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Image: the vast set of Richard IV's great hall in The Black Adder.

The first series of Blackadder started on 15 June 1983. The medieval historical sitcom starred Rowan Atkinson as Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh - who styled himself The Black Adder - as well as Brian Blessed, Tony Robinson, Elspet Gray, Robert East and Tim McInnerny. Atkinson co-wrote the series with Richard Curtis and it won an Emmy Award. However it was a modified triumph and came close to being cancelled, as location filming at Alnwick Castle - where the production was plagued by a run of terrible weather - proved very expensive.

The second series was tweaked to ensure its enduring success. Ben Elton was drafted in to co-write with Curtis, the action was moved to the Tudor period and production was moved to the studio. The writers changed Blackadder from the cringing coward of the first series into a more intelligent schemer, while the more streetwise Baldrick - played by Robinson - became a naïve idiot. They also made more of the class hierarchy between the various characters.

Over four series set in different periods the same characters returned. The end of the final season, set in the First World War trenches, proved an affecting climax as they went "over the top" to their probable deaths. Blackadder resurfaced with a special programme for the Millennium Dome. The cast and crew of Blackadder have in many cases gone on to have stellar careers and international success.