It’s been a while since the last rumours of a new Blackadder series; the latest comes courtesy of Mr B. himself, Rowan Atkinson.

Currently doing the press interviews to promote his new movie, Johnny English Reborn (which also stars fellow Blackadder star Tim Tim McInnery), Rowan has been quizzed a couple of times about a new series of The Blackadder and here’s what he has to say on the subject.

Source: Daybreak TV
“It could be reprised in some form or other. I think there is a possibility of a fifth series.”

“We’re all getting a bit old, sadly, to play the characters in the way we did so we’d have to shift it a bit to make it work. They’ve all got slightly different attitudes and experiences to call upon now. It would be nice to get them all back together.”

My thoughts on this? I think they should NOT do another series; their last official outing as a whole was Blackadder Back & Forth – and for me, that’s the weakest of them all. The existing four series are timeless classics, but ‘the sitcom’ and TV comedy in general has changed since Blackadder left our screens at the end of series 4. And as Rowan has (and others beside) pointed out, the cast are getting a bit old now and I feel it just wouldn’t feel the same. It would be like doing another series of Fawlty Towers or Only Fools and Horses.

However, I do feel there are legs in the old beast yet; just not on TV. A radio series or one of those new-fangled podcasts could work as the actor’s voices are still as distinctive today as they were 25 years a go.