Blackadder Portrait Unveiled Ahead Of 40th Anniversary Fools Onlookers
01/06/2023
Tourists were left bemused - mistaking the comedy character for Shakespeare, British aristocracy and even Henry VIII
Tony Robinson, who played Baldrick in the TV show, unveiled the new painting at English Heritages Audley End House - a historic Jacobean mansion in Essex
Renowned artist Tom Croft painted the portrait over 60 hours, using traditional Elizabethan methods
The stunt was cunningly orchestrated by TV channel Gold, which is marking the 40th anniversary of the TV series with brand new, never before seen documentaries about the making of Blackadder, including Blackadder: The Lost Pilot
Almost three quarters (71%) say that Blackadder is the funniest UK sitcom of all time
A new portrait of Edmund Blackadder was secretly installed overnight at Audley End House to mark the 40th anniversary of the beloved TV series.
Visitors were left scratching their heads as they stumbled across the oil painting hanging in the Great Hall of the historic Jacobean mansion in Essex, mistaking the portrait of Blackadder for Shakespeare, Sir Walter-Raleigh and even Henry VIII.
The stunt was orchestrated by TV channel Gold, which is marking the 40th anniversary of the TV series with a month long celebration of the much-loved series. The celebration includes two brand new documentaries Blackadder: A Cunning Story and Blackadder: The Lost Pilot - which includes the first TV outing for the original Blackadder pilot.
The painting, created by renowned artist Tom Croft, shows the much-loved Rowan Atkinson character in his Elizabethan attire, painted in a classical oil on canvas style and completed with an ornate gold frame.
Tom painted the portrait across 60 hours, after rewatching series two of Blackadder repeatedly for reference.
Reactions to the painting were captured in a new video featuring comedy legend Tony Robinson, who famously played Baldrick, Blackadders servant and sidekick, and who cunningly helped sneak the portrait into Audley End House.
Paying homage to Blackadder, the nations best quick-witted character, Tony Robinson said:
What an honour to have been asked to unveil this incredible painting - and what a cunning plan to have it installed by Gold in such an extraordinary location to celebrate 40 years of Blackadder. Tom Croft did an amazing job at capturing Edmunds witty expression, and I know Baldrick would be thrilled to see his hero hanging at Audley End House.
Peter Moore, English Heritages Curator of Collections and Interiors at Audley End House, said:
At English Heritage we care for a remarkable collection of paintings, and the walls of Audley End House are hung with masterpieces by the likes of Hans Holbein and Sir Anthony Van Dyck. We also have an extensive collection of royal portraits, including Elizabeth I herself, so it seems only fitting that her court nobleman Edmund Blackadder should be displayed alongside her. After all, hes been TV royalty in his own right for the past 40 years!
New research by the channel finds that almost three quarters (71%) of Brits agree that Blackadder is the funniest UK sitcom of all time. Baldrick has also been voted the nations second favourite character with 62% of Brits in agreement, only after Blackadder himself at 81%.
The poll of 2,000 Brits by Gold reveals the nations love of Blackadder, finding that almost nine in 10 Brits (89%) still find the show just as funny and enjoyable watching it now, 40 years after it aired.
According to those surveyed, Blackadder taunting Samuel Johnson with his vocabulary is the funniest Blackadder moment ever - taking 41% of the vote. The scene sees Johnson, played by the late Robbie Coltrane, marvelling in his completion of the first ever dictionary, only for Edmund to offer him his enthusiastic contrafibularities.
69% of Brits agree that Blackadder is the most iconic show from the 80s, and all these years later over two fifths (46%) of those polled still say they quote Blackadder lines on a regular basis.
Gerald Casey, Gold channel director, said:
40 years on since the show began, the nation still loves Blackadder just as much. From Edmunds wit to Baldricks cunning plans, we knew we wanted to celebrate the iconic show in a way that celebrated its humour and history. This portrait is an incredible tribute to a much-loved character, and were so thankful to have had Tony Robinson help us to unveil it. Were excited for comedy fans across the UK to celebrate this momentous anniversary with us on Gold and enjoy the brand-new documentaries that show Blackadder as youve never seen it before!
Over half of Brits (56%) also admitted to being likely to binge watch the classic series. Catch all episodes of Blackadder from the start on Gold from today, ahead of the 40th anniversary on 15th June. Plus, see new documentaries Blackadder: The Lost Pilot on June 15th at 9pm and Blackadder: A Cunning Story on June 16th at 9pm, only on Gold.
-ENDS-
For more information contact:
Alex Butler 07584 163875 alex.butler@taylorherring.com
Naomi Penn 07961420769 naomi.penn@taylorherring.com
at Taylor Herring PR
Notes to editors
The Blackadder likeness was created by renowned artist Tom Croft, who previously gained media attention for his Portraits for NHS Heroes initiative during the pandemic.
English Heritages Audley End House and Gardens in Essex is an impressive 17th-century Jacobean mansion, rich in history and boasting an impressive collection of fine art. Audley End was once the site of Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery that was dissolved and granted to the Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas Audley in 1538 by Henry VIII.
English Heritage cares for over 400 historic buildings, monuments and sites - from world-famous prehistoric sites to grand medieval castles, from Roman forts on the edges of the empire to a Cold War
LINK: | https://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/article/blackadder-portrait-unveiled... |
See more stories from uktv |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
01/05/2024
NXTGENbps powers Molinaire's Notorious DIT
NXTGENbps battery solutions are designed to replace diesel generators and offer silent, emission-free power for various applications in film, TV, outside broadc...
01/05/2024
Amazon CEO: AWS has multi-billion dollar revenue run rate in AI already
Sales rose to $25bn during the first three months of 2024, up 17 per cent year-on-year By Matthew Corrigan Published: May 1, 2024 Sales rose to $25bn duri...
01/05/2024
Roku to Offer NBC Olympics Zone
NEW YORK NBCUniversal and Roku are teaming up to offer the NBC Olympic Zone on Roku, a new destination on the Roku Home Screen Menu. The dedicated channel wil...
01/05/2024
U.K.'s Freely Officially Launches
Freely the new streaming service backed by Britain's leading broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 is now available through the next generation of ...
01/05/2024
Study: FAST Channel Growth Accelerates
NEW YORK A new report on free, ad-supported streaming channels indicates that their growth continues to accelerate, with the number of channels hours views and ...
01/05/2024
VuWall Unveils New Capabilities For VuStream 150 Video Encoder
MONTREAL VuWall has enhanced its VuStream 150 H.264 video encoder with new features and capabilities, including support for HDMI signals at resolutions up to 38...
01/05/2024
Samsung TV Plus Announces New High-Profile FAST Channels for Sports
NEW YORK At the IAB NewFronts 2024, Samsung Ads announced a new lineup of premium sports, music, family and entertainment content on its leading FAST service Sa...
01/05/2024
WAPA TV Celebrates 70th Anniversary As #1 Station in Puerto Rico
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO WAPA TV has announced that it will be celebrating its 70th anniversary on May 1 as the number 1 broadcasters on the island....
01/05/2024
Diamond Sports Group Renews Its Distribution Deal with Cox
SOUTHPORT, Conn. & ATLANTA Diamond Sports Group and Cox Communications have reached a multi-year renewal of their distribution agreement for the continued carri...
01/05/2024
Warner Bros. Discovery Networks Dropped by Fubo
As the NBA playoffs heat up on TNT, Warner Bros. Discovery and FuboTV have been unable to reach a new distribution deal. That impasse forced the vMVPD to drop T...
01/05/2024
Time for NAB Reality Check
Time for NAB Reality Check Andy Marken April 30, 2024 0 Comments Above image source - Allegiant, Summit Entertainment Great leaders don't seek...
01/05/2024
Dream Street Productions Switches Live Corporate Events with ATEM Television Studio HD8 ISO
Dream Street Productions Switches Live Corporate Events with ATEM Television Stu...
01/05/2024
lodie Ichter Joins Light Iron as Senior Colorist
lodie Ichter Joins Light Iron as Senior Colorist Brie Clayton April 30, 2024 0 Comments Acclaimed colorist brings global expertise on high-profile pro...
01/05/2024
Skeem Saam: Tuesday's episode, 30 April 2024 [video]
Skeem Saam: Tuesday's episode, 30 April 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African so...
01/05/2024
Scandal soapie teasers: What's happening this May 2024?
Scandal soapie teasers: What's happening this May 2024?This month is going to be intense in Scandal. Scandal! airs on e.tv Mondays to Fridays at 19h30. Don&...
01/05/2024
The Dawn Chorus 2024: Sunday 5th May from midnight to 07:00
The Dawn Chorus 2024 Sunday 5th May from midnight to 07:00 on RT Radio 1 and RT Lyric FM & BBC Radio Wales Love nature, love the Dawn Chorus! Listen to th...
01/05/2024
Say It Again: ChatRTX Adds New AI Models, Features in Latest Update
Editor's note: This post is part of the AI Decoded series, which demystifies AI by making the technology more accessible, and which showcases new hardware, ...
30/04/2024
The Anchor of Our Work at the Native Lab: A Dispatch from Adam Piron
By Adam Piron In anticipation of this edition of the Indigenous Program's Native Lab, it actually dawned on me that this will be our lab's tenth year i...
30/04/2024
Launch of SBS South Asian channel and SBS Spice, a new English language offering for younger South Asian Australians
Launch of SBS South Asian channel and SBS Spice, a new English language offering...
30/04/2024
lodie Ichter Joins Light Iron as Senior Colorist
LOS ANGELES (April 30, 2024) Light Iron, the post-production creative-services division of Panavision, is excited to announce that lodie Ichter has joined th...
30/04/2024
Breadth of Support
Now streaming on Netflix, Good Grief marks the feature-film directorial debut of Daniel Levy, well known as the co-creator and costar of the series Schitt's...
30/04/2024
PBS Masterpiece Sets Third TV Adaptation Of The Forsyte Saga'
The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy's sweeping portrait of a wealthy British family in 1880s London, is getting its third TV adaptation in less than 60 years....
30/04/2024
Clear-Coms Eclipse HX and Agent-IC Technology Illuminate Coverage of Solar Eclipse
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
30/04/2024
Plex Partners with T-Mobile To Grow Connected TV Reach
CAMPBELL, Calif. Streaming media company Plex and T-Mobile will work together to expand T-Mobile's connected TV (CTV) inventory and advance the connection b...
30/04/2024
Roku, iSpot Launch Expanded Streaming Audience Measurement Partnership
SAN JOSE, Calif. & BELLEVUE, Wash. Roku, Inc. has announced an expanded measurement partnership with iSpot.tv, the cross-platform TV measurement company....
30/04/2024
Paramount+ Subs Hit 71M as Revenue Grew by 51% YoY
NEW YORK As Paramount Global wrestled with management turmoil and ongoing negotiations for a proposed merger with Skydance, the company managed to report improv...
30/04/2024
Cobalt Digital Receives Trifecta of Awards at NAB 2024
Cobalt Digital Receives Trifecta of Awards at NAB 2024 Company adds two 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year awards and one Best of Show from TV Tech to long list...
30/04/2024
arkonas BLADE runner IP Audio Engine Receives Best of Sho...
arkona technologies GmbH, provider of IP core infrastructure solutions for top-tier broadcast productions, has announced that its BLADE//runner IP Audio Engine ...
30/04/2024
OpenDrives Joins AWS Partner Network
OpenDrives, Inc., the global provider of software-defined media workflow solutions and data management capabilities, announced today that it has joined the glob...
30/04/2024
dandb group unveils SustainSymphony a ground-breaking clo...
The first norm conform sustainability service dedicated to the needs of the events industry Easy-to-use, intuitive platform for venues, event organisers and su...
30/04/2024
Dejero Smart Blending Technology opens new opportunities...
Dejero GateWay enables Stream7 to create independent internet connectivity at any venue or location, including UK teaching hospital for live streaming of surgic...
30/04/2024
farmerswife and Cirkus to Showcase Cutting-Edge Solutions...
Excitement is building as farmerswife, a leading software provider for resource scheduling, project management, and team collaboration in the media industry, ha...
30/04/2024
XL8 Clears SOC 2 Type II Audit Enhancing Data Security
XL8, a leading deep-tech startup specializing in AI-powered machine translation technology, proudly announces the successful completion of a System and Organiza...
30/04/2024
CABSAT 2024 - Leader and PHABRIX to showcase latest Test...
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, has announced that it will exhibit at CABSAT, which takes place this year from 21-23 May 2024 at the...
30/04/2024
MRMC Debuts Cinebot Max Camera Robot at NAB 2024
MRMC Debuts Cinebot Max Camera Robot at NAB 2024 Brie Clayton April 30, 2024 0 Comments Expands its range of live-action, motion-control camera robots...
30/04/2024
Next Jazz Legacy Announces 2024 Cohort of Women and Nonbinary Awardees
Next Jazz Legacy Announces 2024 Cohort of Women and Nonbinary Awardees The program was created by New Music USA and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender J...
30/04/2024
SES Announces Acqusition of Intelsat for $3.1B
European telecom satellite company SES announced today that it is acquiring rival Intelsat for $3.1 billion. The deal, unanimously approved by both companies...
30/04/2024
Bakish Out at Paramount
Bob Bakish, chief executive of Paramount stepped down on Monday, effective immediately. Bakish, who was a staunch ally of Shari Redstone, controlling shareholde...
30/04/2024
Hotspring unveils Slapshot ML-driven rotoscoping solution
Hotspring said the breakthrough had been achieved through the acceleration of machine learning technology By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 30, 2024 Ho...
30/04/2024
SES to acquire Intelsat in $3.1 billion deal
Speaking about the deal, Adel Al-Saleh, CEO of SES, said: it will bring value-added, efficient, and reliable offerings for both companies media customers By Je...
30/04/2024
Bob Bakish officially out at Paramount, new Office of the CEO finalising long-term plan'
Paramount said the Office of the CEO is working with its board to develop a comp...
30/04/2024
Gray Television Using NextGen TV to Roll Out Advanced Features Like HDR
LOUISVILLE, Ky. In another sign that broadcasters are finally using NextGen TV broadcasts to offer viewers new features instead of simply simulcasting existing ...
30/04/2024
Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame To Honor Blaise Labbe
OKLAHOMA CITY The Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame will induct Blaise Labbe, a group news director for Sinclair Broadcast Group, May 2 at the 54th Anniversary I...
30/04/2024
Cox Media Group, Dish Ink New Multi-Year Agreement
ATLANTA and ENGLEWOOD, Colo. Cox Media Group and Dish have ended a dispute over retransmission fees that lasted nearly a year and a half with a new multi-year ...
30/04/2024
TelevisaUnivision Taps LTN for IP-Based Distribution
Video transport solution provider LTN has announced that it is working with TelevisaUnivision to help the Spanish-language media giant migrate to IP-based video...
30/04/2024
NBC KXAS and Telemundo KXTX Used Clear-Com Solutions for Eclipse Coverage
ALAMEDA, Calif. Clear-Com has released details about how it played a pivotal role in the seamless coverage of the recent solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 by NBC K...
30/04/2024
Scripps Appoints Seth Walters To Steer CTV Sales Strategy
CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company is adding Seth Walters to its sales leadership team as head of CTV sales, effective April 29....
30/04/2024
Durham Bulls Saturday Game, First Sellout of 2024 Season
The force was strong at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park on Saturday night, April 27, 2024, as the night netted the ballpark's first official sellout crowd of...