Potato (Blackadder)
| "Potato" | |
|---|---|
| Blackadder episode | |
| Episode no. |
Series 2 (Blackadder II) Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Mandie Fletcher |
| Written by |
Ben Elton Richard Curtis |
| Original air date | 23 January 1986 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
|
Tom Baker (Captain Rum) |
|
Tom Baker (Captain Rum)
Simon Jones (Sir Walter Raleigh)
"Potato" is the third episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603.
The episode opens with Blackadder at home, preparing to go to court to celebrate the return of Sir Walter "Oooh what a big ship I've got" Raleigh (Simon Jones). Blackadder is typically sarcastic and embittered, refusing to join in the festivities and endures much taunting from children, to which he retaliates by shooting one with an arrow.
Melchett arrives and offers Blackadder a potato, the last having just been discovered by Raleigh on his voyages; Melchett plans to smoke his. Blackadder declines, scoffing that "people will be eating them next". At the court, Raleigh's tales of discovery greatly impress the Queen. Blackadder attempts to upstage him by declaring his intention to circumnavigate the Cape of Good Hope, a journey Raleigh believes is impossible, stating that sailors do not count it as part of the "Seven Seas" owing to its treacherousness. Blackadder enquires of Raleigh which sailor would be insane enough to Captain such a voyage, and is told where to find Captain Redbeard Rum.
Rum (Tom Baker) is insane, legless, and has no navigation skills whatsoever. Nursie however, is quite taken with him, and agrees to marry him once he returns. Once their journey starts, Rum admits that he does not know the way to the Cape of Good Hope, and intended to resort to his usual trick of circling the Isle of Wight until everybody gets dizzy. Blackadder then reveals that his actual plan is to go to France for a few months, then go back home and falsely claim to have sailed to the Cape of Good Hope. Unfortunately, they soon run into a serious problem; Rum doesn't know how to get to France either, and in fact doesn't know how to navigate at all.
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