Editing Blackadder II (section)

==Production==

===Development===
Due to the high cost of the first series, [[Michael Grade]] (the then controller of programming of BBC1) was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements and cost-cutting, leaving a gap of three years between the two series.<ref name="Lewisohn"/>

Rowan Atkinson did not wish to continue writing for the second series, so writer and [[stand-up comedian]] [[Ben Elton]] was chosen to replace him. According to producer [[John Lloyd (writer)|John Lloyd]], Ben Elton was particularly keen on the choice of the Elizabethan age for the series, because it was "a sexy age that the kids can relate to."<ref name="Britain's Best Sitcom"/> As a stand-up comic, Elton often acted as the studio [[warm-up comedian|warm-up comic]] to amuse the audience before filming began.<ref name="UKTV">[https://web.archive.org/web/20090114074336/http://uktv.co.uk/Gold/item/aid/527833 Trivia] at [[UKTV Gold]].co.uk, retrieved 2 April 2007</ref> The scripts were also tightened up during principal rehearsals with the actors; according to Richard Curtis, an entire script for a [[murder mystery]]-style episode was dropped because the writers felt it did not work.<ref name="UKTV"/>

===Filming===
To make the show more cost-effective, it was principally filmed on specially designed small sets at [[BBC Television Centre]] created by designer Tony Thorpe. The sets were de-constructed and rebuilt during the period of studio filming, as was normal for studio series then.<ref name="Britain's Best Sitcom"/> In particular, the Queen's [[throne room]] and Blackadder's front room were featured in every episode, with only two further unique sets per episode, including an execution chamber in "Head" and a Spanish [[dungeon]] in "Chains".<ref name="Lewisohn"/> Only one outside location shoot was used in the whole series, which took place before principal filming on Thursday 30 May 1985 at [[Wilton House]], [[Wiltshire]]. These outdoor scenes were Blackadder's courting scene in "Bells" and the end title sequences.<ref name="Blackadder Hall">[https://web.archive.org/web/20071103192743/http://www.blackadderhall.com/library/ba2_timewarp_3.html Blackadder Hall].co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2008</ref> Studio recordings shot in front of a live audience began on Sunday 9 June 1985 with the recording of "Head". Subsequent episodes were filmed on a weekly basis in the sequence "Bells", "Potato", "Money", "Beer" and "Chains".<ref name="Blackadder Hall"/> Director [[Mandie Fletcher]] was keen for the action to be shot spontaneously and was averse to complex costume changes or special effects which required recording to be halted. She is reputed to have said filming it was "a bit like doing Shakespeare in front of an audience – it's not at all like doing sitcom."<ref name="Blackadder Hall"/>

===Cast===
The size of the principal cast was reduced compared to the previous series, with a fixed number of characters appearing in every episode. Richard Curtis has been quoted as saying that due to the familiar cast, the series was the happiest for him to work on, comparing it to a "friendly bunch of school chums".<ref name="Cunning plan"/>
[[File:BA2adder.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Rowan Atkinson]] as [[Edmund Blackadder, Lord Blackadder|Lord Edmund Blackadder]]]]<!-- FAIR USE of Image:BA2adder.jpg: see image description page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:BA2adder.jpg for rationale -->
* [[Rowan Atkinson]] as [[Edmund Blackadder, Lord Blackadder|Lord Edmund Blackadder]]
* [[Tim McInnerny]] as [[Lord Percy Percy#Blackadder II|Lord Percy Percy]], Heir to the [[Duke of Northumberland|Duchy of Northumberland]]
* [[Tony Robinson]] as [[Baldrick#Blackadder II|Baldrick]]
* [[Miranda Richardson]] as [[Queenie (Blackadder)|Queen Elizabeth I of England]]
* [[Stephen Fry]] as [[List of Blackadder characters#Melchett|Lord Melchett, the Lord Chamberlain]]
* [[Patsy Byrne]] as [[Nursie]]

The series also featured at least one significant [[cameo role]] per episode. Notable appearances include [[Rik Mayall]] as the debonair [[Lord Flashheart]] in "Bells"; [[Tom Baker]] and [[Simon Jones (actor)|Simon Jones]] as Captain Redbeard Rum and Sir Walter Raleigh respectively, in "Potato"; [[Ronald Lacey]] as the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells in "Money"; [[Miriam Margolyes]], who had appeared in the previous series, as the puritanical Lady Whiteadder in "Beer"; and Stephen Fry's [[Double act|comedy partner]] [[Hugh Laurie]], who appears twice, first as the drunken Simon Partridge in "Beer" and in the final episode as the evil Prince Ludwig. Laurie was later given a larger role as [[George (Blackadder)|Prince George]] in the next two series. Also [[Bob (Blackadder character)|Bob]], played by [[Gabrielle Glaister]], a former classmate of Ben Elton's, made her first appearance.<ref name="UKTV"/> Several of the characters were seen in similar guises in later series.

===Music and titles===
The opening titles are accompanied by a mock-Elizabethan arrangement of [[Howard Goodall]]'s ''Blackadder'' theme played on a [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]] and an [[electric guitar]], and feature a black snake slithering about on a [[marble]] table. The snake, non-compliant to the wishes of its handler, is eventually removed and replaced with something related to the episode title, which in this series is always a single noun. The opening ominous [[String instrument|string]] [[crescendo]] and imagery are a parody of the opening credits of ''[[I, Claudius (TV series)|I, Claudius]]'', the 1976 BBC television adaptation of [[Robert Graves]]' [[I, Claudius|novel of the same name]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Blackadder II (TV Series 1986) - Crazy credits - IMDb|url=https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0088484/crazycredits/|publisher=IMDb|accessdate=10 February 2025}}</ref>

The closing titles use a different arrangement of the theme, sung by countertenor [[Jeremy Jackman]],<ref>[http://www.trbc.co.uk/about-us/jeremy-jackman.htm Biography] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314115630/http://www.trbc.co.uk/about-us/jeremy-jackman.htm |date=14 March 2012 }}, Jeremy Jackman. Retrieved 29 January 2011</ref> with lyrics (usually insulting Blackadder) that reflect the events of the preceding episode. The song is played over a shot of Blackadder strolling through a [[formal garden]] and being annoyed by the [[lute]]-wielding [[minstrel]] ([[Tony Aitken]]). This sequence was incorporated as a separate [[subplot]], with Blackadder constantly attempting to apprehend the musician each time with limited success. At the end of the final episode, Blackadder catches the minstrel and repeatedly dunks him in a fountain.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}