Blackadder (1986) - 70 mistakes in entire show

Audio problem: "Blackadder Back and Fourth": Blackadder and his guests are going to the cellar where the time machine is kept. While they are going down the stairs, Blackadder says, "To his exact specifications." However, his mouth is shut and his lips don't move.

Continuity: "Blackadder Back and Fourth": Blackadder and his guests are going down stairs. Blackadder is first, George is second, Melchett is third, Elizabeth is fourth and Darling is fifth. Blackadder gives his notebook to George. When they arrive downstairs, Melchett and Elizabeth are ahead of George. This is not logical, since the stairs are too narrow and they could not have passed George.

Continuity: In Back and Forth, the 'modern' Edmund makes off with the helmet we saw Georgius put on the wall. But in the next shot of the Roman Blackadder and Georgius, the helmet is still where Georgius left it.

Visible crew/equipment: Back and Forth: When Blackadder first goes into the time machine to get the items from Baldrick, and the door goes up, you can see a crew member pushing the door closed, wearing a red shirt.

Continuity: In 'Blackadder Back and Forth', in the Romans scene, we see Stephen Fry enter on a chariot, wearing his helmet, however in the next shot when he is off the chariot, he is carrying the helmet without there being time for him to take it off.

Factual error: In Blackadder's Christmas Carol, during the Elizabethan part of the 1988 Christmas special, Queen Elizabeth asks Edmund if he has any last words before she chops off his head and sticks it on the Christmas tree. Christmas trees weren't introduced to England until Prince Albert (husband of Queen Victoria) brought it from his homeland in 1840.

Continuity: When Blackadder beheads King Richard, Richard's head and helmet change position while lying on the ground.

Visible crew/equipment: After Blackadder has his haircut, the camera zooms in on his foot. He lifts his foot revealing a red tape marker on the floor.

Visible crew/equipment: After King Richard has been crowned, Blackadder, Baldrick and Percy return to their chambers and start cheering. When Blackadder says "We're safe, and I am a prince of the realm" you can see the boom mike move up in the right corner of the screen.

Continuity: When McAngus empties his bag on the table and the head falls on it we see the back of the head is turned against the camera. When it cuts to a close up of the head the head is facing in the direction of the previous camera take. When it cuts again the back of the head is turned against the camera.

Visible crew/equipment: When Harry tells Blackadder to be in charge of the welcoming of King Richard's return, as Blackadder turns around and walks against the fireplace saying "12 months of chasing sheep.", if you look closely on the top of the fireplace you should be able to see the shadow of the boom mic moving. It's quite hard to see, but it's there.

Visible crew/equipment: When Harry comes to see Blackadder and asks how the entertainment program is going, Harry says that St. Leonards himself was a eunuch. As it cuts to Percy agreeing, you can see the boom mike move right above Baldrick.

Visible crew/equipment: Just after Edmund, Baldrick and Percy get up from sitting by the fire, and before the line "The Black Adder will be King next", the shadow of the boom mike can be seen on Baldrick's hat - it moves upwards quickly so can be hard to spot.

Plot hole: In 'The Foretelling', it is said that Richard IV reigned for "13 glorious years" with a caption showing 1485-1498. 'The Black Seal' starts on St. Junipers' Day, 1498, but Blackadder spends 12 months locked up with Mad Gerald. So when the Royal Family are finally murdered it is actually 1499.

Visible crew/equipment: In the final shot where Percy and Baldrick have entered the room and said their lines, as it fades to black the crew can be heared applauding.

Continuity: During the introduction, the snake tries to get away from someone who is supposedly Blackadder. He gets the snake. It's head is above a black tile. There is then a close-up of the snake, Blackadder wags his finger at it. It is now above a white tile.

Visible crew/equipment: When Kate/Bob first arrives at Blackadder's and she says, "I'm an honest hard working lad", you can see the boom mike pop into picture above her.

Visible crew/equipment: When Melchet is trying to entertain the Queen and she says, "No use, Melchet, I'm still bored," you can see the boom mike pop in above her head.

Visible crew/equipment: When Blackadder is at the Queen's asking for permission to get married and she approves, the boom mike pops into picture several times above her.

Visible crew/equipment: When Blackadder goes to see The Wise Woman, as she gets out of bed and starts talking you can see the boom mic moving above Blackadder's head.

Visible crew/equipment: When Blackadder is at the doctor and the doctor says, "I think you are in luck though," while pointing at the board of "Principal Leech Points", you can see the boom mike pop in right above Blackadder.

Visible crew/equipment: When Edmund is trying to hide Farrow's head on a stake and Elizabeth enters and says "Hello Edmund. Look, I'm sorry I just snapped at you just now", you can see the shadow of the boom mike moving on the floor beside her shadow.

Visible crew/equipment: In the beginning of the show right before Percy enters Blackadder's room you can see the shadow of some equipment moving up and down above the fire place.

Visible crew/equipment: When Blackadder is about to leave Captain Redbeard and Redbeard says, "So you do have some spunk in you," you can see the boom mike pop into picture in the upper right corner of the screen.

Visible crew/equipment: When Blackadder and Melchett leave to go visit the Queen and they close the door, the boom mike is visible in the upper left corner of the screen.

Revealing: When Percy is holding the 'Green' in his hands, light of the green reflects on the wall behind Blackadder. However the way Percy is holding the 'green' in front of Blackadder, Blackadder's shadow should be on the wall behind him, but it isn't. It's obvious green lighting is used to light up the back wall.

Visible crew/equipment: When Blackadder is called to the Queen's first practical joke and he says he didn't laugh because his head would fall off, the Queen says, "If you don't start soon, your head will fall off", the boom mike is visible above her head.

Other: In the episode "Beer" when Edmund leaves Melchett's house to prepare for the evening he walks away and bumps into the wall causing it to wobble.

Continuity: When Blackadder, Queenie and Nursey are all comforting Melchett, there is a shot from the side view of Melchett, he is holding his head with his left hand. Then there is a shot from behind Melchett, he still has his hand on his head but when the shot returns to the side, Melchett no longer has his hand on his head.

Visible crew/equipment: When Blackadder calls for Baldrick and asks for a raw turnip, as Baldrick enters, you can see some shadow moving on the left of the screen. It's not Baldrick's shadow and there's certainly no one else in the room that could make that shadow.

Revealing: When Queen Elizabeth arrives in disguise, Blackadder welcomes her and is about to open the door to the closet, but you can see the door is being pushed up from the inside, probably by a crew member.

Continuity: Edmund throws his drink into the cupboard under the stairs, leaving a stain on the floor. Yet when he directs Queenie there a few seconds later, the floor is unstained.

Continuity: When Blackadder calls for Baldrick to fetch his incredible strong ale you see Melchett holding his beer down. When it cuts the ale is up at his chest.

Continuity: Just after Edmund has "locked" the door on Queenie, it comes open when he walks away from it. There is even the sound of the door opening.

Continuity: When Baldrick brings the turnip to aunt Whiteadder, he is standing right next to her. When it cuts to her eating it, Baldrick is suddenly gone.

Continuity: When Blackadder throws the wine into the closet, some of the wine drops on the floor. When Queen Elizabeth arrives, there's no wine on the floor.

Continuity: There is a knock on the front door, and Blackadder tells Baldrick to 'get the door'. Baldrick returns with it, but the front door on the set, still in place, is still visible in the background of the shot.

Continuity: The door to the dining room is open when Edmund is throwing his drink in the cupboard. Then when he returns after directing Queenie into the cupboard, it is closed. He closed it when he left the room to answer the door.

Visible crew/equipment: After Blackadder has pushed Queen Elizabeth into the closet and sits down at the table, Percy "coughs". When it cuts back to Blackadder, you can see the boom mike above his head.

Continuity: There is a knock on the front door, and Blackadder tells Baldrick to 'get the door'. Baldrick returns with it, but the front door on the set, still in place, is still visible in the background of the shot. The fact that Baldrick knows who was at the door indicates that he's got the right one.

Continuity: At the very end of the episode, when it shows you all the dead bodies, you can see Queenie to the right for a few seconds. The dagger she is holding is pointing upwards. Then there is a close-up of Queenie, who then talks back to you in Prince Ludwig's voice, and the dagger she is holding is now pointing downwards.

Continuity: When Blackadder and Melchett are about to punch the German guards in the groin, Melchett has his hand on a paper. When it cuts his hand is no longer on the paper.

Continuity: Right at the very end, when everyone is lying dead on the floor, Stephen Fry's eyes are still moving.

Visible crew/equipment: In the shot after Blackadder has read up Baldrick's votes a microphone is visible in the upper right corner.

Revealing: When Baldrick is on the metal spit rotating by the fire, the fire is just a light up board.

Visible crew/equipment: During the conversation between Blackadder and Baldrick, as Baldrick explains what he spent the £400.000 on, we can see the shadow from the boom mike moving on Blackadder's fur coat.

Revealing: When Blackadder lifts the huge turnip it looks really light. A turnip that size would weight a fair bit.

Factual error: Dr. Johnson completed his dictionary in 1755, 7 years before the Prince Regent was born (1762). So it's unlikely for him to be asking the Prince for patronage.

Visible crew/equipment: When Baldrick is called upon to demonstrate the type of clothing required when visiting France, the edge of the scenery can be seen behind him on his right in the area he enters from.

Revealing: After Blackadder accidentally kills Smedly with one of the suicide pills, he starts ranting about how useless Smedly is as a hero, because he was dumb enough to fall for the old 'poisoned cup routine.' As he does so, you can see the supposedly dead Smedly behind him, still breathing normally.

Factual error: During the theatre play you can see they are using electric stage lights. Nice move for a series plotted almost 300 years ago.

Factual error: At Ms. Miggins' when she says, "There's ever so much hard work," you can see her wearing a bra under her corset. Bras didn't exist at that time.

Visible crew/equipment: In the first shot of the theatre play, you can see the boom mike quickly entering the picture to the left on the screen.

Continuity: When the Shadow shoots at Baldrick to get rid of him, she is aiming over his head but the shot lands at his feet.

Factual error: After the Shadow has left Blackadder a captive, she says how much she hates squirrels, and fires two shots from a single shot pistol.

Continuity: When George (dressed as Blackadder) is in the cellar and about to go upstairs, he has one cup on his tray, however when he arrives upstairs there are two cups on the tray.

Deliberate "mistake": There are several historical dates wrong in this episode. For a start, Prince George didn't become Prince Regent until 1811, and yet this is set before the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 (as Black Adder gives Wellington some advice on it). Similarly, Wellington didn't get the title "Duke of Wellington" until 1814. Again inconsistent with being pre-Trafalgar.

Deliberate "mistake": There are a lot of jokes with the name of the book "The Prince and the Pauper." However the book was published in 1881, 51 years after the Prince Regent died.

Deliberate "mistake": Whenever a punch is thrown in this series, the punch either stops before it hits the person or goes beside them. It's most obvious in the last episode when General Melchett says 'Excellent native cockney wit' and punches Baldrick.

Continuity: Blackadder chucks up George's helmet, and it gets riddled with bullet holes. When the helmet comes down, it comes down at an angle, revealing that it had been passed down.

Continuity: When Blackadder, Baldrick and Percy are out in the no man's land, Blackadder screams and Baldrick asks why. Blackadder answers he put his elbow in a blob of ice cream while looking at Baldrick. When it cuts he is looking straight forward instead.

Continuity: Black Adder shoots the pigeon, and the feathers fly everywhere. One feather lands on Black Adder, just above his ear. In the next shot, the feather has moved up, on the other side of his side-part, towards the top of his head.

Visible crew/equipment: During the general's speech about how Blackadder is the person to organise a concert party, look at the entrance to the trench. In one shot you can see a crew member moving a giant cloth. You see mostly the movement, but you can catch a glimpse of the crew member's face.

Revealing: When the Baron punches Baldrick into the cell wall, it wobbles.

Factual error: Baldrick becomes Blackadder's navigator. The problem is, WWI aircraft did not carry navigators; they carried either only a pilot, or a pilot and an observer, and observers were officers.

Continuity: When Blackadder's plane is shot, we see the bullets hit the side. In the next shot of plane, not only is the side intact, but fuel is coming out of the bottom.

Other: When we first see the plane that Blackadder and Baldrick are flying, the machine gun on top of it is firing. There are 3 mistakes here. 1) We don't hear the gun fire. Cannot be argued by the plane drowning it out, as we later hear the Red Baron's gun firing. 2) In the next shot, the gun has stopped firing. 3) The fact the gun is firing is ignored by Blackadder and Baldrick. They are too busy on keeping the plane level - the whole flying scene was obviously archive footage of WWI planes flying.

Continuity: After his interrogation, Darling is able to run out of the doctor's office (albeit hobbled by the chair he is tied to) despite having been shot in the foot and having been seen visibly limping earlier.

Visible crew/equipment: When Black Adder enters the General's office after he returns from the hospital for the first time, the shadow of the camera can be seen as it peers up from the desk.

Continuity: When Blackadder and the other soldiers are about to go "over the top", you can see two other soldiers standing behind Darling. They are presumably in the upper part of the trench. When Blackadder blows his whistle, you see all the soldiers climb onto their ladders and then start to rush over, side-by-side. In the next shot, when we see the soldiers emerging from the trench in slow motion, the other two soldiers are still back in the trench waiting for Darling to climb out before they move, presumably to ensure the final shot is framed correctly.