Is there a cunning plan... or just more talk?

It’s the story that refuses to go away: that Blackadder might be making a comeback.

Sir Tony Robinson has again raised the possibility, saying that the entire original cast would be up for a reunion to make a full fifth series.

The  Baldrick actor said: ‘I do see a version of the show coming back. There are a host of other periods in history which could be turned into a six-part Blackadder series. 

‘We’d have to get the old group together again. I know everyone is busy doing wonderful things but we all have fond memories so I’m sure we’d work it out.’

Sir Tony made similar comments in 2015, which have so far come to nothing. At that time he said: ‘I do think a new series of Blackadder is on the cards. I have spoken to virtually all the cast about this now.’

Speculation has raged about a possible fifth series of Blackadder ever since Blackadder Goes Forth aired in 1989.

One possibility that’s most frequently cited is a show set in the 1960s pop scene, with Rowan Atkinson’s character leading a band called The Blackadder Five, with a drummer by the name of Bald Rick.

Atkinson has also spoken of plans for a series set in tsarist Russia with late comedian Rik Mayall as Rasputin.

Other suggested backdrops have included the Wild West, imperial India, the Stone Age and King Alfred’s era.

However Richard Curtis, who wrote the show with Ben Elton, once said it was unlikely the team would reunite 'because it was a young person’s show about how ghastly people in authority were’.

Atkinson – who is currently promoting the latest Johnny English movie –  last revived the character for a sketch in a 2012 Prince's Trust benefit at the Royal Albert Hall.

Published: 26 Sep 2018