Writer:	Ben Elton, Richard Curtis
Director:	Richard Boden
Star:	Stephen Fry (Lord Melchett [ 2 ]/King Charles [ Specials ]/General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett [ 4 ]),  Hugh Laurie (as The Prince Regent George IV [ Christmas Special, series 3 ]/ Lieutenant the Honorable George Colthurst St. Banleigh [ series),  Tim McInnerny (Percy [ 1 & 2 ] /Captain Kevin Darling [ 4 ]),  Tony Robinson (Baldrick),  Rowan Atkinson (Prince Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh)
Guest Star:	Geoffrey Palmer (Field Marshal Haig)

Rowan Atkinson (Edmund Blackadder), Tony Robinson (Baldrick) and Tim McInnerny (Percy/Lord Topper/Captain Darling) are the only actors to appear in all four seasons. (edit) Rowan Atkinson (Edmund Blackadder) and Tony Robinson (Baldrick) are the only actors to appear in every episode. (edit) While George was part of "The Trinity Tiddlers," Baldrick was part of "The Turnip Street Workhouse Pals." (edit) Bladrick's little animal friends in the trenches were Sammy the Spider, Katie the Worm, Bertie the Bird, and Neville the Fat Hampster. (edit) The football match between the British and German forces at Christmas 1914 (mentioned in this episode) actually took place. (edit)

Baldrick: Shall I do my war poem, sir?
Blackadder: How hurt will you be if I give the honest answer, which is, "No - I'd rather French-kiss a skunk?"
(edit) Blackadder: We've been sitting here since Christmas 1914, during which time millions of men have died, and we've moved no further than an asthmatic ant with heavy shopping. (edit) Baldrick: I heard that [the war] started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich because he was hungry.
Edmund: I think you mean it started when the Archduke of Austro-Hungary got shot.
Baldrick: No, there was definitely an ostrich involved, sir. (edit) George: The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building.
Edmund: George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganyika. I hardly think that we can be entirely absolved from blame on the imperialistic front..
George: Oh, oh no, sir, absolutely not. (to Baldrick) Mad as a bicycle. (edit) Baldrick: Well, the thing is, the way I see it, these days there's a war on, right? And ages ago there wasn't a war on, right? So there must have been a moment when there not being a war on went away, right? And there being a war on came along. So, what I want to know is, how did we get from the one case of affairs to the other case of affairs.
{pause}
Edmund: Do you mean, how did the war start?
Baldrick: {thinks hard} Yeah. (edit)

Blackadder can't die without an heir, else how would one manage to go on an adventure through time in "Back & Forth".

The show never explicitly shows an heir, but it is always plausible. In this series he has sex with the nurse in the hospital, who is later shot due to her being a German spy. Even if George was a leak, she failed the subtle traps Blackadder left for her, and would still be tried and executed. (edit) There is another interesting timeline error in this episode featuring Captain Blackadder's military career. As pointed out below, he mentions Umboto Gorge (1892) and knowing having met Field Marshal Haig twenty years ago (which would be 1897). When talking about his career to George he says that had "fifteen years military service" before the horror of World War I. Assuming he meant the start of the war in 1914, that would mean his career started in 1899. (edit) Captain Blackadder says he only met Field Marshall Haig once. "It was twenty years ago." When he calls Haig, he talks about the Battle of Umboto Gorge in 1892. That would make it Blackadder and Haig's first conversation in 25 years, since all episodes of Blackadder Goes Forth were set in 1917. (edit)

Two of George's classmates are lost to poison gas at the Battle of the Somme, which took place over weeks during 1916. It involved an incredibly huge British artillery bombardment, meant to obliterate the German defenses, which was to be followed by a huge infantry attack. The bombardment was ineffective as the Germans were dug in too deep or beyond the range of the British guns. George's chums were "Titch" and 'Mr. Floppy" who were "gassed back to Blighty (Britain). (edit) George also lost his classmates "Bumfluff," "Drippy," and "Strangly Brown,"at the Battle of Gallipoli (1915), which was part of an allied effort to force open the Dardenelles strait in order to re-supply Russia from the south and take Turkey out of the war. Most of the fighting was done by Australian troops, as evidenced by his line "Copped a packet at Gallipoli with the Aussies." (edit) George: Well, Jocko and The Badger bought it at the first Ypres unfortunately.
This refers to a battle in Belgium, which occured 31 October to 17 November, 1914. (edit)