WI: No Michael Grade

Blackadder II might turn out a lot differently than OTL. Remember, Grade was reluctant to sign off on the second series unless changes were made to the show and costs were cut. The budgetary restrictions turned out to be very beneficial for the structure and pacing of the show, with unanimous agreement that it was better than the first series of Blackadder.
 
Last edited:
Why on Gallifrey not?

I think it still would have been revived, its too strong a franchise and there's so much demand for the show on DVD that its a revival will happen at some point. There's no denying the show was utter crap in the mid 1980's, not Baker's fault as he was given some truly awful scripts and viewers weren't prepared to overlook the general cheapness. If Baker stays then it may continue to decline and be cancelled without Sylvester McCoy getting his chance, the irony is the show was improving in the run up to cancellation but the damage had been done.
 
Colin Baker might stay for longer- though I'm not sure if the new series would exist.

I like the new series more than the original, with the exception of Tom Baker's episodes. His outfits are really good. Perhaps having Michael Grade as BBC Controller might be bad in the short run, but good in the long run.
 
Top