Queenie
Blackadder and Baldrick land at the court of Queen Elizabeth I, with Nursie (Patsy Byrne) and Lord Melchett at her side. The Queen, mistaking him for his ancestor, Lord Blackadder, decides to behead him for, "being very cheeky." She offers to let him off, however, if he has brought a present for her. Blackadder first offers a supermarket loyalty card, upon which the Queen screams, "Kill him!" He then offers her a Polo mint, which the Queen proclaims to be "the tastiest thing in the history of the world". She rewards him with her crown, then orders him, "Go forth, and bring back lots more minty things in the next five minutes, or I'll come after you and crush your skull like an egg."
William Shakespeare
On his way back to the machine, Blackadder literally runs into William Shakespeare (Colin Firth). After receiving the Bard's autograph, Blackadder punches him in the face, remarking "That is for every schoolboy and schoolgirl for the next four hundred years!" Blackadder tells Shakespeare that his plays, which will cause untold suffering for untold generations of youths, are nothing but people "in stupid tights... talking total crap," then kicks him in vengeance for Kenneth Branagh's 4 hour Hamlet film. Stunned, Shakespeare asks, "Who's Ken Branagh?" Blackadder smugly retorts, "I'll tell him you said that, and I think he'll be very hurt!"
After returning to the present, Blackadder learns that, due to his insults, Shakespeare gave up on writing. Instead, he dismantled and mass-produced the ballpoint pen that Blackadder had given him.
Later, when Blackadder sets out to fix his changes to the past, he tells Shakespeare, "I'm a big fan, Will. King Lear was hilarious!"
Robin Hood
During Lord Blackadder's time-travelling, he also lands in Sherwood Forest and is captured by Robin Hood (Rik Mayall). However, Robin is horrified when Blackadder begins rattling off the flaws with his lifestyle. Blackadder reminds the Merry Men that they face certain death if they're caught, live in total squalor with no toilet, yet give all they steal to the poor, who do nothing but "sit on their backsides all day," waiting for the next cash instalment. Enraged, the Merry Men promptly shoot Robin full of arrows. Then Maid Marian (Kate Moss), smitten by the "gorgeous" Blackadder, proceeds to have sexual relations with him. Before leaving, Blackadder takes Robin's hat as a trophy.
King Edmund III
At the end of Blackadder: Back and Forth, Edmund returns to 1999, having frantically undone all his previous changes to the time line. Then, however, Archdeacon Melchett declares, "The slightest thing could affect the course of history. Imagine what damage an unscrupulous person could cause."
Intrigued, Blackadder returns to the time machine and tells Baldrick that he has, "a cunning plan." Together, they travel back in time, changing the past so when they return to 1999, Blackadder is the absolute monarch 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 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. Indeed, Blackadder becomes king in The Black Adder and Blackadder the Third. 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
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