Editing Blackadder (section)

===Series development===
Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis developed the idea for the sitcom while working on ''[[Not the Nine O'Clock News]]''. Eager to avoid comparisons to the critically acclaimed ''[[Fawlty Towers]]'', they proposed the idea of a historical sitcom.<ref name="Interviews">''I Have a Cunning Plan – 20th Anniversary of Blackadder'', [[BBC Radio 4]] documentary broadcast 23 August 2003. Excerpts available at [https://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/blackadder/interviews/ bbc.co.uk]. Retrieved 17 April 2008</ref><ref name="Curtis interview">[http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/richard_interview.html Interview] at Blackadder Hall. Retrieved 17 April 2008 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024255/http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/richard_interview.html |date=27 September 2011 }}</ref> A [[The Black Adder (unaired pilot)|pilot episode]] was made in 1982, and a six-episode series was commissioned. The budget for the series was considerable, with much location shooting particularly at [[Alnwick Castle]] in Northumberland and the surrounding countryside in February 1983.<ref>[http://www.alnwickcastle.com/television.php Alnwick Castle official website]. Retrieved 2 June 2008 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081228031113/http://www.alnwickcastle.com/television.php |date=28 December 2008 }}</ref> The series also used large casts of extras, horses and expensive medieval-style costumes. Atkinson has said about the making of the first series:

<blockquote>The first series was odd, it was very extravagant. It cost a million pounds for the six programmes&nbsp;... [which] was a lot of money to spend&nbsp;... It looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked.<ref name="Interviews"/></blockquote>

Owing to the high cost of the first series, the then-controller of programming of [[BBC1]], [[Michael Grade]], was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements to the show and drastic cost-cutting, leaving a gap of three years between the two series.<ref name="Lewisohn">Lewisohn, Mark, [https://web.archive.org/web/20050408071319/http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/b/blackadderthe_7770760.shtml ''The Black Adder''] at the former [[BBC Guide to Comedy]]. Retrieved 17 April 2008</ref>

A chance meeting between Richard Curtis and comedian [[Ben Elton]] led to the decision to collaborate on a new series of ''Blackadder''. Recognising the main faults of the first series, Curtis and Elton agreed that ''Blackadder II'' would be a studio-only production (along with the inclusion of a live audience during recording, instead of showing the episodes to an audience after taping). Besides adding a greater comedy focus, Elton suggested a major change in character emphasis: Baldrick would become the stupid [[sidekick]], while Edmund Blackadder evolved into a cunning [[sycophant]]. This led to the familiar set-up that was maintained in the following series.<ref name="Britain's Best Sitcom">''[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sitcom/advocate_blackadder.shtml Britain's Best Sitcom – Blackadder]'', 2004 BBC Television documentary, presented by [[John Sergeant (journalist)|John Sergeant]]</ref>

Only in the ''Back & Forth'' millennium special was the shooting once again on location, because this was a production with a budget estimated at £3&nbsp;million, and was a joint venture between [[Tiger Aspect Productions|Tiger Aspect]], [[Sky UK|Sky Television]], the New Millennium Experience Company and the BBC, rather than the BBC alone.<ref>''[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/419247.stm Blackadder's millennium duel]'', [[BBC News]], Friday, 13 August 1999</ref><ref>'[http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/skyview.html Black to the Future – Interview with Tony Robinson]' in ''Skyview'', January 2000 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927024303/http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/skyview.html |date=27 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212579/trivia Trivia] at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 20 April 2008</ref>