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"Potato" is the third episode of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
sitcom ''
Blackadder II
''Blackadder II'' is the second series of the BBC sitcom ''Blackadder'', written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 9 January 1986 to 20 February 1986. The series is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558– ...
'', the second series of ''
Blackadder'', which was set in
Elizabethan England
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personific ...
from 1558 to 1603.
Plot
The episode opens with
Blackadder at home, while the rest of London is celebrating the return of Sir
Walter "Oooh what a big ship I've got" Raleigh. Blackadder is typically sarcastic and unimpressed, refusing a ridiculously dressed Percy's repeated invitations to join in the festivities, eventually throwing him out, and likewise refusing to let Baldrick have the day off to celebrate.
The reason for Blackadder's bitterness is his envy of Sir Walter and explorers in general who "ponce off to Mumbo-Jumbo Land, come home with a tropical disease, a sun tan and a bag of
brown lumpy things" and return to be showered with fame and adoration. He is equally annoyed with Sir Walter apparently making a fortune from potatoes, with people smoking them or building houses of them, scoffing that "they'll be eating them next". In addition, he has to endure taunting from children outside his house, to which he retaliates by shooting one with an arrow.
Melchett arrives, also dressed in a ridiculous fashion and asks if Blackadder will join him at the royal palace to welcome Sir Walter, which Blackadder initially declines, though he eventually relents.
At court, Sir Walter greatly impresses
the Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
with his tales of daring exploration and discovery, and the court join to mock Blackadder for lacking the bravery of an explorer. During his boasting, Sir Walter reveals that sailors do not count the sea around the
Cape of Good Hope as part of the "
Seven Seas
The "Seven Seas" is a figurative term for all the seas of the known world. The phrase is used in reference to sailors and pirates in the arts and popular culture and can be associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the Arabian Seven Seas east of Af ...
", being known instead as "the sea of certain death" owing to its dangerous nature. Blackadder, in an attempt to upstage the explorer, suddenly announces his imminent plans to make that very journey, to the delight and admiration of the royal court, with the Queen even suggesting she will marry Blackadder when he returns. Sir Walter is disbelieving, stating that only one sailor would be "mad enough" to attempt the journey: Captain Redbeard Rum.
Blackadder seeks out Rum, who, despite being both legless and ramblingly
insane, he employs as captain for the voyage, bringing Baldrick and Percy along as well. On the evening before setting off, Blackadder, along with Rum and Baldrick, visits the court once again, and
Nursie
This article lists the characters in the four series and three special episodes of the British sitcom ''Blackadder''. '' Blackadder'' was notable for featuring actors playing many repeating characters across different eras of history, with Ro ...
is quite taken with the captain, agreeing to marry him once he returns. Once their journey starts, Blackadder reveals his real plan: sailing to France for a few months, then going back home and falsely claiming to have sailed to the Cape of Good Hope. Rum then admits that the plan is very fortunate, as he does not know the way to the Cape of Good Hope and intended to resort to his usual trick of "circling the
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
until everybody gets dizzy". Unfortunately, after sailing for three days, they run into a serious problem; Rum does not know how to get to France either, and in fact does not know how to navigate at all.
Blackadder suggests a member of the crew will know how to navigate, but Rum reveals that with the exception of Blackadder, Percy and Baldrick, there is no crew on the ship, stating opinion is divided on having a crew being standard maritime practice. Specifically, "all other captains say it is", and Rum says it is not.
Utterly lost, they sail for six months, having run out of food and water and reduced to drinking their own urine (joining Rum, who has been "swigging his with abandon" even ''before'' the water ran out) when their ship finally runs aground. Unfortunately, rather than returning to England, they have arrived on a tropical island with lava streams,
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
s and cannibalistic natives.
Two years later, they somehow land back in Britain, and return to meet the Queen, though they reveal to Nursie that her beloved Captain Rum was eaten by natives and she is given his beard as a memento. When Blackadder then brings up the subject of marrying the Queen, he finds that in their absence, she has become completely fed up with explorers, having spared Raleigh execution only because he "blubbed on his way to the block", and has had him reduced to serving as the stick in a game of
ring toss
Ring toss is a game where rings are tossed around a peg. It is common at amusement parks. A variant, sometimes referred to as "ring-a-bottle", replaces pegs with bottles, where the thrower may keep the bottle (and its contents) if successful.
Ring ...
. When she demands a souvenir from his travels, Blackadder offers Queenie a
stick that, when thrown away, comes back. She is displeased until she witnesses an offhanded throw of the boomerang return and strike Percy in the back of the head. Having been commanded to also present Melchett and Raleigh with a gift, Blackadder offers a bottle of "fine wine" (which is actually Baldrick's urine), which he states is in "inexhaustible supply".
Cast
*
Rowan Atkinson as
Lord Edmund Blackadder
*
Tim McInnerny
Tim McInnerny ( ; born 18 September 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his many roles on stage and television, including as Lord Percy Percy and Captain Darling in the 1980s British sitcom ''Blackadder''.
Early life
McInnerny was bor ...
as
Lord Percy Percy
This article lists the characters in the four series and three special episodes of the British sitcom ''Blackadder''. ''Blackadder'' was notable for featuring actors playing many repeating characters across different eras of history, with Rowa ...
*
Tony Robinson
Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...
as
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series ''Blackadder''. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character. Each ...
*
Miranda Richardson as
Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
*
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
as
Lord Melchett
*
Patsy Byrne
Patricia Anne Thirza Byrne (13 July 1933 – 17 June 2014) was an English actress, best known for her role as "Nursie" in '' Blackadder II'' as well as Malcolm's domineering Mother, Mrs Stoneway in all seven series of the ITV comedy '' Watchin ...
as
Nursie
This article lists the characters in the four series and three special episodes of the British sitcom ''Blackadder''. '' Blackadder'' was notable for featuring actors playing many repeating characters across different eras of history, with Ro ...
*
Tom Baker
Thomas Stewart Baker (born 20 January 1934) is an English actor and writer. He is well known for his portrayal of the fourth incarnation of the Doctor in the science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1974 to 1981.Scott, Danny. (1 ...
as
Captain Redbeard Rum
*
Simon Jones as Sir Walter Raleigh
Notes
Tom Baker has described his own performance as "appalling". Baker was quoted: "Someone should have taken away my
Equity Card. It was terrible and the buggers keep playing it." In an interview with ''
Radio Times'', Baker said his memories of working with Atkinson were "a little tainted." He stated that Atkinson told him to play his role as "boring" as possible, which was advice he gave to all guest actors. However, after playing his role as "boring" in the final rehearsal, Baker was told not to by the show's producer against Atkinson's advice.
References
External links
*
*
{{Blackadder
Blackadder episodes
1986 British television episodes
Television shows written by Ben Elton
Cultural depictions of Elizabeth I
Cultural depictions of Walter Raleigh
Television shows written by Richard Curtis