Blackadder’s Tony Robinson teases Rowan Atkinson WILL appear in reboot in major U-turn
BLACKADDER’S Tony Robinson has teased that Rowan Atkinson WILL appear in the reboot in a major U-turn.
Earlier this week, Richard Curtis confirmed the iconic comedy will be returning for Comic Relief 2023.
However, the show’s creator said Rowan, 68 – who played the titular Blackadder – would not be part of the sketch, and it would focus on Tony’s character Baldrick.
The news will have left many Blackadder fans a bit disappointed, but now Tony, 76, has offered them some hope.
During an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Tony said: “This just happens to be a script for Baldrick but Rowan always contributes to Comic Relief. I am sure he will be there in some form or another.”
He explained how Richard, 66, messaged him with a script for the Comic Relief sketch just a day after they reunited at an event, and the star jumped at the chance to reprise his iconic role.
He said: “It was quite extraordinary. It happened very fast. Last week I was at some posh do at Claridges, where they were celebrating the 100th anniversary of the front covers of the Radio Times and I went there to receive an award for a cover that Blackadder had done all those years previously.
“Very early the following morning I was woken up by a text from Richard Curtis saying, ‘Lovely to have seen you,’ and it included this script for a piece for Baldrick to do and he said, ‘Would you do it?’
“It was extraordinary for me, this is a character that I haven’t played for 25 years and I suddenly got this beautifully crafted script, and I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, try and keep me away from it!’ “
Tony also spoke about the chance of a new series of Blackadder, which originally ran from 1983 to 1989.
He said: “The argument always is that however good a new series might be, the people who are watching it wouldn’t be in the same state of mind and same state of emotions as
they were when they watched the first series.
“They wouldn’t feel as warm about it, they wouldn’t feel as good about it. Even if it was absolutely great they’d go, ‘It’s not like the old series, is it?’
“So I think that’s one of the main reasons why no one has ever seriously thought about writing another series.
“But who knows, who knows? It’s not down to me, it’s down to Richard and Ben [Elton].”
Blackadder starred Rowan, Tony, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Tim McInnerny and Miranda Richardson.
The first series aired in 1983 and ran for four seasons before coming to an end in 1989.
Each series was set in a different period of British history, beginning in 1485 and ending in 1917 with Blackadder Goes Forth.
Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day takes place on Friday, March 17.