Miranda Richardson Throughout Blackadder History:

Blackadder II - 1986 Blackadder The Third - 1987 Blackadder's Christmas Carol - 1988 Blackadder Goes Forth - 1989 Blackadder Back & Forth - 1999

As another week begins…

Lady Moss of House Justice once played Maid Marian in Blackadder Back & Forth (1999) with Rowan Atkinson and the wonderful Rik Mayall as Robin Hood.

Foghorn: And here ah say here a front page of Macbeth, signed bag William Shakespeah himself.

Red Omaha:

Pumpkinhead Martin: Who?

Curt Martin: Oh, come on, you know this... he's the feller who invented the ball-point pen.

Lord Flashheart's (Blackadder Goes Forth) Costume

I don't think it comes to many as a surprise that I was going to do some sort of Flashheart costume. I've had people ask me after my last cosplay "So what's next? Oh please say it's Flashheart!". For a character who only appears once a series, he is well loved amongst the Rik Mayall fans and I happen to be one of them. So, strap yourself in, go get yourself a cup of tea and a biscuit because we're in for a long haul flight. We're doing this a bit back to front, usually I'll release a photoshoot all in one go but as I ran out of time to photograph myself before going to the con I'm going to, I thought I would post them after the con. The photoshoot is in the works, keep your eyes peeled!

When deciding which era of Flashheart I wanted to do, I settled with the WWI era as to my knowledge pre research, it was going to be the easiest of the bunch to do. As much as my heart sings out to Elizabethan Flashheart, my sewing skills are nowhere near good enough for that yet. I knew I wanted to get this costume totally right so I gave myself a fairly big budget and indeed the biggest budget so far in my cosplaying journey.

Go big or go home, I researched into actual Royal Flying Corps uniforms people were selling and saw just how difficult they were to find. I visited a local war memorabilia shop armed with a few questions about RFC uniforms. When I explained what I was doing, they smiled and laughed fondly about Blackadder. They very quickly informed me that finding an actual RFC uniform that's not in a museum is extremely slim and they were totally right. I had a back up plan though, I had found a company that did tailormade historical re-enactment uniforms from all sorts of eras and rather perfectly, a RFC tunic and trousers. I got myself measured by my lovely tailor friend and purchased them. I actually purchased the drill trousers instead of the breeches as the colour looked more correct. (not pictured, you'll see those when I take proper photos of me wearing it.)

The breakdown of the costume: The Royal Flying Corps tunic.

The RFC tunic was going to be a huge part of the costume and in my eyes all of the tiny elements of the costume to bring it together had to be properly researched. The base of the jacket only came with the RFC patch on the right side of the jacket so everything else had to be found. For the first part and actually the first purchase I made for this project was the collar pins. These are original WWI RFC collar pins that came in perfect condition. I also went back to the same local war memorabilia shop again and very luckily, they had a full matching set of original WWI captain's shoulder pips, with metal pins. It makes this costume more special to know I have an actual piece of history on my shoulders.

As I was informed, all pips during WWI were as standard and the more pips you have, the higher the rank. As Flashheart is a Wing Commander he technically holds the rank of captain, meaning he has 3 pips on each shoulder. With both the collar pins and the pips, I had to attach these extremely carefully. I was told that either I would need to sew them on (meaning I would have to tack them on and they wouldn't lie flat to the jacket) or I would need to pierce holes and put them in. I opted for piercing. So with an extremely delicate hand (and because this tunic was expensive) I carefully measured each one out and cut slits with a scalpel. The length of the blade was perfect because I could poke the loops through and it be in enough that if a pin slides out, I won't lose the pip. The collar pins didn't come with pins to keep them in place but the lovely gentleman I bought the pips from gave me some to cut down.

The medals:

The medals I struggled to find for a bit of time. I had researched a bit and found that someone had identified a few of Flashheart's many medals which helped but my original plan was to find actual medal bars. However, I came across a gentleman who recreates medals and could do custom medal bars of any medals I wanted. I immediately messaged them and showed them the photo that had all the identified medals on. He said he was able to do it and whether I wanted the medal that someone hadn't identified yet that was just slightly poking out of the jacket in the reference photo. I couldn't believe it! And i'm so glad that medal was identified by him because it turned out to be a good addition to the bar. Now I know Flashheart has a lot more medals than what I've got here, but trying to get all of them would be a nightmare and rather expensive so I got the ones that are visible kind of when he wears his coat.

(top left) OBE, (top middle) Royal Victorian Order, (top right) Distinguished Service Order, (bottom far left) Military Cross, (bottom middle left) Ashanti War Medal, (bottom middle right) India General Service Medal and (bottom far right) 1914 Star medal.

I did research into them and what they all mean but this post will get even longer if I put all the info. I do encourage you to have a look into them if you're interested though! What I find fascinating is the level of detail Blackadder's costume designer went to. I found out that the Distinguished Service Order medal was apparently just short of being awarded a Victoria Cross (which is an extremely prestigious award) and were normally given 'for service under fire or under conditions equivalent to service in actual combat with the enemy'. However between 1914 and 1916, a number of awards were given to individuals, often officers, for circumstances not under fire. This caused a lot of resentment towards those who got it and especially from front line officers. Which to me, makes me think no wonder Blackadder didn't really like Flashheart! That did make me laugh a little bit.

The 1914 Star medal was awarded mainly to officers but approximately 1000 were awarded to members of the RFC which is another really good touch!

The tunic is attached with 5 buttons up the person's right side and attached with two hooks at the top near the shoulders.

The Sam Browne belt and gun holster were another important addition to the tunic. Often officers or higher would have worn a Sam Browne belt and there would be space to hook a gun holster and an ammo pouch could be added too. I didn't get an ammo pouch in the end but the gun holster was a must. Which leads me onto Flashheart's massive weapon (ooer!).

The gun Flashheart uses is a Webley MK VI. Now, I did look into these guns and there was no way on earth I was going to get a real one or an airsoft one for that matter. I looked into 3D printing instead! I had got a guy to 3D print me a gun but his printer unfortunately broke half way through meaning I had to find an alternative quick. A work colleague found me one on Etsy and it was perfect! It came in about 7 pieces that I had to carefully glue together but it was easy enough as I live in a tabletop household. Flashheart's gun has a loop on the bottom to attach a lanyard to. So me using my creative initiative, I salvaged a picture frame hook from an old frame, filed down a section in the middle so the metal part would lie flat, glued it together and bob's your uncle! a loop that looks like it was meant to be there!

The lanyard loop didn't fit in the loop so I used an old keyring loop to attach it.

The next bit after gluing was to sand the gun down slightly, prime it black and then dry brushed the metal part using Citadel's Leadbelcher silver paint. I also then used Citadel's Agrax Earthshade wash to dirty it up on the metal and then once dry, I did a couple of coats both sides of a matt varnish spray just to seal it all together and none of the paint will rub off.

Another fine detail is the hinge where, if it was a working gun, you'd pull the barrel down and load it. (I don't know the correct terminology for guns!) There was just a hole and I wasn't a fan of it. So I used the small screws from the frame I got the fixtures from and screwed one either side before priming black. It worked perfectly and looked effective.

I can't believe how much time I've put into this costume, loads of research and hard work finding and piecing everything together. I just hope I can do him justice when I wear it properly!

WOOF!

My list of silly little headcanons for my favourite idiot character’s

The captain:

- Alison found a portable dvd player for him and puts on Blackadder goes forth

- he says his favourite book is about the War but secretly it’s the Narnia books

- he also loves the Narnia movies

- he wanted to become a teacher before he found his love for the army

- cried while watching War horse

- favourite Christmas song for him is can you stop the Calvary and last Christmas

- he’s autistic

Gabriel from bill

- after the events of the film Gabriel became a famous performer with the Shakespeare company and even got to play the leading ladies

- still writes letters back home to Spain but only Juan replies back

- Gabriel also is a teacher to the young actors who are starting out with Shakespeare

- favourite Shakespeare play is a Midnight summers dream

Lady B:

- before her Christmas episode came out I headcanoned that she was the youngest of six. She had five brothers but they all died one by one till the only way Fanny could help her family was to marry well.

- her brothers names (plus how they died) were William/Willy (died of cholera), Fredrick/Freddy (died fighting in the army), Andrew/Andy (died due to bad health), George/Georgie (died in a car crash) and Edward/Eddy (died with George).

- secretly loves to watch Loose Women especially after when Mary left

- her, Cap, kitty and Humphrey listen to podcasts in the living room

- if she could change her life she would have become a professor at a university teaching advanced mathematics. She teaches Alison some maths skills to help her and to help teach baby cooper

Negatus:

- he dyes his hair (he’s actually blonde but dyes it)

- his birthday is April 1st

- he collects artefacts from Earth mainly Records, vintage band shirts, guitars and gaming consoles like a DS

- got a new dog after s3, a husky called Scrathy too but people call him Scrathy Doo

- the scar on his head is a birthmark

- he’s autistic too

- his mom is his favourite parent

Ho Tan:

- has an Art studio

- loves sewing in her studio and loves to fix the other’s clothing

- her, Vex and Flowers are great cooks

- makes thankival jumpers for everyone

- has a pet bird called Belle

Welcome to Unhinged Hours, a series of posts that will be tagged as such in which I will overshare my cringiest and most awkward thoughts because I've no self-control over my need to vent. And who knows. Might help someone else.

Don't mind the dubious syntax and weird grammar.

[cw brief mention of abuse]

When I was 17-19, I was mortified to discover I was attracted to (much) older people. During my early twenties, the majority of my crushes were in their thirties. I knew the age gap was too big and I was too young, so I did nothing about them and naively thought this was something that would fix itself with time. I thought "at least I know I find people in their thirties attractive so I just have to wait to reach mine and date people my age then" (lmao good one past me). Well. As I'm inching ever closer to said thirties, it's more and more evident that the issue clearly did NOT fix itself, those old crushes are nearing their forties and I haven't stopped carrying them in my heart. They're attractive in new ways. When I look at pics from back when I first developed a crush, I find that my current 27yo self isn't physically attracted to their 32yo self I was originally attracted to anymore. And I know for a fact that 21yo me wouldn't have found 38yo [redacted] hot. But current me is still attracted to current them (38yo [redacted] is indeed very hot). And you might wonder what's the issue here, so lemme tell you. I've been frequenting online feminist spaces for a decade. I've read countless accounts of teenage girls and young women who were manipulated and abused by older partners. I've read an inordinate amount of warnings, the gist of all of them being “don't date older folks during your formative years, don't believe them when they call you 'mature for your age'”. And let me be crystal clear — I still think it's relevant and infinitely important to relay those accounts and protect girls and young women, and help them spot red flags and predatory patterns. It absolutely is, I am not blaming feminism for my existential struggles. I am simply giving you context. The thing is, I've internalised this as “don't ever pursue older folks, period” (which is a completely different thing, I knew that then and still know it now but couldn't help it) and as a result I've been lugging around self-inflicted guilt and shame for years (and don't I love the internalised biphobia that adds to it when the person happens to be a man /s). And these crushes I've been telling you about? They're one-sided! They've never expressed any interest, so that's always been a safe situation for me, but did that prevent any self-loathing from taking root in my brain? Course it didn't! I can't seem to shake the feeling that there's something wrong with me and I've grown tired of this. Scolding myself over human emotions is getting fucking old.

That brings me to today's crisis — at which point in one's life does it get easier to accept? How old is old enough to stop caring about the age gap? When will I stop blaming myself? How do I drop the guilt?

Because if it was "just" the fact that I'm still swooning over the same people (who are now soon-to-be 40), that would be too easy, wouldn't it? But nooo I just had to go and get a new crush on someone who's already in their forties. Where does this end, please?

(You might've noticed that the overuse of the word 'crush' and choosing to focus on the physical aspect of attraction here is a poor attempt at a euphemism. I mean some of them are simple crushes, as for the others... past a certain point, still calling them crushes is just denial on my part. I'm basically fooling myself.)

“This is a crisis. A large crisis. In fact, if you've got a moment, it's a twelve-storey crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour porterage and an enormous sign on the roof saying 'this is a Large Crisis'.” (Blackadder Goes Forth, ep. 6)

My obsessions have cycled back to Blackadder goes Forth once again.

If I send out a plea to the universe for people to send me asks about anything, would they do it?

Like, I'm Good Omens fangirling again in prep for S2, RTC is always swimming back and forth in my brain, anything Star Trek is a goldmine, Red Dwarf is my cosiest, oldest and bestest friend, Blackadder and asdfmovie are some of the most quotable things I know, BBC and CBS Ghosts are both right up my alley (I do need to finish S2 of CBS tho 😬) I mean c'mon Mat Baynton is gonna be in a new film about Willy Wonka with loads of cool people.

I like many much musics. All the musics! I'm a musical enthusiast, yell at me about Legally Blonde or Wind in the Willows or even DEH and BMC! Phantom of the Opera I had to analyse for Drama, I keep going back to the songs from Les Mis.

Favourite book I've read? Favourite author? Favourite song or colour or anything really!

Yes I'm bored, I want something to do. I would ask for fics to write but that's a whole other slew of things.

If this becomes the pinned post for my blog one day, we can assume I'm losing my marbles :)

My thoughts on the characters Hugh Laurie played in Blackadder:

(This also has spoilers for the Blackadder II, Blackadder the Third and Blackadder Goes Forth shows HL appeared in).

*Simon Partridge- Appears in the Blackadder II episode, "Beer", Partridge AKA "Farters Parters" and "Mr. Ostrich" is a notorious loud-mouthed drunk who has a fascination with the word, "bums" while regarding every word as being rude. According to Lord Percy Percy, Partridge is also a fearful oik but halfway through the episode, when it's revealed that Blackadder is drinking water, Partridge is heard growing in anger which implies to me he doesn't being lied to. Simon Partridge is also HL's first ever role in Blackadder.

*Prince Ludwig the Indestructible- Appears in the Blackadder II series finale episode, "Chains", Ludwig is a German master of disguise who as a result of his upbringing is also nicknamed "Shorty Greasy Spot-Spot'", something that enrages him if it's ever mentioned to him. He's also a psychopathic, cunning man capable of changing his entire identity including his gender and the pitch or range of his voice to target his unsuspecting victims. Had his two prison guards abduct Lords Blackadder and Melchett and imprison them in a dungeon while announcing his intention to become King of England. When it's revealed that Queen Elizabeth I or Queenie isn't going to pay the ransom that would see one of the two men being released, Ludwig expresses his disappointment at that and upon Blackadder and Melchett agreeing to play ball with him, he changes their death sentences to life imprisonment. After Ludwig's departure, Blackadder and Melchett successfully outwit the two guards and escaped, arriving back in the UK just in time to expose Ludwig who talks to Queenie who remembers meeting him with Queenie revealing Ludwig's nickname that yet again enraged the German who flees, vowing he'd return and get his "rewengey", only to be stopped by Blackadder who told Ludwig he will die and be buried before throwing a dagger at the other man which either killed or wounded him. Then, after the end credits rolled, it's shown that Ludwig has returned and now disguised as Queenie, murdered the entire court, ending Blackadder II on a very dark note.

*Prince George IV, the Regent- Appearing in Blackadder the Third, Prince George is a bumbling idiot who cares only about himself. He's also very stupid and unable to put on some trousers without assistance. Died at the hands of the Duke of Wellington who unaware Blackadder and George have switched identities, shot George in the chest. After a few minutes, George awakes, believing he's been in possession of a case that had deflected the shot but upon realizing he didn't have it, falls to the ground, now dead for real.

*Lieutenant The Hon. George Colthurst St. Barleigh, MC- Appearing in Blackadder Goes Forth, Lieutenant George is assigned to the trenches with his commanding officer, Captain Blackadder and Private Baldrick. George is at first, oblivious to the war and the fact that he and his squadron would die when they went over the top. In the few minutes of the series finale, though, he admits that he's scared and that he's the last surviving member of his group, even revealing he doesn't want to die. He and his group later go over the top and although their fates aren't revealed, it's presumed that they all die. (Blackadder Goes Forth also gave us HL in drag and I have to say he looks brilliant as Gorgeous Georgina).

Nine people I'd like to get to know better

Tagged by @themalhambird

Last song: Isaac - Bear's Den

Fave colours: turquoise and purple. Together they are just... perfection. Also berry shades!

Last movie: Margrete: Queen of the North. It's a Danish movie set in 1402 where a man claiming to be Margrete's long-dead son returns and Margrete has to choose between her son (if he is her son) and the fledgling Kalmar Union. It's very pretty and 8-year-old Philippa of England has small but adorable, if historically inaccurate, cameo.

Last TV series: Patrick Melrose. I read the books years ago, loved them and finally got around to watching the TV series. It's an incredible adaptation with an incredible cast. Hugo Weaving is absolutely incredible in it, he's so terrifying. It does deal with very heavy subjects (CSA, drug addiction, trauma) so it's very much: dead dove do not eat. I'm also rewatching old faves like Blackadder and Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries.

Sweet, spicy or savoury: Sweet. I inherited my mother's sweet tooth.

Relationship status: Single and not interested.

Last thing googled: Holy Feast and Holy Fast (a book by Caroline Walker Bynum) or the Flow of Blood In Norwich (a book chapter by Jeffrey Jerome Cohen).

Current obsessions: my head is in the Hal section, pinging back and forth between Hal and Courtenay, Hal and Henry, Hal and Philippa. also just lowkey highkey thinking about World War I, as one does. And stories about trauma and complicated, messy reactions to trauma.

Blackadder x Downton abbey crossover.

Idk how the timelines would fit, maybe with Hugh Laurie as prince of Wales (future Edward VIII) and Blackadder still there as his butler? It would take place before Lady Mary remarries and Edith meets Bertie. If we put it in line with Blackadder goes forth, either the whole cast survived the war or it's cousins of them? anyway he got back to being a butler for a prince.

Daisy taking a liking in Baldrick because they are both put down and considered as simpleton by some of their coworkers/employers.

Blackadder and Barrow scheming together to steal the silverware or something and accuse Bates or even the prince himself (because if Blackadder has enough for his retirement he's not gonna stick around the prince so he doesn't care if he goes down in flames).

the Prince and Rose being party-loving best friends (I mean she already knows future Edward VIII in the series even if it's not hugh laurie and not the same character as Hugh Laurie's prince regent in season III of Blackadder).

Blackadder learning the chauffeur married one of the girls of the house and became part of the family and trying to convince Barrow to each seduce one of the remaining girls (Barrow would take Mary because he's already bonded with George, Blackadder would take Edith because he likes blond girls and he thinks anyone else is out of his league since he never got laid in any of the seasons except if he paid for it). Barrow being like ''dude I mean that's... that's a plan but there are a few reasons why it wouldn't work...''

Maid Melissa: Just one question...What makes you so great?

Robin Hood Daffy: 'Cause I'm ME, m'lady.

What is the name of the captain played by Tim McInnerny in the BBC comedy series 'Blackadder Goes Forth'?

Captain Kevin Darling (1884 - 1917) is a fictional British Army Captain, who served in the First World War. He appears in the comedy television series 'Blackadder Goes Forth' (1989) and is played by Tim McInnerny (born 1956). The show focuses on the attempts of Captain Edmund Blackadder to escape the horrors of World War One. Blackadder tries a variety of schemes, such as becoming a chef and a pilot, but he never succeeds. Captain Darling despises Blackadder and is portrayed as his rival throughout the show.

Blackadder and Darling finally stop their constant rivalry in the finale episode 'Goodbyeee'. In this episode, Darling is sent to join Blackadder and his men at the front line for the 'final push' of the war. Amusingly, this is the first time they both address each other as 'Captain'. The episode ends with both captains reluctantly going into the machine-gun fire, which will almost certainly kill them.

Tim McInnerny is an English actor that appeared in several 'Blackadder' series. He initially played the role of Percy in 'The Black Adder' and 'Blackadder II', before taking on the role of Captain Darling in 'Blackadder Goes Forth'. He also appeared in a one-off special titled 'Blackadder: Back & Forth' (1999). McInnerny has starred in several other shows and films, including 'Outlander' (2014), 'Game of Thrones' (2016-2017), '101 Dalmatians' (1996), and 'The Aeronauts' (2019).

I wanted to do some soldier portraits. You know those portraits from the early 1900’s where they look all ethereal.

I didn’t really catch that aesthetic, as my lines are too sharp and I’m still getting used to marker colouring, but I’m overall happy with how they turned out.

First one is supposed to be from ww1. He is based on Captain Darling from Blackadder goes forth.

Second one is ww2, the uniform is loosely based on a British one.

Third one is modern, I have been learning about warships lately, so I wanted to draw a navy recruit. I like the hat. (And to any American who might see this, I’m sorry about the Star Spangled Abomination in the back. I’m Finnish, our flag is literally two blue lines on a white background!)

Not to be like… rambling about 80s British tv shows on main but like… I think the final few minutes of Blackadder Goes Forth make the most devastating TV show ending I have ever seen.

Like not only do you get Darling’s quiet little “Marry Doris” as a sign of his lost future, and the usually unshakeably cheerful George absolutely breaking my heart with “I don’t want to die. Really not overkeen on dying at all, sir”, but it’s so incredible how it actually twists both historical fact and the lore of the programme onto itself.

First, there’s that absolutely gut-wrenching moment of hope, when the guns stop. Blackadder is a comedy, and it would be so easy for the characters to never face the consequences of the war. When Darling announced that they have survived the Great War, then gives the date as 1917, your heart rises and then sinks. With only minutes left of the episode, there is no chance of them avoiding their fate. It really is all over.

And then there’s Blackadder giving up on the “cunning plan” that has held the show together throughout its various seasons. Those magic words have gotten Blackadder and Baldrick out of so many scrapes, and yet here they do nothing. Blackadder is right – any hope of getting out of it is madness. Even the very cleverest incarnation of this character can do nothing but accept his fate.

Finally, the true heartbreak comes on what effect this has on the Blackadder story. I know the different series of Blackadder aren’t really connected to each other, but they are at least implied to be the story of two families – the Blackadders and the Baldricks – and how they navigate different periods of time together, from the very highest echelons of society to the very grimmest moments in history. By making Goodbyeee the very last episode of the entire show, it brings the lineage of these two ancient families to an abrupt and tragic end. There can be no more Blackadders or Baldricks because the last of their lines died horribly and unnecessarily on a French battlefield in 1917. 

Like so many families, their story dies there, trapped in the mud and the blood and the pain.