Analysis
One of the most notable things about the pilot is Rowan Atkinson's performance as Edmund Blackadder, which is more akin to the character from the second series than the weasly plotter from the first series. Richard Curtis is said to have thought the character should be more complex for the initial series, than the swaggering lead as seen in the pilot (and future episodes). Due to the limited budget of the episode, it lacks the location filming of the first series, being instead all shot on interior sets, again in a similar fashion to the second series onwards of Blackadder.
In 2010, The Guardian reflected on this, noting that it was "an interesting example of getting it right first time":
The 1982 pilot to Blackadder – or The Black Adder as it was then – is almost exactly what the second series turned out to be. It's set in Elizabethan times, Rowan Atkinson is shrewd and scheming and Baldrick is an idiot. But when the first series came to air, it was set in the Middle Ages, Rowan Atkinson played an idiot and Baldrick was the brains of the operation. It's notable that the show only really started to pick up traction when it reverted to the format of the pilot.
The episode has not been broadcast on television, nor is it available on DVD, although some scenes were featured in the 25th anniversary special Blackadder Rides Again. However, various bootleg copies exist and footage is often seen online.
Read more about this topic: The Black Adder (pilot Episode)
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