Original artwork, not a still
Baldrick, does it have to be this way - our valued friendship ending with me cutting you into long strips and telling the prince that you walked over a very sharp cattle grid in an extremely heavy hat?
— Blackadder · 1983
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
A simple threat grows into a miniature cover story. The more practical Blackadder tries to make it sound, the more ridiculous the imaginary accident becomes, until the heavy hat supplies the final unnecessary detail. The whole construction is worth keeping: the remembered joke is the implausible explanation, rather than just the threat at its beginning.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for BlackadderShow the scene
In ‘Duel and Duality’, the final episode of Blackadder the Third (1987), the Prince Regent has placed Blackadder in danger by expecting his butler to stand in for him against the Duke of Wellington. Baldrick's assistance does little to improve his master's prospects. Blackadder imagines disposing of his servant and explaining the result to the Prince with an extraordinarily elaborate accident story. The cattle grid and heavy hat are the explanation's final absurd embellishments.
Sources (2)
- Duel and Duality — episode subtitle transcriptBlackadder the Third — Duel and Duality; quoted conversationReference checked
- Blackadder the Third — WikiquoteDuel and DualityReference checked
Context reviewed
