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Blackadder feels a funny attraction for his manservant and decides to marry when he discovers he is a she.
  • "Am I pleased to see you or did I just put a canoe in my pocket?"

    7.0
    "Good"
    The Black Adder returns, this time in the Elizabethan era. I am glad to say that I enjoy Edmund's new character traits: he is not as ignorant and stupid as in the first series. Instead, he is more clever than even Baldrick, who was the most cunning of them all. The character of Elizabeth the First is also very interesting; I expect to hear great things from her. In addition, it was great to see Stephen Fry as well!
    However, despite all the familiar and new characters, the episode lacked humour. It was a bit dry, with only Lord Flashheart and Edmund providing a few good lines. I was disappointed with Baldrick, especially when he was the one to make me laugh in the first series. All in all, it was a good episode, but not my favourite.moreless
  • "The wise woman, the WISE woman..."

    9.7
    "Superb"
    Where to start with this episode? It's a riot of laughs from start to finish! The scenes with the crone are classic. First, Edmund asks a crone whether the location is Putney only to be told "that it be, that it be". To which Edmund rudely corrects her by saying "Yes it is, not that it be. There is no need to put on the accent, I am not a tourist!". Edmund proffers her a purse of monies which he swiftly tells yon crone she will not be getting, snatching it beyond her reach. Then came the farcical exchange with her about the wise woman. Not wishing to give the gag away and ruin it for those who have yet to see it, all I can say is you will fall about with laughter! My son certainly did when he watched the series at the age of 16.

    I understand that Rik Mayall improvised his Lord Flashheart scenes, hence the look of surprise on the cast's faces at times. This is one of my favourite episodes in season two (in truth, I loved them all!) and it illustrates perfectly why Blackadder still enjoys cult status today.moreless
  • "Bob"

    10
    "Perfect"
    Bells has got to be one of my most favorite episodes in the Blackadder II series. It was quite refreshing to see the continually scheming Lord Blackadder gradually falling in love with "Bob" aka Kate. Kate (or is it Bob?) obviously cares a great deal for Lord Blackadderuntil close to the end anyway. I cannot help thinking "Bob" would have become Lady Kate Blackadder within the first couple minutes of the episode except everybody thinks she is a man. Blackadder is raucously funny when "Bob" tries to tell him how she feelsYou've got one of those belly buttons that sticks outward don't you? Fortunately for Blackadder, Kate's secret ends up with the two of them puffing pipes and snuggling together. I won't give anything else away. Just watch it, you will like it.moreless
  • This is Bob.... he\'s a girl?

    9.6
    "Superb"
    This episode is wrong in so many ways, making it just hysterical. I think the funniest thing is \"Bob\" (aka Kate) attempting to act manly, when she is so blatantly a woman!

    Also, the whole wedding scene is very funny; introducing the character of Lord Flashheart, who returns in Blackadder 4. Although he only appears in a few episodes, this character is hilarious and has some of the funniest, albiet crude, jokes in the show.

    As always, this episode of Blackadder makes fun of a well-known historical fact: the doctor using leeches to cure every ailment known to man! Blackadder is obviously very dubious of this treatment, making another very funny scene.

    Overall, I think this is one of the best episodes in the series, probably even the whole show!

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • TRIVIA (5)

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    • When Lord Flashheart throws Percy out the door of the Queen's chamber at the end of the episode, you can see the entire set wall buckle.

    • End Credit Lyrics: Lord Flashheart tweaked the Adder's beard; From now he always shall be single. To fall in love with boys is weird; Especially boys without a dingle. Blackadder, Blackadder, his taste is rather odd. Blackadder, Blackadder, the randy little sod. Lord Flashheart, Lord Flashheart, I wish you were the star. Lord Flashheart, Lord Flashheart, you're sexier by far.

    • Throughout the entire season during the introduction, the snake tries to get away from someone who is supposedly Blackadder. He gets the snake. Its head is above a black tile. There is then a close-up of the snake, Blackadder wags his finger at it. It is now above a white tile. Then when the camera zooms out its in front of a black tile again.

    • Gabrielle Glaister (Kate/Bob) revives her cross-dressing role in this episode as Melchet's driver...interestingly in both series, this leads to Baldrick in a dress.

    • Rik Mayall is the first from the show The Young Ones to be in the series (as Lord Flashheart) He returns as Flashheart in the fourth series. Nigel Planer (Neil) and Adrian Edmondson (Vyvyan) also show up later in the series.

  • QUOTES (26)

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    • Melchett: It is customary on these occasions for the groom to marry the bridesmaid, I presume you wish to honor this? Baldrick: I do.

    • Queenie: Girls are normally called Elizabeth! Or Mary. Nursie: Or Donald. Queenie: Mouth is open, Nursie, should be shut.

    • Edmund: Look, am I paying for this personal abuse or is it extra? Doctor: No, all part of the service.

    • Kate: What think you, my lord, of love? Edmund: You mean rumpy-pumpy? Kate: What would you say, my lord, if I were to say I love you? Edmund: Umm…well, of course it depends entirely on who you said it to. If you said it to a horse, I'd assume you were sick. If you said it to Baldrick, I'd assume you were blind.

    • Edmund: Bob, this is Percy, a dimwit I'm unable to shake off.

    • Baldrick: I've got nowhere to go, my lord. Edmund: Oh, surely you'll be allowed to starve to death in one of the royal parks! Baldrick: I've been in your service since I was two and a half, my lord. Edmund: That must be why I'm so utterly sick of the sight of you!

    • Edmund: What do they call you? Kate: Kate.

    • (After Baldrick is shot in the crotch with an arrow) Edmund: Bad luck, Balders. Baldrick: Not to worry, my lord. The arrow didn't in fact enter my body. Edmund: Ah, good. Baldrick: No, by a thousand to one chance, my willie got in the way. Edmund: Extraordinary. Baldrick: Yeah, I'd only just put it there, but now I will leave it there forever. Edmund: Quite so, Baldrick, it can be your lucky willie. Baldrick: Yes my lord, years from now, I'll show it to my grandchildren. Edmund: Well Baldrick, I think now grandchildren may be out of the question.

    • Percy: I'd like to see the Spaniard who could make his way past me.
      Edmund: Well go to Spain, there are millions of them.

    • Percy: Sorry I'm late!
      Edmund: Oh don't bother apologizing, I'm sorry you're alive.

    • Kate: Father, I must speak. I can be silent no longer. All day long you mutter to yourself, gibber, dribble, moan and bash your head against the wall yelling: "I want to die!" Now you may say I'm leaping to conclusions, but… you're not completely happy, are you?

    • Kate: The word is that your servant is the worst servant in London. Blackadder: Mmmmm. That's true. Baldrick, you're fired. Be out of the house in ten minutes.

    • Old Man: I'm sad because, my darling, our poverty has now reached such extremes that I can no longer afford to keep us. And must look to my own dear tiny darling to sustain me in my frail dotage. Kate: But father, surely… Old Man: Yes Kate. I want you to become a prostitute.

    • Lord Flashheart: Nursie, I like it firm and fruity. Am I pleased to see you or did I just put a canoe in my pocket? Down, boy, down.

    • Edmund: Where have you been?
      Lord Flashheart: Where haven't I been?! WOOF! (performing a pelvic thrust)

    • Bob: But My Lord, I have a great secret!
      Edmund: What?
      Bob: Prepare to be amazed. (Starts undressing)
      Edmund: Oh no, you haven't got one of those birthmarks shaped like a banana have you?
      Bob: No (still undressing)
      Edmund: Or a tattoo saying "Get it here" ?
      Bob: No
      Edmund: Oh God, you've got one of those belly buttons that sticks out haven't you?
      Bob: No My Lord.
      Edmund: Well what could it possibly be?
      (Bob flashes Edmund her breasts, proving she is actually a woman)
      Edmund: Aah…Good Lord!

    • (Baldrick is in a dress as the maid of honour)
      Edmund: It's strangely in keeping with our courtship that your maid of honour should be a man.
      Baldrick: (Wearing a dress) Thank you very much My Lord.
      Edmund: …Well I use the word "Man" in as broad as possible a sense. For as we all know God made man in his own image. It would be a sad lookout for Christians throughout the globe if God looked anything like you Baldrick.
      Kate: Ignore him Balders, you look as sweet as a little pie!
      Edmund: Kate, he looks like what he is: A dung ball in a dress.

    • Flasheart: (to Baldrick) Thanks bridesmaid, like the beard, gives me something to hang on to!

    • Flashhart: I've got a plan! And it's as hot as my pants!

    • Edmund: (to doctor) You're just an old quack aren't you? Doctor: I'd rather be a quack than a ducky good-day.

    • Edmund: Do you know where she lives? Crone: Of Course. Edmund: Where? Crone: Here. Do you have an appointment? Edmund: No. Crone: Well, you can go in anyway.

    • Young Crone: Two things must you know about the wise woman. First she is…a Woman. And second, she is… Edmund: Wise? Young Crone: You do know her then. Edmund: No just a stab in the dark which is incidentally what you'll be getting if you don't be a bit more helpful.

    • (Lord Melchett is making very strange gestures in front of Queenie and Nursey) Queenie: Nice try Melchie, but it's no use. I'm so bored. Lord Melchett: Your father used to laugh at my impersonation of Christopher Columbus. Queenie: Well, my father used to laugh at…who were those people with the funny faces and the bells? Lord Melchett: Ahh, jesters. Queenie: No. Oh, lepers

    • Queenie: Is her nose prettier than mine? Edmund: Oh no no no. Queenie: Good, because if it was then I would have had it cut off, and then you'd have to marry someone without a nose, and that wouldn't be very nice would it? I mean imagine the mess when she got a cold!

    • (Comes in to see "Bob" lying on the floor with Edmund on top of her.) Baldrick: Don't worry Bob he used to try and kill me too.

    • Edmund: Tell me, be this Putney? Crone: That it be! That it be! Edmund: Yes it is, not that it be. Later… Edmund: Here is a purse of monies. Crone: Thank… Edmund: Which I'm not going to give to you.

  • NOTES (2)

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    • From this season onward, Edmund and his descendants become more cunning, shrewd, and nasty, rather then the sniveling, slimy coward that the previous season's Edmund was portrayed as.

    • First episode co-written by Ben Elton. All subsequent episodes and specials are written by Curtis and Elton. Stephen Fry joins the cast as Lord Melchett. Miranda Richardson joins the cast as Queen Elizabeth the first. Patsy Byrne joins the cast as Nursie.

  • ALLUSIONS (2)

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    • The opening credits for this season, in which a snake slithers across a chessboard with some "help" from Blackadder, parody the opening credits of I, Claudius, which showed a snake slithering across a mosaic.

    • There is a sequence with medieval-sounding music playing over scenes of Edmund and Bob hanging out together and sort of romantically; there are medieval twists to modern song titles. This is a reference to commercials that advertise song compilations, like the old K-Tel records and Zamfir instrumental compilations.

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