Tony Robinson teases Blackadder return for 40th anniversary

11 April 2023, 16:28 | Updated: 11 April 2023, 16:29

Robinson, who was known for playing Baldrick in the hit TV series, has hinted it will return to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

Sir Tony Robinson has teased that a 40th-anniversary celebration of Blackadder is on the cards.

The series, which ran for four series between 1983-1989, saw Rowan Atkinson star as the titular character alongside Robinson as his sidekick Baldrick.

Now, just a month after reviving his character in a special for Comic Relief, Robinson has teased that more could be on the way.

Speaking on ITV's Lorraine, he told stand-in host Christine Lampard: "All I'm gonna say is...everybody likes to celebrate a 40th anniversary, so there must be some way fresh way we can celebrate our 40th birthday, wouldn't you think?"

READ MORE: Rowan Atkinson says Blackadder reboot is not impossible

The 76-year-old actor went on to gush about how the show had "transformed" his life and even recalled that Prince William told him what a fan he was on the show while knighting him.

"This is absolutely true," he said. "You know how showbiz people make up stories? This is really true. When I was being knighted by Prince William, almost 10 years ago, I was down on my knees, he brings the old sword down and he said 'I am such a fan of Blackadder and I said to him 'Would you be on it?' He said 'Yeah, if you asked me.' So in other words, I was casting whilst I was knighting!"

He added: "It's lovely really, it never palls because it just transformed my life. I was 38 by the time I did it but I was a child actor so I had been about a quarter of century in the business when suddenly my whole life was transformed by the generosity of Rowan[Atkinson] and the producer John Lloyd, who let me have all those little extra shots and lines."

Ben Elton speaks about how Blackadder came to life

Meanwhile, in 2021 Rowan Atkinson shared hopes of a Blackadder reboot, by saying it was "not impossible".

In an interview with Radio Times, when asked if the show could ever return, the Mr. Bean star said it was "certainly not impossible".

"That’s about as optimistic as I can be,” he added. “And I’d rather not speculate on when it could be set. But Blackadder represented the creative energy we all had in the 80s. To try to replicate that 30 years on wouldn’t be easy."

READ MORE: Rowan Atkinson finds playing Mr. Bean "stressful and exhausting"