Beer (Blackadder)
| "Beer" | |
|---|---|
| Blackadder episode | |
| Episode no. | Series 2 Episode 5 |
| Directed by | Mandie Fletcher |
| Written by | |
| Original air date | 13 February 1986 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Beer" is the fifth episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II,[1] the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. In the episode, an embarrassing incident with a turnip, an ostrich feather and a fanatically Puritan aunt leads to a right royal to-do in the Blackadder household. The episode marks Miriam Margolyes's second and Hugh Laurie's first ever Blackadder appearance with Laurie going on to appear in every subsequent episode of the show.
Plot
Blackadder receives a letter informing him that his fanatically Puritan but extremely wealthy aunt and uncle, Lord and Lady Whiteadder, will be visiting him to discuss the terms of his inheritance over dinner that evening. Baldrick informs Blackadder that Queen Elizabeth demands Blackadder's presence at court as his rival, Lord Melchett, is very sick.
Blackadder rushes to Richmond Palace to discover the Queen and Nursie tending to an ailing Melchett, whom is suffering from a dire hangover, having been out drinking the night before. Blackadder mocks Melchett for his lack of alcoholic tolerance, while Melchett reminds Blackadder of his own drunkenness during the King of Austria's visit where Blackadder wandered naked around the grounds of Hampton Court singing "I'm Merlin, the Happy Pig". Blackadder challenges Melchett to a drinking bout, with 10,000 florins at stake. After Blackadder leaves, Queenie tells Nursie she conspires to somehow gain entry to the party.
Back at his house, Blackadder begins to draft a guest list for the drinking party, with Percy's assistance. Percy reminds him that the Whiteadders will also be coming to dinner that evening. Blackadder hastily returns to the Queen and asks that the contest be moved to another night; however, she senses that he is trying to back out of his bet and refuses to postpone the contest. Blackadder decides to host both events, but in different rooms of his house. The drinking party is to be held in Baldrick's bedroom, while the Whiteadders are to dine with Percy in Blackadder's dining room. Blackadder conjures up a plan to outlast Melchett at the drinking contest by avoiding alcohol and telling Baldrick to hand him water when he asks for his "incredibly strong ale" at the party.
The Whiteadders soon arrive at Blackadder's home. Lord Whiteadder has taken a "vow of silence", leaving Edmund's abusive and volatile aunt Lady Whiteadder to hold conversations. When the drinking guests show up, Blackadder leads them to Baldrick's bedroom, where they become intoxicated and subsequently rowdy and destructive. Blackadder conceals the goings-on from his aunt and uncle. The Queen arrives at the party, disguised as Percy's girlfriend Gwendolyn, and Blackadder, not realising who she is, accidentally locks her in the closet.
Melchett calls Blackadder out on his efforts to participate in the drinking game. Blackadder calls for his strong ale, but Baldrick exposes the "ale" as being water. Melchett and the other competitors are briefly left shocked, before they force a reluctant Blackadder to drink a very strong ale. Blackadder soon re-enters the dining room, drunkenly informing Percy he lost the bet. Blackadder soon reveals his intention of earning (as he puts it) "a whopping great inheritance" from his aunt and uncle. After the Whiteadders leave, Blackadder rues what has happened.
In the hallway, Melchett's drinking crew assume the Whiteadders to be strippers, and release the Queen from the cupboard. Queenie announces she is going to first "have a little drinkie", and then execute everyone, with the whole group looking on nervously as she takes a drink. By dawn the following morning, everyone is hungover and sitting in Blackadder's dining room, confused as to what has happened.
Cast
- Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder
- Tim McInnerny as Lord Percy Percy
- Tony Robinson as Baldrick
- Miranda Richardson as Queen Elizabeth I
- Stephen Fry as Lord Melchett
- Patsy Byrne as Nursie
- Miriam Margolyes as Lady Whiteadder
- Daniel Thorndike as Lord Nathaniel Whiteadder; the role was originally offered to Jim Broadbent, who was unavailable, as a reference to the double act role he played opposite Margolyes in the first series.
- Hugh Laurie as Simon Partridge, a drunk aristocrat who is also known as Mr. Ostrich and Farters Parters.
- Roger Blake as Geoffrey Piddle
- William Hootkins as Freddie Frobisher, the flatulent hermit of Lindisfarne (listed as "Monk" in credits)
References
- ↑ Edmund_Blackadder (11 February 2016). "Blackadder Series 2 Episode 5 Beer Full Script". Blackadder Quotes. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
External links
- "Beer" at BBC Online
- "Beer" at IMDb