The Blackadder Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Bells
'Bells' Title Card
Blackadder II, Episode 1
Written by Richard Curtis & Ben Elton
Directed by Mandie Fletcher
Guest stars Rik Mayall,

Gabrielle Glaister, John Grillo, Edward Jewesbury, Barbara Miller

Original airdate 9th January 1986
Episode chronology
← Previous Next →
"The Black Seal" "Head"
List of episodes

"Bells" is the first episode of Blackadder II.

Plot[]

Somewhere in England, a young girl called Kate and her father are in their cottage when he asks her to become a prostitute, so she decides to go to London.

Lord Edmund Blackadder and Lord Percy Percy are practising their archery in Edmund's house when Kate turns up, disguised as a boy and calling herself Bob and asks Edmund if she can become his servant, Edmund promptly fires Baldrick and hires Kate, after a short period of time Edmund and Kate nearly kiss, Edmund, thinking she's a boy, decides to go to the doctor for his 'problem'.

Getting no help from the doctor, Edmund goes to the wise woman in Putney, who gives him three choices,

  1. Kill Bob
  2. Kill himself
  3. Kill everybody in the whole world

Kate eventually reveals herself to Edmund, who proposes marriage to her. Kate makes Baldrick a bridesmaid and Edmund asks his friend Lord Flashheart to be the best man. The wedding day goes fine, but when Flashheart doesn't turn up Edmund makes Percy his best man. Flashheart then turns up, flirts with the Queen and Nursie , before kissing Kate and proposing she should abandon Blackadder and come with him. Flashheart switches clothes with Kate and they run off with each other. Due to tradition, this leave Blackadder to marry the bridesmaid, who is of course Baldrick.

Cast[]

Continuity[]

When Percy is informed of his fiancée; Jane Harrington, her reputation, and her thing about beards; Percy shaves his beard off. He is clean-shaven for the rest of the series, with the exception of the next episode; "Head", (where his beard is back). This is because the airing order of this episode and "Head" were swapped around.

Advertisement