Lord Flashheart
Encyclopedia
Lord Flashheart is the name of two fictional characters who appeared in two episodes of the popular BBC
sitcom Blackadder
. They are both played by Rik Mayall
.
The first Lord Flashheart appeared in a single scene of the first episode
of the second series of Blackadder. His descendant, Squadron Commander the Lord Flashheart, appeared as a major character in the fourth series in an episode called "Private Plane
". In the credits of this episode the name Flashheart is written Flasheart.
Lord Flashheart is boisterous, arrogant and appears very attractive to all the women he comes in contact with. He is extremely popular among his peers, and immediately becomes the centre of attention whenever he enters a room, usually by bursting through a wall in a spectacular fashion. The two Flashhearts are stereotypes of a certain kind of hero (the Elizabethan
swashbuckler
and the World War I
RFC
flying ace
, respectively), slanted to emphasise the negative qualities associated with such characters such as narcissism
, sexism
, homophobia
, and promiscuity.
Rik Mayall later recalled,
His catchphrase is to shout "Woof!" or "Let's do-oo-ooooo it!" very loudly, while thrusting his pelvis suggestively. He commonly uses sexual innuendoes in ordinary conversation, for example, "Am I pleased to see you, or did I just put a canoe in my pocket?"
Flashheart may be inspired in part, by name and personality, by Harry Flashman, the protagonist of George MacDonald Fraser
's popular Flashman novels, also a swashbuckling womaniser with an exaggerated sense of "heroism".
Mayall played a Napoleonic War-era character very strongly reminiscent of Flashheart in a 2011 advert for Bombardier Bitter, although the character is referred to as "Bombardier Bedford".
". He is initially introduced, in conversation, by Lord Blackadder
as his most trusted friend, and he is chosen to be Blackadder's best man. Lord Percy, while expressing regret on Blackadder's choice of best man, describes Flashheart as being "The best sword, the best shot, the best sailor and the best kisser in the kingdom". However, once he makes his extravagant last-minute entrance to Blackadder's wedding and throws Percy through the door, he flirts outrageously with The Queen
, Nursie
and even Baldrick
, who is dressed as a bridesmaid ("Thanks bridesmaid. Like the beard. Gives me something to hang on to!"), then insults Lord Melchett ("Still worshipping God? Last thing I heard, he started worshipping me!") He then steals the bride
— but only after they swap clothes, since she decided she liked trousers better than skirts, and he claimed to have always felt more at ease in a dress.
The song over the final credits of "Bells" included the lines "Lord Flashheart, Lord Flashheart, I wish you were the star; Lord Flashheart, Lord Flashheart, You're sexier by far."
", Flashheart reappears as a World War I
flying ace
. His full rank and title in the fourth series is Squadron Commander The Lord Flashheart. After running out of fuel and crashing in Captain Blackadder
's trench, Lord Flashheart proceeds to boast about his aerial victories and sexual conquests. Although Baldrick
and Lt. George listen in rapt admiration, Blackadder makes no effort to conceal his disgust. However, hoping to escape no man's land
, Blackadder, Baldrick and George all volunteer for the Royal Flying Corps
.
When the three arrive in his squadron, Flashheart can hardly contain his contempt. He repeatedly refers to Blackadder as "Slackbladder" and calls Baldrick "The Mound of the Hound of the Baskervilles." While instructing them, Flashheart orders his new recruits to, "Treat your kite like you treat your woman... get inside her five times a day, take her to heaven and back." Disgusted, Blackadder retorts, "I am beginning to see why the suffragette movement want the vote."
After Baldrick and Blackadder are shot down and captured by the Imperial German Army, Flashheart and Lieutenant George mount a rescue mission. However, Blackadder had been overjoyed that the war was finally over for him and pretended to be injured. Flashheart states that he finally understands. He says, "Just because I can give multiple orgasms to the furniture just by sitting on it doesn't mean I'm not sick of this damned war; the mud, the noise, the endless poetry."
Blackadder is deeply moved and asks, "Do you really feel this way, Flashheart?" Flashheart draws his revolver
and screams, "Of course, I don't feel that way! Now get out that door before I re-decorate that wall an interesting new colour called 'hint of brain!'" However, before they can "return to that lovely war," they are confronted by The Red Baron
, "The Greatest Living German."
At last facing his greatest foe, the Baron (Adrian Edmondson
) launches into a long-winded soliloquy
about chivalry
and honour. Without a word, Flashheart shoots the Baron dead and screams, "What a poof!" The group then returns to British lines.
Upon returning, Flashheart criticises Captain Darling for not attempting a rescue mission and then knocks him out with a head butt. Blackadder is greatly amused and the two part as friends. As soon as Flashheart is gone, however, Blackadder mutters, "Git!"
in the millennium
special Blackadder: Back & Forth
. He is accompanied by Will Scarlet
, Friar Tuck
(Crispin Harris), Maid Marian
(Kate Moss
) and his band of Merry Men. Intending to rob a time travelling Blackadder and Baldrick, Robin is horrified when Blackadder begins rattling off the flaws with his lifestyle. However, Blackadder smugly continues, reminding the Merry Men that they face certain death if they're caught, live in total squalor in Sherwood Forest
, yet give all they steal to the poor, who do nothing but "sit on their backsides," waiting for the next cash installment. Enraged, Robin shouts, "That is it! Shoot him, boys! I'm great and he's not!" However, the Merry Men realise that Blackadder is right about their lives being worthless and promptly shoot Robin full of arrows. In the aftermath, Maid Marian, smitten by the "gorgeous" Blackadder, proceeds to have sexual relations with him.
Later, however, Blackadder returns to the present and is horrified to learn that none of his friends have heard of Robin Hood. Worse, William Shakespeare
had given up on writing after Blackadder accused him of causing four hundred years of misery by writing plays where everyone is "talking total crap
", and England has been conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte. Frantic, Lord Blackadder runs back into the time machine screaming, "We've got to save Britain!"
Upon returning to Sherwood Forest, Blackadder asks Robin "There's something I've always wanted to ask you. How come you are so great?" Flattered, Robin retorts "Because I'm me!"
After fixing the time-line, however, Blackadder is informed by Archbishop Melchett, "Imagine, the slightest thing could alter the course of history. Imagine what damage an unscrupulous person could cause." Intrigued, Blackadder returns to the time machine with Baldrick. Later, he arrives at the Millennium celebrations as the absolute monarch King Edmund III. Accompanying him is, "Queen Marian of Sherwood," (Kate Moss
). If Blackadder's queen is indeed Maid Marian, then it is likely that Robin Hood was killed again. This represents a sort of poetic justice
for the Blackadders, finally getting one over on Lord Flashheart and getting the girl.
), who spends most of the episode posing as a man to earn money as Blackadder's valet. In Blackadder Goes Forth, Kate/Bob appears again, this time posing as a man in order to "do her bit" by serving in the Army.
Bob also makes a brief cameo in Private Plane. Flashheart demonstrates his philosophy that "if you want something, take it," by calling her into the room and announcing to her that he wants something. She responds immediately by saying; "Take it," while pulling open her top. She then leads him out of the office, continuing the joke from Series Two. However, the chronologically-earliest Flashheart's Kate (that is, Kate Moss's character Maid Marian) being stolen by the chronologically-latest Edmund Blackadder in Back & Forth.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
sitcom Blackadder
Blackadder
Blackadder is the name that encompassed four series of a BBC1 historical sitcom, along with several one-off instalments. All television programme episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as anti-hero Edmund Blackadder and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody, Baldrick...
. They are both played by Rik Mayall
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
.
The first Lord Flashheart appeared in a single scene of the first episode
Bells (Blackadder)
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode...
of the second series of Blackadder. His descendant, Squadron Commander the Lord Flashheart, appeared as a major character in the fourth series in an episode called "Private Plane
Private Plane (Blackadder)
"Private Plane" is the fourth episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :The episode begins with an ongoing artillery attack that is disturbing Blackadder's rest, and which he says will not help as 'Jerry is safe underground'. Shortly after it stops, an...
". In the credits of this episode the name Flashheart is written Flasheart.
Character
Elizabethan era
The Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
swashbuckler
Swashbuckler
Swashbuckler or swasher is a term that emerged in the 16th century and has been used for rough, noisy and boastful swordsmen ever since. A possible explanation for this term is that it derives from a fighting style using a side-sword with a buckler in the off-hand, which was applied with much...
and the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
RFC
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
, respectively), slanted to emphasise the negative qualities associated with such characters such as narcissism
Narcissism
Narcissism is a term with a wide range of meanings, depending on whether it is used to describe a central concept of psychoanalytic theory, a mental illness, a social or cultural problem, or simply a personality trait...
, sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
, homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
, and promiscuity.
Rik Mayall later recalled,
I was surprised when they asked me. Very honoring that they asked me. 'Alright,' I said, 'I'll do it as long as I get more laughs than Rowan.'"
His catchphrase is to shout "Woof!" or "Let's do-oo-ooooo it!" very loudly, while thrusting his pelvis suggestively. He commonly uses sexual innuendoes in ordinary conversation, for example, "Am I pleased to see you, or did I just put a canoe in my pocket?"
Flashheart may be inspired in part, by name and personality, by Harry Flashman, the protagonist of George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser, OBE was an English-born author of Scottish descent, who wrote both historical novels and non-fiction books, as well as several screenplays.-Early life and military career:...
's popular Flashman novels, also a swashbuckling womaniser with an exaggerated sense of "heroism".
Mayall played a Napoleonic War-era character very strongly reminiscent of Flashheart in a 2011 advert for Bombardier Bitter, although the character is referred to as "Bombardier Bedford".
Blackadder II
Flashheart's first appearance was in the season two episode "BellsBells (Blackadder)
"Bells" is the first episode of the BBC sitcom Blackadder II, the second series of Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England from 1558 to 1603. Although "Bells" was the first to be broadcast on BBC1, it was originally destined to be the second episode...
". He is initially introduced, in conversation, by Lord Blackadder
Lord Blackadder
Edmund Blackadder, Lord Blackadder is the main character in the second series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder. He is played by Rowan Atkinson.The second series is set in Elizabethan England, and Edmund is a courtier to Queen Elizabeth I...
as his most trusted friend, and he is chosen to be Blackadder's best man. Lord Percy, while expressing regret on Blackadder's choice of best man, describes Flashheart as being "The best sword, the best shot, the best sailor and the best kisser in the kingdom". However, once he makes his extravagant last-minute entrance to Blackadder's wedding and throws Percy through the door, he flirts outrageously with The Queen
Queenie
"Queenie" is a caricature of the historical figure Queen Elizabeth I of England, played by Miranda Richardson in Blackadder II, the second series of the BBC historical sitcom Blackadder, which was set in Elizabethan England...
, Nursie
Nursie
Nursie is a fictional character in the second series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder II. She was played by Patsy Byrne and appeared in all six episodes. She also appeared in two of the Blackadder specials; Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Blackadder: Back & Forth...
and even Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
, who is dressed as a bridesmaid ("Thanks bridesmaid. Like the beard. Gives me something to hang on to!"), then insults Lord Melchett ("Still worshipping God? Last thing I heard, he started worshipping me!") He then steals the bride
Bob (Blackadder character)
Bob is a pseudonym used by two characters in the sitcom Blackadder, both female and played by Gabrielle Glaister.-Blackadder II:Kate, who goes by the pseudonym "Bob", is one of the first characters to appear in Blackadder II...
— but only after they swap clothes, since she decided she liked trousers better than skirts, and he claimed to have always felt more at ease in a dress.
The song over the final credits of "Bells" included the lines "Lord Flashheart, Lord Flashheart, I wish you were the star; Lord Flashheart, Lord Flashheart, You're sexier by far."
Blackadder Goes Forth
In the fourth series episode "Private PlanePrivate Plane (Blackadder)
"Private Plane" is the fourth episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder.- Plot :The episode begins with an ongoing artillery attack that is disturbing Blackadder's rest, and which he says will not help as 'Jerry is safe underground'. Shortly after it stops, an...
", Flashheart reappears as a World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
flying ace
Flying ace
A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down several enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The actual number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an "ace" has varied, but is usually considered to be five or more...
. His full rank and title in the fourth series is Squadron Commander The Lord Flashheart. After running out of fuel and crashing in Captain Blackadder
Captain Blackadder
Captain Edmund Blackadder is the main fictional character in the fourth and final series of the popular BBC sitcom Blackadder, Blackadder Goes Forth...
's trench, Lord Flashheart proceeds to boast about his aerial victories and sexual conquests. Although Baldrick
Baldrick
Baldrick is the name of several fictional characters featured in the long-running BBC historic comedy television series Blackadder. Each one serves as Edmund Blackadder's servant and sidekick and acts as a foil to the lead character...
and Lt. George listen in rapt admiration, Blackadder makes no effort to conceal his disgust. However, hoping to escape no man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
, Blackadder, Baldrick and George all volunteer for the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
.
When the three arrive in his squadron, Flashheart can hardly contain his contempt. He repeatedly refers to Blackadder as "Slackbladder" and calls Baldrick "The Mound of the Hound of the Baskervilles." While instructing them, Flashheart orders his new recruits to, "Treat your kite like you treat your woman... get inside her five times a day, take her to heaven and back." Disgusted, Blackadder retorts, "I am beginning to see why the suffragette movement want the vote."
After Baldrick and Blackadder are shot down and captured by the Imperial German Army, Flashheart and Lieutenant George mount a rescue mission. However, Blackadder had been overjoyed that the war was finally over for him and pretended to be injured. Flashheart states that he finally understands. He says, "Just because I can give multiple orgasms to the furniture just by sitting on it doesn't mean I'm not sick of this damned war; the mud, the noise, the endless poetry."
Blackadder is deeply moved and asks, "Do you really feel this way, Flashheart?" Flashheart draws his revolver
Revolver
A revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. The first revolver ever made was built by Elisha Collier in 1818. The percussion cap revolver was invented by Samuel Colt in 1836. This weapon became known as the Colt Paterson...
and screams, "Of course, I don't feel that way! Now get out that door before I re-decorate that wall an interesting new colour called 'hint of brain!'" However, before they can "return to that lovely war," they are confronted by The Red Baron
Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen , also widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service during World War I...
, "The Greatest Living German."
At last facing his greatest foe, the Baron (Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Edmondson
Adrian Charles "Ade" Edmondson is an English comedian. He is probably best known for his comedic roles in the television series The Young Ones and Bottom , for which he also wrote together with his long-time collaboration partner Rik Mayall.-Early life:Edmondson, the second of four children, was...
) launches into a long-winded soliloquy
Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a device often used in drama whereby a character relates his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters, and is delivered often when they are alone or think they are alone. Soliloquy is distinct from monologue and...
about chivalry
Chivalry
Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...
and honour. Without a word, Flashheart shoots the Baron dead and screams, "What a poof!" The group then returns to British lines.
Upon returning, Flashheart criticises Captain Darling for not attempting a rescue mission and then knocks him out with a head butt. Blackadder is greatly amused and the two part as friends. As soon as Flashheart is gone, however, Blackadder mutters, "Git!"
Blackadder: Back and Forth
Mayall also played a very Flashheart-like Robin HoodRobin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
in the millennium
Millennium
A millennium is a period of time equal to one thousand years —from the Latin phrase , thousand, and , year—often but not necessarily related numerically to a particular dating system....
special Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth is a 1999 short film based on the BBC mock-historical comedy series Blackadder that marks the end of the Blackadder saga...
. He is accompanied by Will Scarlet
Will Scarlet
Will Scarlet was a prominent member of Robin Hood's Merry Men. He was present in the earliest ballads along with Little John and Much the Miller's Son....
, Friar Tuck
Friar Tuck
Friar Tuck is a companion to Robin Hood in the legends about that character. He is a common character in modern Robin Hood stories, which depict him as a jovial friar and one of Robin's Merry Men. The figure of Tuck was common in the May Games festivals of England and Scotland during the 15th...
(Crispin Harris), Maid Marian
Maid Marian
Maid Marian is the wife of the legendary English outlaw Robin Hood. Stemming from another, older tradition, she became associated with Robin Hood only in the 16th century.-History:The earliest medieval Robin Hood stories gave him no female companion...
(Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
) and his band of Merry Men. Intending to rob a time travelling Blackadder and Baldrick, Robin is horrified when Blackadder begins rattling off the flaws with his lifestyle. However, Blackadder smugly continues, reminding the Merry Men that they face certain death if they're caught, live in total squalor in Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Forest
Sherwood Forest is a Royal Forest in Nottinghamshire, England, that is famous through its historical association with the legend of Robin Hood. Continuously forested since the end of the Ice Age, Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve today encompasses 423 hectares surrounding the village of...
, yet give all they steal to the poor, who do nothing but "sit on their backsides," waiting for the next cash installment. Enraged, Robin shouts, "That is it! Shoot him, boys! I'm great and he's not!" However, the Merry Men realise that Blackadder is right about their lives being worthless and promptly shoot Robin full of arrows. In the aftermath, Maid Marian, smitten by the "gorgeous" Blackadder, proceeds to have sexual relations with him.
Later, however, Blackadder returns to the present and is horrified to learn that none of his friends have heard of Robin Hood. Worse, William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
had given up on writing after Blackadder accused him of causing four hundred years of misery by writing plays where everyone is "talking total crap
Crap
Crap may refer to:*Crap, a slang word for feces, also used to describe something substandard*Craps, a casino dice game*Crap Grisch, a mountain in the Lepontine Alps, situated near Vals in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland...
", and England has been conquered by Napoleon Bonaparte. Frantic, Lord Blackadder runs back into the time machine screaming, "We've got to save Britain!"
Upon returning to Sherwood Forest, Blackadder asks Robin "There's something I've always wanted to ask you. How come you are so great?" Flattered, Robin retorts "Because I'm me!"
After fixing the time-line, however, Blackadder is informed by Archbishop Melchett, "Imagine, the slightest thing could alter the course of history. Imagine what damage an unscrupulous person could cause." Intrigued, Blackadder returns to the time machine with Baldrick. Later, he arrives at the Millennium celebrations as the absolute monarch King Edmund III. Accompanying him is, "Queen Marian of Sherwood," (Kate Moss
Kate Moss
Kate Moss is an English model. Moss is known for her waifish figure and popularising the heroin chic look in the 1990s. She is also known for her controversial private life, high profile relationships, party lifestyle, and drug use. Moss changed the look of modelling and started a global debate on...
). If Blackadder's queen is indeed Maid Marian, then it is likely that Robin Hood was killed again. This represents a sort of poetic justice
Poetic justice
Poetic justice is a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in modern literature by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct.- Origin of the term :...
for the Blackadders, finally getting one over on Lord Flashheart and getting the girl.
Romance with Kate
The bride stolen by Flashheart is Kate (known as Bob, played by Gabrielle GlaisterGabrielle Glaister
Gabrielle Glaister is an English actress.-Early life:She was a school friend of Ben Elton at Godalming Grammar School on Tuesley Lane in Godalming, Surrey; Glaister was in the year below Elton...
), who spends most of the episode posing as a man to earn money as Blackadder's valet. In Blackadder Goes Forth, Kate/Bob appears again, this time posing as a man in order to "do her bit" by serving in the Army.
Bob also makes a brief cameo in Private Plane. Flashheart demonstrates his philosophy that "if you want something, take it," by calling her into the room and announcing to her that he wants something. She responds immediately by saying; "Take it," while pulling open her top. She then leads him out of the office, continuing the joke from Series Two. However, the chronologically-earliest Flashheart's Kate (that is, Kate Moss's character Maid Marian) being stolen by the chronologically-latest Edmund Blackadder in Back & Forth.