The Foretelling was the first episode of The Black Adder and introduces viewers to Edmund, Duke of Edinburgh and a couple of familiar cohorts. In this podcast Gerry and Iain consider the value of first impressions and whether historical context is important to a comedy show.
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This episode established the core cast of characters for the season – King Richard IV (Brian Blessed), Prince Harry (Robert East) and the Queen (Elspet Gray) along with the subsequently familiar trio of Edmund (Rowan Atkinson), Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and Lord Percy (Tim McInnerney).
There were additional supporting roles for well-known faces Peter Cook (Richard III) and Peter Benson (Henry Tudor).
The Black Adder was written by Rowan Atkinson and by Richard Curtis and all six episodes were directed by Martin Shardlow. John Lloyd produced the series and Howard Goodall was responsible for the music.
The Foretelling was released in 1983. It is 35 minutes long and originally aired on the BBC. The Black Adder is presently available on Netflix and a remastered set of the whole series is available on DVD around the world (Region 1) (Region 2).