Bonus Episode 02 - Upstart Crow

01/06/25 • 48 min

3 Listeners

Lord of Adders Black: A Blackadder Podcast

Bonus Episode 02: Upstart Crow

Welcome to the Lord of Adders Black fan podcast, where Michael and Ian explore the universe of cult sitcom Blackadder – or, in this case, something a little different. As well as being the first two-hander since our first couple of episodes were released back in the primordial mists of June, this is the first in a series of occasional “off-topic episodes” in which we will be casting a loving but critical eye on sitcoms other than Blackadder.

Some of these will be shows that one of us loves and the other has never seen – but we will also be covering a handful of timeless classics that can claim to rival Blackadder in greatness and influence. Well, almost.

To set the ball rolling, we will be looking at a relatively recent sitcom that was new to both of us: Upstart Crow, a period comedy created and written by that up-and-coming young go-getter Ben Elton and starring David Mitchell as William Shakespeare.

We will be discussing whether Blackadder fans would warm to Upstart Crow (spoiler: yes, they would), what aspects and actors appeal to us most – and why one particular character annoys the bejaysus out of us. As always, there is lively discussion, wild tangents and more audio clips than you can shake a spear at.

The LOAB range of t-shirts sold on eBay by our friend Mike at Silly Tees, with £5 from each purchase going to Cancer Research UK – short link here: https://shorturl.at/6H6Q8

Jem Roberts:

jemroberts.com and talesofbritain.com

The True History Of The Black Adder – read by the author himself – is available on Audible:

Thanks to the following communities for their valuable support:

Reddit Blackadder community: www.reddit.com/r/blackadder/

Blackadder – quotes, clips and pictures: https://www.facebook.com/share/NVQ6pTtJt8Hzve9X/?mibextid=K35XfP

The Ultimate Blackadder Group:

https://www.facebook.com/share/aLnsHrXM4FiyejuK/?mibextid=K35XfP

Bluesky: @lordofaddersblack.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559091752318

Instagram: lord_of_adders_black

e-mail: [email protected]

Podcast credits:

Compiled and presented by Ian Winick and Michael J. Smith

Blackadder theme music by Howard Goodall

Intro music performed by Pank (@pankp007 on Twitter)

Outro music performed by Chin Topiwalla (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076430403956

https://www.facebook.com/summer.s.spell.music)

Cover art drawing by Pierre Breton ([email protected])

Check out his Little Darwin comic here: https://tapas.io/episode/1727663

Big thanks to all of the above and to Captain Spreadsheet for transatlantic technical (and moral) support

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lord of Adders Black: A Blackadder Podcast

Bonus Episode 02: Upstart Crow

The LOAB range of t-shirts sold on eBay by our friend Mike at Silly Tees, with £5 from each purchase going to Cancer Research UK – short link here: https://shorturl.at/6H6Q8

Jem Roberts:

jemroberts.com and talesofbritain.com

The True History Of The Black Adder – read by the author himself – is available on Audible:

Thanks to the following communities for their valuable support:

Reddit Blackadder community: www.reddit.com/r/blackadder/

Blackadder – quotes, clips and pictures: https://www.facebook.com/share/NVQ6pTtJt8Hzve9X/?mibextid=K35XfP

The Ultimate Blackadder Group:

https://www.facebook.com/share/aLnsHrXM4FiyejuK/?mibextid=K35XfP

Bluesky: @lordofaddersblack.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559091752318

Instagram: lord_of_adders_black

e-mail: [email protected]

Podcast credits:

Compiled and presented by Ian Winick and Michael J. Smith

Blackadder theme music by Howard Goodall

Intro music performed by Pank (@pankp007 on Twitter)

Outro music performed by Chin Topiwalla (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076430403956

https://www.facebook.com/summer.s.spell.music)

Cover art drawing by Pierre Breton ([email protected])

Check out his Little Darwin comic here: https://tapas.io/episode/1727663

Big thanks to all of the above and to Captain Spreadsheet for transatlantic technical (and moral) support

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

Christmas Special 2024

Lord of Adders Black: A Blackadder Podcast

Episode 15: Christmas Special

Welcome to a very special Christmas episode of Lord Of Adders Black, where we have invited back two old friends – comedian Harry Hussey and author Jem Roberts – and one new one, Australian podcaster and comedy obsessive Ciarán Moffat.

This episode takes the form of a quiz on Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, lovingly compiled and presented by Chairman Jem. Here, two teams – Ireland (Ian and Harry) and Australia (Michael and Ciarán) – face off in a battle of wits, knowledge and ill-educated guesses that seeks to separate the wallabies from the wannabes.

By cunning design, the quiz questions also fuel a lively discussion about Blackadder’s Christmas Carol throughout the episode, with merriment and rosy-cheeked caperings aplenty. As ever, we dive off at gleeful tangents before coming to a suitably festive finish where we and our guests wax lyrical about our favourite Christmas films.

LOAB T-shirts sold by our friend Mike at Silly Tees, £5 from each purchase to Cancer Research UK:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/267062769737?_skw=blackadder+lord+of+adders+black&var=566814459346&itmmeta=01JDY19A1FJ4KDQX16M6ZDGV37&hash=item3e2e2e7849:g:q8oAAOSwvbRnNI2j

Jem Roberts and his creative exploits can be found at:

jemroberts.com and talesofbritain.com

Audiobook of The True History Of The Black Adder – read by the author himself – available on Audible:

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-True-History-of-the-Blackadder-Audiobook/B0C82XDHPY?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

You can find the Ronald Lacey Fans Twitter account at @RonaldLaceyFans

Thanks to the following communities for their valuable support:

Reddit Blackadder community: www.reddit.com/r/blackadder/

Blackadder – quotes, clips and pictures: https://www.facebook.com/share/NVQ6pTtJt8Hzve9X/?mibextid=K35XfP

The Ultimate Blackadder Group:

https://www.facebook.com/share/aLnsHrXM4FiyejuK/?mibextid=K35XfP

Bluesky: @lordofaddersblack.bsky.social

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559091752318

Instagram: lord_of_adders_black

e-mail: [email protected]t

Podcast credits:

Compiled and presented by Ian Winick and Michael J. Smith

Blackadder theme music by Howard Goodall

Intro music performed by Pank (@pankp007 on Twitter)

Outro music performed by Chin Topiwalla (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076430403956

https://www.facebook.com/summer.s.spell.music)

Cover art drawing by Pierre Breton ([email protected]).

Check out his Little Darwin comic here: https://tapas.io/episode/1727663

Big thanks to all of the above and to Captain Spreadsheet for transatlantic technical (and moral) support.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

And Bob's Your Auntie!

1 Recommendations

Lord of Adders Black: A Blackadder Podcast

Episode 16: And Bob’s Your Auntie

Welcome to the Lord of Adders Black fan podcast, where Michael and Ian explore the universe of cult sitcom Blackadder while diving off at the odd gleeful tangent.

Our second season starts with a bang courtesy of a very special guest, Gabrielle Glaister, who played “Bob” in three evergreen episodes of Blackadder: Bells, Major Star and Private Plane. Gabby spoke to us about her long and varied career on stage, screen and soap opera and what it was like to be part of such an iconic series in the early days.

There would be a strong case for suggesting that Gabby is the Princess Leia of the Blackadder universe ... if there weren’t already an actual Princess Leia in the first series, that is. We pay tribute to possibly the youngest member of the overall Blackadder cast – not counting Pitt the Glint In The Milkman’s Eye – and also ponder on the Elton- and Curtis-penned Madness sitcom that might have happened if Blackadder had not proved such a ball-bouncing hit.

Here is a link to the Lord Of Adders Black range of t-shirts sold on eBay by our friend Mike at Silly Tees, with £5 from each purchase going to Cancer Research UK – short link here:

https://shorturl.at/6H6Q8

More information about Jem Roberts and his creative exploits can be found at:

jemroberts.com and talesofbritain.com

The audiobook of The True History Of The Black Adder – read by the author himself – is available on Audible:

https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-True-History-of-the-Blackadder-Audiobook/B0C82XDHPY?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp

As always, you can find the Ronald Lacey Fans Twitter account at @RonaldLaceyFans

Thanks to the following communities for their valuable support:

Reddit Blackadder community: www.reddit.com/r/blackadder/

Blackadder – quotes, clips and pictures: https://www.facebook.com/share/NVQ6pTtJt8Hzve9X/?mibextid=K35XfP

The Ultimate Blackadder Group:

https://www.facebook.com/share/aLnsHrXM4FiyejuK/?mibextid=K35XfP

Bluesky: @lordofaddersblack.bsky.social