The Foretelling
Created | Updated Sep 19, 2005
Blackadder series 1, episode 1: The Foretelling:
The plot:
Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh, arrives late for the Battle of Bosworth Field. He’s supposed to be fighting on side of the Plantaganets, but due to sheer incompetence, he manages to chop off Richard III’s head, then saves the life of Henry Tudor, leader of the opposing army. Now his father is King, Edmund wants to be taken more seriously, and having toyed with the idea of calling himself The Black Vegetable, he settles for The Black Adder. A legend is born.
Moment of pure evil:
Edmund accidentally chops off Uncle Richard’s head. It could happen to anyone.
Brush up your Shakespeare:
King Richard’s opening speech is a comic reworking of the oft-quoted soliloquy from Richard III: “Now is the winter of our discontent…”
King Richard inspires his troops with the heroic words, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…” These were spoken by Shakespeare’s Henry V, not Richard III.
Harry’s sorrowful words over the body of his dead uncle, “O! pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,” are exactly what Anthony says to the dead Caesar in Julius Caesar. He then mysteriously switches to a quote from Hamlet: “And flights of angels sing thee to their rest”.
Richard III’s return to haunt his killer, Edmund, is reminiscent of Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth.
The three crones who turn up at the end of the episode to tell Edmund that he will be king one day, are inspired by the witches from Macbeth. Their names are Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, the names of King Lear’s three daughters.
This week’s most interesting fact:
Edmund’s brother Harry is afraid of spoons.
Quotes:
Blackadder: If we lose, I’ll be chopped into pieces. My arm’ll end up in Essex, my torso in Norfolk and my genitalia stuck up a tree somewhere in Rutland.
Blackadder: Let all men who go to don armour tomorrow remember to go before they don armour tomorrow.
Blackadder: Run away from the hills! If you see hills, run the other way!
Read the other episode guides:
Series 1:
1. The Foretelling
2. Born to Be King
3. The Archbishop
4. The Queen of Spain's Beard
5. Witchsmeller Pursuivant
6. The Black Seal
Series 2:
1. Bells
2. Head
3. Potato
4. Money
5. Beer
6. Chains
Series 3:
1. Dish and Dishonesty
2. Ink and Incapability
3. Nob and Nobility
4. Sense and Senility
5. Amy and Amiability
6. Dual and Duality
Series 4:
1. Captain Cook
2. Corporal Punishment
3. Major Star
4. Private Plane
5. General Hospital
6. Goodybyeee
These guides were brought to you by the BBCi Comedy website.
The plot:
Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh, arrives late for the Battle of Bosworth Field. He’s supposed to be fighting on side of the Plantaganets, but due to sheer incompetence, he manages to chop off Richard III’s head, then saves the life of Henry Tudor, leader of the opposing army. Now his father is King, Edmund wants to be taken more seriously, and having toyed with the idea of calling himself The Black Vegetable, he settles for The Black Adder. A legend is born.
Moment of pure evil:
Edmund accidentally chops off Uncle Richard’s head. It could happen to anyone.
Brush up your Shakespeare:
King Richard’s opening speech is a comic reworking of the oft-quoted soliloquy from Richard III: “Now is the winter of our discontent…”
King Richard inspires his troops with the heroic words, “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…” These were spoken by Shakespeare’s Henry V, not Richard III.
Harry’s sorrowful words over the body of his dead uncle, “O! pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,” are exactly what Anthony says to the dead Caesar in Julius Caesar. He then mysteriously switches to a quote from Hamlet: “And flights of angels sing thee to their rest”.
Richard III’s return to haunt his killer, Edmund, is reminiscent of Banquo’s ghost in Macbeth.
The three crones who turn up at the end of the episode to tell Edmund that he will be king one day, are inspired by the witches from Macbeth. Their names are Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, the names of King Lear’s three daughters.
This week’s most interesting fact:
Edmund’s brother Harry is afraid of spoons.
Quotes:
Blackadder: If we lose, I’ll be chopped into pieces. My arm’ll end up in Essex, my torso in Norfolk and my genitalia stuck up a tree somewhere in Rutland.
Blackadder: Let all men who go to don armour tomorrow remember to go before they don armour tomorrow.
Blackadder: Run away from the hills! If you see hills, run the other way!
Read the other episode guides:
Series 1:
1. The Foretelling
2. Born to Be King
3. The Archbishop
4. The Queen of Spain's Beard
5. Witchsmeller Pursuivant
6. The Black Seal
Series 2:
1. Bells
2. Head
3. Potato
4. Money
5. Beer
6. Chains
Series 3:
1. Dish and Dishonesty
2. Ink and Incapability
3. Nob and Nobility
4. Sense and Senility
5. Amy and Amiability
6. Dual and Duality
Series 4:
1. Captain Cook
2. Corporal Punishment
3. Major Star
4. Private Plane
5. General Hospital
6. Goodybyeee
These guides were brought to you by the BBCi Comedy website.
