So I am starting to put together a portfolio of work to send out and will be including my Red Dwarf spec script as well some original ideas. I wish to add one more sample script of Blackadder The Third and had three plot ideas in mind. I would like to know which one you think would be best. Thank you.

Cull And Culpability

Prince George decides to move to the countryside, after his reputation is besmirched, in order to work on a farm. Despite protests from Blackadder, the trip is arranged. The Prince ends up being lured away into doing some fox hunting and clay pigeon shooting, with the owner of the estate, a Duke Flashheart, while Blackadder and Baldrick do all the work. To get back to London they plan to injure the Prince so he would be forced to return home. After several failed attempts the Prince ends up shooting Blackadder by accident and they return home regardless although George isn't about to give Blackadder any time off.

Muse And Musicality

The Prince takes an interest in the arrival of Mozart to British shores. He insists on attending the recital much to Blackadder's chagrin. After a rather embarrassing night at the recital, Mozart is invited back to meet the Prince. Blackadder's disdain for Mozart becomes apparent and he boasts of his similar but as yet untapped talent. Foolishly Blackadder accepts a challenge which is arranged for a week's time. Blackadder attempts to learn the piano but fails. Blackadder tries to convince Mrs. Miggins to find someone but morality is low in the clientèle due to new workhouse restrictions on singing and dancing. After failing to convince the Prince to cancel the duel, Blackadder stumbles on the realization that Baldrick is a musical genius. A plan is devised in order to hide Baldrick under the piano while Blackadder pretends to play. The duel goes ahead with both appearing to play very well. During the interval, Baldrick, still under the piano, hears a hissing sound and raises the cloth, which hides him from view, to see a woman hidden under Mozart's piano. The two get on quite well forming a bond over a love for turnips. The woman grabs Baldrick and runs away with him. Blackadder and Mozart return. Blackadder begins and is left embarrassed. Everyone begins to laugh until Mozart attempts to play. Back in the Prince's parlour; Blackadder spins a yarn about how he planned the whole thing to expose Mozart as a fake which the Prince laps up.

Star And Stability

The Prince has taken an interest in astronomy. Blackadder finds astronomy obnoxious and believes everyone should stay grounded. The Prince reveals he has invited William Herschel to dinner. Over the course of dinner, Blackadder's frustration with the smugness of Herschel gets the better of him and he verbally expresses his disdain. Herschel says that the Prince is willing to pay a small fortune if he can continue his work and find new astral bodies. Blackadder boasts that such things are easy so a challenge is set forth. Blackadder sets to work, blindly looking into the night sky through a telescope, studying and writing star charts. Mrs. Miggins introduces Blackadder to an Astrologer who was not much help in reading his star charts but gives Blackadder the idea of faking the discovery with the help of Baldrick. He sells the star charts to the Astrologer. Baldrick is to stand on a roof and hold a long pole with a ball on the end while Blackadder positions the telescope at the correct angle. Initially impressed Herschel concedes defeat and The Prince hands over the money. Baldrick ends up falling off the roof before Herschel can add to his charts, exposing the lie. The Prince doesn't quite understand but asks Herschel if he had any luck. Herschel says he met an Astrologer who had some amazing star charts and once he compared them to his own, he had found several new astral bodies. Herschel takes the money while noting how easy it actually was.

Hi Woozie.

Lovely ideas. I suppose, critically, "Cull..." would be largely off-set. I don't think that happened too much with Blackadder III - but I doubt that matters for your purposes.

The other two, famous visitor who Blackadder can't stand, are reminiscent of the Dr. Johnson/Duke of Wellington episodes.

Sorry - not really giving much critique here - they're genuinely ace ideas. For what it's worth - the Mozart one stands out as the pick of the bunch - Baldrick having innate musical talent (making a organ out of the revolting things his mother found on the street etc) is cracking.

What I will say is - when one is written, I'll be happy for you to whack my way if you want some proper feedback.

Excellent, thank you for the feedback.

The historical visitor I felt was a familiar theme for Blackadder The Third. I also felt as long as it was a justifiable appearance rather than a shoe-horned inclusion it would be fine.

Yes, I'd be happy to send it your way upon conclusion.

Heh, I think Muse And Musicality would be a fun script, especially the reveal that Mozart has a woman under the piano playing for him.

Isn't coming up with more Blackadder the Third episodes a bit like fitting wheels to a tomato?

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 20th September 2015, 6:09 PM BST

fitting wheels to a tomato?

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Wheels on a tomato?

I'm off to Dragons' Den with that one!

Dr Johnson came up with it first!

I agree that the Mozart one is a great plot.

I like the Mozart one, although I believe the plot is a bit too similar to an episode of Black Books called "The Entertainer".

Otherwise, they're very good. I'd especially like to see a Regency-era Flashheart.

Quote: Gluben @ 21st September 2015, 11:43 AM BST

I like the Mozart one, although I believe the plot is a bit too similar to an episode of Black Books called "The Entertainer".

Otherwise, they're very good. I'd especially like to see a Regency-era Flashheart.

View original

What is it with being compared to Black Books? Seems to be the bane of my existence. lol

Yes, I am aware of the episode and it's rather good but if I recall the whole episode was centred around Manny's extraordinary ability where Baldrick's talent would be key to only the last 1/3rd of the episode. I don't feel this will impact the episode I write. I feel there is enough difference between the two to be justifiable.

Again, I thank you all for the continued feedback. Mozart seems to be winner here. Do continue to voice an opinion, it would much appreciated.

Quote: Woozie @ 21st September 2015, 12:32 PM BST

What is it with being compared to Black Books? Seems to be the bane of my existence. lol

Yes, I am aware of the episode and it's rather good but if I recall the whole episode was centred around Manny's extraordinary ability where Baldrick's talent would be key to only the last 1/3rd of the episode. I don't feel this will impact the episode I write. I feel there is enough difference between the two to be justifiable.

Again, I thank you all for the continued feedback. Mozart seems to be winner here. Do continue to voice an opinion, it would much appreciated.

View original

Not a problem. That's fine, just didn't know if you were aware of it. I still really like them though!

Have you thought about treatments for Blackadder II and Blackadder Goes Forth as well? Maybe even other eras touched on in the show (Stuart, Victorian, present day, far future)?

No, oddly. I knew I wanted to write one for Blackadder and I just instinctively went for Blackadder The Third without a second thought.

I am a huge fan of Blackadder, evidently, so everything is on the table, for sure.

I'm still not sure why you want to do it, though?

By way of contrast Woozie, I think there's a lot to be gained by writing in voices you know very well. I'm often a lot closer to established, top-level comedy than my own piddling offerings. If I can then capture those voices and get a feel for how the characters, often from the same writer, differ, I reckon I've immediately improved.

I also know several people who would look at this sort of work and take it as evidence of a writer who can work on pieces not of their own doing, and correctly capture character nuance and development.

I too like the idea of a BIII Flashart, but I think the Mozart one shows the most promise, it's a nice tidy but juicy plot. The only thing that worries me is the idea of Baldrick harbouring incredible talent, even if it is in an idiot savant kind of way, that just rubs against the character for me. perhaps you could dial it down so he can only play brilliant piano when he's completely drunk, or has been hit on the head by a turnip, or something, whcih woudl also give you another farcical element to spin into the set up.

A pedantic note: the pianos at this time weren't quite like the ones we know, they were called fortepianos rather than pianofortes (I know, right!). Perhaps you should use harpsichords. That's potentially better for a couple of reasons, one being that it actually would be much easier to pluck harpsichord strings from below and make a realistic imitation of normal playing, and the second being that they're quite small, so you could relish the comical image of Baldrick squeezed awkwardly beneath what boils down to a small table.

Good luck with it, sounds like a fun exercise.