Richard Curtis teases new Blackadder project despite star having 'no interest' in reboot

Blackadder fans could be in for a treat as the show's creator Richard Curtis has teased a potential reunion with lead star Rowan Atkinson, but one big name connected to comedy has no interest in returning

Writer Richard Curtis has dropped a tantalising hint about potential Blackadder plans "in the next few years".

The 68-year-old Love Actually director, who co-created the legendary BBC sitcom featuring Rowan Atkinson as the cunning Edmund Blackadder and Sir Tony Robinson as his hapless sidekick Baldrick, has suggested there might be something brewing nearly a quarter of a century since Back and Forth aired.

Despite previously expressing disinterest in reviving the series, Richard gave an intriguing reply to Metro newspaper's 60 Seconds column, stating: "Well, oddly, Rowan and I have a plan for something we might do which would just be a bit of fun sometime in the next few years. " He added, "I'd love to work with Rowan one more time on something."

The last full series, which saw Blackadder in the World War I trenches, was broadcast in 1989, yet it continues to attract a devoted following and new comedy enthusiasts. Curtis has speculated on the Cunningcast podcast with Robinson that Blackadder's enduring appeal may be due to its historical settings, which prevent it from dating like other classic sitcoms, including John Cleese’s 'Fawlty Towers', set in a fictional hotel in Torquay, Devon, from 1975 to 1979.

He mused, "Why has it lasted well? I wonder whether one of the reasons is because it’s set in history it doesn’t date. John Cleese said 'Even 'Fawlty' is starting to look a bit creaky round the edges' but because of the fact that we were 400 years out of date when we started I think it has a long lasting quality."

He added: "Then I think the process that I find so hard, which was the actors not rehearsing, simply re-writing and arguing about the script for five days a week did make it very dense. Therefore I do think it has a richness to it which means that when people return to it there’s still lots going on rather than it being very sort of unitary and simple. I also think we caught a lot of people in their performing prime."

However, despite Curtis' comments teasing a potential comeback for Blackadder, writer Ben Elton has pour cold water over rumours of a fifth season of the BBC comedy. During an interview with The Guardian, Elton was asked if perhaps the Russian Revolution could provide a backdrop for another series of the sitcom.

"We could do any period. It would be a lovely thing to do," he replied. "I recently did Upstart Crow, which was a Shakespeare sitcom set in the political world of the 16th century. But there will not be a fifth series of Blackadder, I think that’s pretty much a certainty. I have no interest in doing it. I don’t think any of us do, with the possible exception of Tony [Robinson]. But if we did, the world would be our oyster. We could have fun with any period."

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