Today Tony is talking to his old friend and collaborator, the screenwriter Richard Curtis. They share memories of making Blackadder from the early years to how it all ended. Along the way, they discuss Richard’s comedy roots and how he became a top comedy screenwriter: meeting Rowan Atkinson at Oxford Uni; working on Not The Nine O’Clock News; the influence of Fawlty Towers and plans for a Blackadder series set in the 1960s that never happened. Plus, they read lines from the Blackadder pilot script and discover where Baldrick’s ‘cunning plan’ catch-phrase comes from.

Last year Blackadder turned 40, to mark the occasion, Tony made a TV show in which he tracked down the lost Blackadder pilot to discover the truth of Blackadder's beginnings. For the show, Tony interviewed many old friends and people who are central to making Blackadder the success it was, as well as Blackadder superfan David Mitchell, who is featured in Cunningcast Series 2, Episode 4. You are hearing Tony’s unedited, behind the scenes chat with Richard Curtis recorded for the TV programme. The show is called Blackadder: The Lost Pilot and you can watch it on Sky, Virgin & Now.

Richard Curtis was Blackadder’s mastermind and writer, alongside Ben Elton. He’s one of Britain's most successful screenwriters and producers, with credits including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Mr Bean, The Vicar of Dibley, Love Actually, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Yesterday. He’s also the co-founder of Comic Relief.

Hosted by Sir Tony Robinson

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With

Richard Curtis

Credits: 

Series Producer: Melissa FitzGerald X @melissafitzg

Executive Producer: Dominic de Terville

Blackadder: The Lost Pilot is produced by Red Sauce

A Zinc Media Group production

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