Ben Elton has provided an update following rumours of a Blackadder reunion series.
The acclaimed sitcom starring Rowan Atkinson, saw the star play various descendants of the scheming Edmund Blackadder throughout different points in history. The show ran for 4 series, and 24 episodes, between 1983 and 1989.
Although it was revived for a Red Nose Day 2023 sketch in aid of Comic Relief, and actor Tony Robinson previously teased the prospect of a 40th anniversary reunion that never materialised, Elton has poured water over the prospect of a fifth season.
Asked if there would be a fifth season, potentially set during the Russian Revolution, Elton said, “We could do any period. It would be a lovely thing to do,” in a new interview with The Guardian.
He added, “I recently did Upstart Crow, which was a Shakespeare sitcom set in the political world of the 16th century.”
However, he confirmed, “But there will not be a fifth series of Blackadder, I think that’s pretty much a certainty. I have no interest in doing it. I don’t think any of us do, with the possible exception of Tony [Robinson].
“But if we did, the world would be our oyster. We could have fun with any period.”
Elton added that he and his fellow cast members remained close and in touch.
“We’re all still very good friends,” he said. “I saw Rowan [Atkinson] only a couple of days ago, Richard wrote to me yesterday. I still see Stephen [Fry] and Hugh [Laurie]. We’re all very close.”
He explained that the rehearsal process could be frustrating with the constant rewriting of jokes.
“There was a certain tension – an endless sort of deconstructing that tended to be very frustrating. There would be 20 minutes of discussion on a single syllable, or debate over something like, is a vole or a gerbil the funniest small animal to have a degree from Cambridge?
“Richard and I always wanted them to rehearse the script as written before debating whether a certain line worked,” he said.
“We’d have the first read-through and they’d all light up cigarettes and Stephen and John Lloyd would look slightly pained over certain bits and pieces.
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“I just stepped away in the end but Richard sat through it all. And, of course, Richard went on to write Four Weddings and a Funeral and Love Actually, so I don’t think we need to question his writing ability.”
